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Quiz about Civil War Nicknames
Quiz about Civil War Nicknames

Civil War Nicknames Trivia Quiz


The American Civil War - by nicknames.

A multiple-choice quiz by ricbatcheller. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
299,864
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
25
Difficulty
Difficult
Avg Score
12 / 25
Plays
5385
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
Last 3 plays: Guest 38 (14/25), Guest 73 (8/25), Guest 24 (15/25).
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Question 1 of 25
1. What battle was known as the "Waterloo of the Confederacy"? Hint


Question 2 of 25
2. What general was known as the King of Spades? Hint


Question 3 of 25
3. What general was known as the "Virginia Creeper"? Hint


Question 4 of 25
4. In what state was the battle of the River of Death? Hint


Question 5 of 25
5. Who was the "Gray Ghost"? Hint


Question 6 of 25
6. Who was known as the Wizard of the Saddle, and personally killed more men than any other general on either side? Hint


Question 7 of 25
7. Who was 'Old Wooden Head'? Hint


Question 8 of 25
8. The "cheese box on a raft" referred to what? Hint


Question 9 of 25
9. This man was known as the "Brains of the Confederacy"? Hint


Question 10 of 25
10. Which instructor and later Southern General was nicknamed "Old Tom Fool" at the VMI ? Hint


Question 11 of 25
11. What was the device called to cover the vent hole on a cannon nicknamed a "stubber"? Hint


Question 12 of 25
12. "I'll tell you that speech just won't scour," said this "Honest" man of a very short speech he had just given? Hint


Question 13 of 25
13. How many men did the Hunley have as crew? Hint


Question 14 of 25
14. What was the middle name of the general called "Spoons" and "The Beast"? Hint


Question 15 of 25
15. "Surrender, General, we have you surrounded" was what this general, nicknamed "Birdseye", heard before tipping his hat to the Confederates outside of Atlanta and turning to flee, only to be shot in the back and killed. Who was it? Hint


Question 16 of 25
16. What was the nickname of the infantry unit that marched the furthest in the Civil War in one 24-hour period? Hint


Question 17 of 25
17. The Petersburg Express was one of what? Hint


Question 18 of 25
18. Mary Lincoln said of this general, "'Butcher'! He is not fit to be at the head of an Army, he has two losses to the enemy's one. He has no management, no regard for life ... Why, I could fight an Army as well myself." Hint


Question 19 of 25
19. After Chancellorsville who said, "I just lost my confidence in Old Fighting Joe Hooker."? Hint


Question 20 of 25
20. Who had his "Light Division" put on new blue uniforms that had just been captured at Harpers Ferry to trick the Union Army at Sharpsburg when they crashed into its exposed left flank? Hint


Question 21 of 25
21. Who was nicknamed The Gray Thunderbolt? Hint


Question 22 of 25
22. What unit was called the "Black Horse Cavalry"? Hint


Question 23 of 25
23. Who was the young commander that was called the Black Knight of the Confederacy? Hint


Question 24 of 25
24. What was special about John Wilder's Lightning Infantry Brigade? Hint


Question 25 of 25
25. Who was called The Wild Rose of the Confederacy? Hint



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Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. What battle was known as the "Waterloo of the Confederacy"?

Answer: Five Forks

While Pickett and Fitz Lee were at a shad bake given by General Rosser, the important crossroads at Five Forks was attacked. And due to a phenomenon known as accoustic shadows the generals could not hear the fighting, and did not arrive until too late.
2. What general was known as the King of Spades?

Answer: Robert E. Lee

At the beging of the war Lee was known by this nickname and also 'Entrenching Lee', and 'Granny Lee' and was thought to be a timid fighter. When Johnston was wounded at Fair Oaks, it was thought to be good for the North that Lee was taking over from Johnston ... After all, Johnston was the highest ranking General to resign his commision to join the Confederacy.
3. What general was known as the "Virginia Creeper"?

Answer: George McClellan

His subordinates called him this because of his inaction on the peninsula. And even though he had Magruder outnumbered at Yorktown by over 100,000 men he did nothing. Lincoln said of McClellan that he had a case of the slows.
4. In what state was the battle of the River of Death?

Answer: Georgia

The Indian name Chickamauga means the River of Death. It is in Georgia. The dead were piled on one another like cords of wood and the Chickamauga ran red with human blood. George Thomas "The Rock of Chickamauga" was aided by the fact his men on Snodgrass Hill had repeating rifles.
5. Who was the "Gray Ghost"?

Answer: John Singleton Mosby

John Singleton Mosby was mentioned more times than any other man in Lee's dispatches. He led Mosby's Partisan Rangers (the 43rd Virginia Cavalry).
6. Who was known as the Wizard of the Saddle, and personally killed more men than any other general on either side?

Answer: Nathan Bedford Forrest

Known by many as the greatest cavalry commander of the war, he later became the first Grand Wizard of the KKK. Sherman said, "That devil Forrest must be stopped if it takes 100,0000 men and bankrupts the government."
7. Who was 'Old Wooden Head'?

Answer: John Bell Hood

Hood was a very tough fighter. Having lost the use of an arm and a leg, he had to be strapped to his horse but his unwillingness to change plans earned him this monicker. He showed just how bad that unwillingness was at Franklin and Nashville.
8. The "cheese box on a raft" referred to what?

Answer: The Monitor

When the crew of the Virginia looked out at the strange craft that was floating next to the Minnesota on March 9, 1862 they thought it looked like a cheese box on a raft. It was the Monitor and the age of the iron clad had begun.
9. This man was known as the "Brains of the Confederacy"?

Answer: Judah P. Benjamin

Benjamin held attorney general, secretary of war, and most of all secretary of state in the confederacy. He was the Democratic Senator from Louisiana and gave a rousing speech before resigning his seat. He was unfairly given blame for military failures during his time as the Secretary of War. He was Davis' closest adviser, and the most gifted member of the Confederate cabinet.
10. Which instructor and later Southern General was nicknamed "Old Tom Fool" at the VMI ?

Answer: T. J. Jackson

"Stonewall" was allso known by "Old Blue Light" for the way his eyes lit up during battle. The nickname for his infantry was "Old Jack's Foot Cavalry".
11. What was the device called to cover the vent hole on a cannon nicknamed a "stubber"?

Answer: Thumbstall

Many a gunner was thumbless because the tube had not been spunged out, and air entered the tube through the vent hole and ignited the powder. The thumbstall provided little or no protection from the blast when the new charge was put in the tube.
12. "I'll tell you that speech just won't scour," said this "Honest" man of a very short speech he had just given?

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln told a companion this about his now famous "Gettysburg Address." He was worried that it was too short after Edward Everett had just spoken for two hours.
13. How many men did the Hunley have as crew?

Answer: 9

The Hunley had killed several of its crews before it sank the Housatonic and went to the bottom itself - around 42. It needed crew of nine. The development and use of the Hunley cost the South more lives than the North.
14. What was the middle name of the general called "Spoons" and "The Beast"?

Answer: Franklin

Benjamin F. Butler got the nickname "spoons" while in New Orleans for taking liberties with captured silverware. And he got the moniker "The Beast" from General Order 28 saying the women of New Orleans should be treated as Ladies of the Evening.
15. "Surrender, General, we have you surrounded" was what this general, nicknamed "Birdseye", heard before tipping his hat to the Confederates outside of Atlanta and turning to flee, only to be shot in the back and killed. Who was it?

Answer: James B. McPherson

While returning from dinner at Sherman's Headquarters he ran into Confederate skirmishers and was shot dead. Sherman covered his young friend with an American flag and wept. The "Birdseye" was from his middle name. McPherson had graduated first in his class at West Point.
16. What was the nickname of the infantry unit that marched the furthest in the Civil War in one 24-hour period?

Answer: Lyon's Iowa Greyhounds

The Iowa men once marched 48 miles in a 24 hour period. Lyon lost his life at the battle of Wilson's Creek.
17. The Petersburg Express was one of what?

Answer: Sea-coast mortar

Often called the Dictator the 13 inch sea-coast mortar weighed in at 17,000 pounds. It was put on a flat railcar to get it closer to its target. During the siege of Petersburg, the only time the big guns were silent, was when the men would eat.
18. Mary Lincoln said of this general, "'Butcher'! He is not fit to be at the head of an Army, he has two losses to the enemy's one. He has no management, no regard for life ... Why, I could fight an Army as well myself."

Answer: U. S. Grant

Mrs. Lincoln was upset over the news of the casualty rate of Grant's Overland Campaign. That had reached a total of 60,000 in just over one month of Grant taking over command.
19. After Chancellorsville who said, "I just lost my confidence in Old Fighting Joe Hooker."?

Answer: Joseph Hooker

While leaning on a pillar on the front porch of his headquarters, Hooker was knocked out by an artillery round. Hooker had his men marching toward Fredericksburg, but the moment that they ran into rebel fire he pulled his men back in a tighter salient in and around Chancellorsville. Lee had struck him sooner than he had expected, and Hooker's nerve had failed.
20. Who had his "Light Division" put on new blue uniforms that had just been captured at Harpers Ferry to trick the Union Army at Sharpsburg when they crashed into its exposed left flank?

Answer: A. P. Hill

Hill had on his trademark red battle shirt and without hesitation threw his men into the left flank of the confused Federals. They had walked 17 hot dusty miles and Hill had pushed them hard with about half of them falling by the wayside, exausted. But the rest reached the battlefield at precisely the right time when they were needed most, and the whole Union left wing was thrown back.

Despite the name Light Division, Hill's division was the largest in the Army of Northern Virginia.
21. Who was nicknamed The Gray Thunderbolt?

Answer: John Hunt Morgan

When children wouldn't behave their mothers would threaten them with, "Morgan will get you if you don't settle down." Morgan once escaped from the Ohio State Penitentiary only to be killed at Greenville, Tennessee on September 4, 1864 in a minor skirmish.
22. What unit was called the "Black Horse Cavalry"?

Answer: Stuart's company H 4th Virginia

Stuart's men rode into battle with black hats and plumes, with gray uniforms that were trimmed in black.
23. Who was the young commander that was called the Black Knight of the Confederacy?

Answer: Turner Ashby

He once stated the only thing that he lived for, after his brother was killed by Federals, was to kill Yankees. He was Jackson's cavalry commander in the Valley.
24. What was special about John Wilder's Lightning Infantry Brigade?

Answer: They were mounted and armed with Spencer repeating rifles

During the Confederate breakthrough at Chickamauga the Lightning Brigade came in and, helped by the fact that they had Spencer repeating rifles, held Snodgrass Hill and Horseshoe Ridge. When he first mounted his men Wilder tried to put them on pack mules, and much to the amusement of the other units the men were soon bucked off.
25. Who was called The Wild Rose of the Confederacy?

Answer: Rose O'Neal Greenhow

Rose O'Neal Greenhow was given credit by Jefferson Davis for winning the battle of the First Manassas. She was a first class spy, who would later drown when the ship Condor went down.
Source: Author ricbatcheller

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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