Civil War Quiz: What Do You REALLY Know About Edmund Ruffin?

Q#1 – Edmund Ruffin was born on January 5, 1794. Where was his birthplace?

Q#2 – Who was Edmund Ruffin married to and how many children did they have?

Q#3 – In his twenties, long before he became an advocate for secession, what scientific activity did Ruffin become active in that gained him a degree of notoriety?

Q#4 – In addition to his work with marl, what was Ruffin’s chief agricultural legacy?

Q#5 – Because of his agricultural work, what title has been assigned to Edmund Ruffin?

Q#6 – As the political climate in the United States began to become polarized in the 1840s, Edmund Ruffin became a political activist with an organization named the Fire-Eaters—what were they?

Q#7 – In 1859, Ruffin traveled to attend the execution of John Brown at Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia), following the abolitionist’s abortive slave revolt at Harper’s Ferry earlier that year. Access to the general public was restricted; how did Ruffin gain access to the hanging?

Q#8 – After John Brown’s execution, Edmund Ruffin purchased several of the pikes captured from Brown and his forces, which had been intended to arm slaves in a general uprising. What did Ruffin do with the spikes?

Q#9 – In 1860, Ruffin published his book, “Anticipations of the Future, to Serve as Lessons for the Present Time.” What was the purpose of the book?

Q#10 – Ruffin is credited with firing one of the first shots from Morris Island against the federally held Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Who actually fired the first shot?

Q#11 – There was another first at Ft Sumter that is credited to Edmund Ruffin – what was it?

Q#12 – Two part question: 1) After Ft Sumter, Edmund Ruffin joined what military unit that participated in the First Battle of Manassas Junction? 2) What military action is Ruffin credited with performing at that battle?

Q#13 – Just moments after the Union Army retreated from Manassas Junction and left the battlefield, what did Edmund Ruffin do?

Q#14 – In 1865, Union soldiers overran one of Ruffin’s three plantations in the Tide Water region of Virginia. What graffiti did they write on his main house?

Q#15 – It is a well known fact that Edmund Ruffin committed suicide on June 18, 1865, despondent over the Confederacy’s loss of the Civil War. However, the suicide attempt did not go smoothly. What happened?