Civil War Quiz
A feature of our monthly meetings is a Civil War quiz based on the contents of the previous month's presentation. The current and past quizzes are listed on this page. Answers are posted following the meeting. See the Past Meetings link on the left for information about the presentations that inspired these questions.
| Date of Quiz | Topic |
|---|---|
| February 28, 2012 | The Strategic Impact of Railroads in the Civil War |
| January 31, 2012 | Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain |
| November 29, 2011 | Holly Springs—Grant's Worst Nightmare? |
| September 27, 2011 | Civil War Prisons – Interesting Prison Escapes |
| August 14, 2011 | The Wheel Becomes a Weapon of War, From Iron Age Cart to Iron Horse |
| July 26, 2011 | Female Nursing in the Civil War South |
| June 28, 2011 | A Battle of Loyalties & Suspicions: St Louis in the Civil War |
| May 31, 2011 | A Landmark Account of How Strategy Determined the Civil War |
| April 26, 2011 | Atlanta Campaign |
February 28, 2012
Based on "The Strategic Impact of Railroads in the Civil War" by Lee Meredith
Q#1 – What was the most important use of railroads during the Civil War?
Q#2 – What was the year the first railroad in America was chartered for operation?
Q#3 – How fast in miles per hour was the first train ride?
Q#4 – How many miles of track were laid at the start of the Civil War?
Q#5 – How much did the average Civil War locomotive weigh?
Q#6 – What was the name of the railroad that played a key role in the Confederate victory at the First battle of Bull Run?
Q#7 – At the beginning of the Civil War, how were Southern railroads regulated?
Q#8 – By the end of the Civil war, how many miles of railroad track existed in the State of Florida?
Q#9 – What were the 3 types of rails used for railroad tracks?
Q#10 – What legislation was signed into law in 1862 by President Lincoln authorizing construction of the Trans-continental Railroad?
Q#11 – How many times did Harpers Ferry, Virginia change hands during the Civil War?
Q#12 – How did Confederate General Braxton Bragg move his entire army from Tupelo, MS to Chattanooga, TN?
Q#13 – How many miles was the route to supply Northern general Rosecrans in Chattanooga?
Q#14 – Which two Union Army Corps were transferred from the Army of the Potomac to General Rosecrans's command in Chattanooga?
Q#15 – Where did the majority of troops ride when they were transported by train?
January 31, 2012
Based on "Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain" by René Accornero (November 29)
Q#1 – How many times was Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain wounded during the Civil War?
Q#2 – What college did Chamberlain attend?
Q#3 – What childhood related physical impediment did Chamberlain overcome?
Q#4 – In 1933, who was the last Civil War general to die?
Q#5 – What was the 20th Maine's role at the Battle of Antietam?
Q#6 – Why was the 20th Maine held out of action at the Battle of Chancellorsville?
Q#7 – Two part question: 1-How many soldiers made up the 20th Maine when the regiment was first formed? 2-how many soldiers made up the 20th Maine at the Battle of Gettysburg?
Q#8 – Who gave the order for the 20th Maine to take up a position on the far left flank of the Union line?
Q#9 – How many charges did The Confederate unit under William Oates make against the 20th Maine's line on Little Round Top?
Q#10 – What year did Chamberlain receive his Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Gettysburg??
Q#11 – What is the name of the town in Maine where Chamberlain grew up?
Q#12 – What present did Chamberlain give his wife for their 10th wedding anniversary?
Q#13 – In the Siege of Petersburg, where on his body did Chamberlain receive his near fatal wound?
Q#14 – How many consecutive 1-year terms was Chamberlain serve as the Governor of Maine?
Q#15 – How did Chamberlain receive his Medal of Honor that was awarded to him for his action at the Battle of Gettysburg?
November 29, 2011
Based on "Holly Springs—Grant's Worst Nightmare?" by Bob Hubbs (September 27)
Q#1 – What is the only recorded apology President Lincoln ever made to one of his generals?
Q#2 – What is the definition of a nightmare?
Q#3 – Who wrote most of Grant's memoirs?
Q#4 – For what two things was Grant known at West Point?
Q#5 – Why did Grant decide to write his memoirs?
Q#6 – Who placed Grant as 2nd in command in the Western Theater in 1862?
Q#7 – From a military career perspective, what event in July 1862 was the turning point for Grant?
Q#8 – What was Grant's first battle plan as Western theater Commander?
Q#9 – What battle approach did Grant want to use to capture Vicksburg?
Q#10 – What did Grant set up at Holly Springs?
Q#11 – Who did Grant put in charge at Holly Springs?
Q#12 – What was the name of the battle plan used by General Sherman in his attack on Vicksburg?
Q#13 – When Grant issued his General Order #1, what name did most people give it?
Q#14 – What did Robert C. Murphy do when ordered by Grant to be ready for a Confederate attack on Holly Springs?
Q#15 – Why is Holly Springs Grant's Nightmare?
September 27, 2011
Based on "Civil War Prisons – Interesting Prison Escapes" by Gary Yee (August 14)
Q#1 – What was a critical policy regarding managing Civil War era prisons that still applies today?
Q#2 – What was a very important requirement for running and maintaining Civil War prisons?
Q#3 – What was the most common method used by prisoners to escape from a prison during the Civil War?
Q#4 – What was the Dead Line?
Q#5 – The most famous escape of Confederate prisoners occurred at what Union prison?
Q#6 – What famous Confederate general escaped from the Ohio State Penitentiary?
Q#7 – How high was the exterior wall at the Ohio State Penitentiary?
Q#8 – What mistake by Union prison management led to most prison breaks?
Q#9 – What mode of transportation did John Hunt Morgan use after escaping from prison?
Q#10 – Where was the Old Capital Union Prison located?
Q#11 – Why were the Confederates more effective at capturing escaped Union POWs?
Q#12 – In the largest single breakout at Andersonville prison, how many Union soldiers escaped?
Q#13 – What type of buildings made up the Confederate prison at Danville, VA?
Q#14 – Where was Libby Prison located?
Q#15 – In the largest single breakout at Libby prison, how many Union soldiers escaped?
August 14, 2011
Based on "The Wheel Becomes a Weapon of War, From Iron Age Cart to Iron Horse" by Tom McMahon (July 26)
Q#1 – What major shortcoming regarding railroads did the Confederacy have?
Q#2 – In what year did construction begin on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad?
Q#3 – In 1803 what was the name of one of the first locomotives?
Q#4 – How many different gauges of railroads existed in the South at the start of the Civil War?
Q#5 – In what part of the world was evidence found of the first use of the wheel?
Q#6 – How many Confederate soldiers under General Braxton Bragg travelled by train from Tupelo, MS to Chattanooga, TN?
Q#7 – At the start of the Civil War, what critically important act did President Lincoln perform regarding the railroads?
Q#8 – Who made up the majority of workers laying railroad track for the Northern forces?
Q#9 – How many railroads terminated in Richmond at the start of the Civil War?
Q#10 – How many of the railroads that terminated in Richmond at the start of the Civil war intersected with each other?
Q#11 – How did the North view the use of railroads?
Q#12 – What was the name of the rail-mounted mortar used by the North to bombard Confederate lines at Petersburg?
Q#13 – Two-part question: At the start of the Civil War, how many miles of railroads did each side have?
Q#14 – How many locomotives did the South construct during the Civil War?
Q#15 – For what railroad did presenter Tom McMahon's father work?
July 26, 2011
Based on "Female Nursing in the Civil War South" by Dr. Libra Hilde (June 28)
Q#1 – Female nurses from North and South directed their experiences in much different ways after the War. How did Northern nurses direct their experience? How did Southern nurses direct their experience?
Q#2 – As the Civil War began, how did most people view nursing?
Q#3 – What were the 3 main reasons soldiers preferred to have women in the hospitals?
Q#4 – To what jobs were most black nurses relegated?
Q#5 – What were the 3 main reasons women got into nursing?
Q#6 – At the start of the Civil War, how did most male surgeons view female nurses?
Q#7 – Over time, there was another reason female nurses were wanted in hospitals. What was that reason?
Q#8 – During what period of time did the Confederacy formally organize a medical care system?
Q#9 – Two-part question: What was the average mortality rate at hospitals run by men? What was the average mortality rate at hospitals run by women?
Q#10 – In the South, what were many of the small local hospitals run by women called?
Q#11 – What was a significant benefit most women realized from their involvement in medical care?
Q#12 – What was one of the unpleasant tasks that male surgeons delegated to women?
Q#13 – What title did many soldiers give to their female nurses?
Q#14 – From a psychological perspective, how did female nurses view their patients?
Q#15 – During the post Civil War Reconstruction period, what role did many Southern women take on?
June 28, 2011
Based on Adam Arenson's "The Great Heart of the Republic: St. Louis and Cultural Civil War" (May 31)
Q#1 – What are the 3 regions of the country that come together at St Louis?
Q#2 – What was the final battle of the Civil War?
Q#3 – On what date and at what location did the Missouri State Militia first gather together as a unit?
Q#4 – What was the name of the general commanding Union forces in St Louis in 1861?
Q#5 – Approximately how many people were killed after the surrender by the Missouri State Militia at Camp Jackson?
Q#6 – What was the name of the third political party on the 1860 Presidential ballot??
Q#7 – What development project did people in the West most want to happen?
Q#8 – Which state that took a vote on secession was the first to vote NOT to secede?
Q#9 – What were free Negroes required to have in order to maintain their freedom?
Q#10 – What were the facilities called where Union commanders attempted to quarantine people who sympathized with the Confederacy??
Q#11 – Into which state did Dred Scott's owner take him that served as the basis for Scott claiming he was a free man?
Q#12 – What is the name of the person who setup the Western Sanitary Commission in St Louis?
Q#13 – What government organization in St Louis was given the responsibility with assessing people's loyalty in St Louis?
Q#14 – Outside of St Louis and throughout the State of Missouri, the majority of the citizens were sympathetic to which side in the Civil War?
Q#15 – At what university does Dr Adam Arenson teach?
May 31, 2011
Based on Donald Stoker's "A Landmark Account of How Strategy Determined the Civil War" (April 26)
Q#1 – What is the primary teaching objective of the War College where Donald Stoker is a professor?
Q#2 – What did President Lincoln initially want to accomplish with the Civil War?
Q#3 – What did Confederate Secretary of State Robert Toombs recommend regarding the bombardment of Fort Sumter?
Q#4 – What was the Confederate States' main strategic dilemma at the start of the war?
Q#5 – What was the Confederacy's critical strategic mistake regarding the State of Kentucky?
Q#6 – What was McClellan's Grand Plan that he presented to Lincoln in 1861?
Q#7 – How many troops did McClellan's Grand Plan require for invading and taking Virginia?
Q#8 – What was McClellan's greatest fault?
Q#9 – How many times did Grant ask General Halleck for permission to attack Forts Henry & Donelson?
Q#10 – After the Union invasion of Tennessee, what city did McClellan want captured immediately?
Q#11 – Prior to his death, what did Philip Kearny recommend should be done with McClellan?
Q#12 – What was the Confederacy's "Center of Gravity"?
Q#13 – What was the Confederate response in 1862 to Union military gains in Tennessee?
Q#14 – What were Lee's 3 strategic objectives for his invasion of the North in 1863?
Q#15 – What were the reasons that Lee's 1863 invasion of the North was a strategic mistake?
Q#16 – What is the critical element to a successful execution of a strategic plan?
April 26, 2011
Based on Larry Comstock's "The Union is Saved! The Atlanta Campaign of 1864"
Q#1 – Who was in command of the Union Western armies in April, 1864?
Q#2 – How many military campaigns did General Grant have planned to go into operation in 1864 when he took overall command of the Union Armies?
Q#3 – Name the two strategic objectives General Sherman established for the Atlanta campaign.
Q#4 – How many major railroads intersected in Atlanta?
Q#5 – What was General Sherman's basic battle strategy that he employed in the Atlanta Campaign?
Q#6 – What was the size of General Sherman's army at the start of the Atlanta Campaign?
Q#7 – Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston replaced Braxton Bragg. Which General then replaced Joseph E. Johnston to lead the Southern forces?
Q#8 – In what city did General Sherman stockpile his supplies for the Atlanta Campaign?
Q#9 – What was the name of the railroad that General Sherman planned to destroy near the town of Resaca, Georgia?
Q#10 – What is the name of the ridge that was the focus of the Battle of Resaca?
Q#11 – At the beginning of the Battle of Resaca, which Union flank was attacked by Confederate General Hood?
Q#12 – What title did a Confederate general give to the series of battles, maneuvers, and withdrawals that made up the Atlanta Campaign?
Q#13 – In what city did the Republican Party hold their 1864 presidential nominating convention?
Q#14 – What is the name of the hill outside of Atlanta that was critical to the defense of the Union lines against Confederate assaults?
Q#15 – During the Atlanta Campaign, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker resigned as commander of the XX Corps because he was not given command of the Army of the Tennessee. What Union general was given that command?