Battlefield Nicknames Trivia Quiz

Answer: Shiloh

A Federal position at Shiloh was called the Hornets' Nest after thirteen Confederate assaults failed to take it. After it was finally captured, over 2,400 Union troops surrendered.

Answer: Antietam

The sunken farm lane at Antietam came to be called "Bloody Lane" because of the number of bodies located there. It was said that many of the bodies were still upright because there was no room for them to fall to the ground.

Answer: Murfreesboro

The position known as the Round Forest at Murfreesboro was nicknamed "Hell's Half Acre". The roar of battle was so loud there, the Confederate soldiers were stopping and putting cotton in their ears!

Answer: Nashville

The position known as Overton's Hill was changed to Shy's Hill after the Battle of Nashville. Confederate Colonel William Shy was killed attempting to hold the hill against repeated Union attacks. He was shot in the head while bending over to pick up a rifle. After taking the hill, Union troops stripped his clothes from his body and bayoneted him to a tree.

Answer: Spotsylvania

The Confederate defensive line at Spotsylvania formed a huge salient which the soldiers nicknamed the "Mule Shoe". After the heavy Union assault there and almost twenty-four hours of close quarters combat, the position became known as the "Bloody Angle."

Answer: Gettysburg

On the second day of Gettysburg, the position between the Devil's Den and Big Round Top was called "The Slaughter Pen" due to the fierce fighting that occured there.

Answer: Second Manassas

There was a clearing several hundred yards wide in the middle of Stonewall Jackson's line at Second Manassas. It was the only part of his line without any cover and an unpleasant place to try and defend. Workers had done some excavating in the area to build a school house. Rocks were thrown in this area, thus the name "The Dump".

Answer: Perryville

A rocky hill on the battlefield at Perryville is considered the "high water mark" of the western Confederacy during Bragg's invasion of Kentucky,

Answer: Wilson's Creek

Bloody Hill was the position where the Union position held off repeated attacks by the Confederates at Wilson's Creek. When the fighting was over there were about 1,700 casualties in that area.

Answer: Mill Springs

Confederate Brigadier General Felix Zollicoffer was killed beneath a tree on the battlefield of Mill Springs. The living monument became known as the "Zollie Tree". Lightning killed the "Zollie Tree" in 1995, but a seedling from the original tree was planted in the stump of the old "Zollie Tree".