“Quaker guns” were logs made to look like guns or cannons to make the enemy think forces were better equipped than they actually were. During the battle of Vicksburg, however, Ulysses Grant actually had his men convert those logs into firing mortars, which they used until they burst.

77 of the 425 Confederate Generals were killed during the war.

Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis served together in the Indian War of 1832.

Abraham Lincoln had a mild case of smallpox when he delivered his famous 3 minute Gettysburg Address. He was not even the main speaker.

Abraham Lincoln is the only President of the United States to come under enemy fire while in office. It happened twice, once while on board a tugboat in 1862 and again during a raid on Washington, D.C. in 1864.

Abraham Lincoln was the first President to wear a beard while in office. After that, it became a tradition to have one for the next nine Presidents.

Abraham Lincoln’s oldest son Robert entered law school at Harvard during the Civil War instead of the army. After grumbling by many, Lincoln arranged for him to become a member of General McClellan’s staff with the rank of captain. Robert never actually saw battle and later became Secretary of War and U.S. Minister to Great Britain.

Adlebert Ames was the last Civil War General to die. He passed away in 1933.

Admiral Franklin Buchanan fought only two separate days in the war, as he was wounded both times.

After the battle of Gettysburg, General George Pickett blamed Robert E. Lee for the massacre of his division.

After the war, many high-ranking Confederates were treated as criminals and denied the right of citizenship. Robert E. Lee petitioned to get his citizenship back in 1865, but it was not restored until 1970.

Alfred Torbert held commisions in both the Northern and Southern armies at the same time.

Although there is a misconception that Robert E. Lee was the commander of the Southern forces for the duration of the war, he actually held that post for fewer than ninety days.

As a boarder, John Wilkes Booth had once occupied the room in which Abraham Lincoln would eventually die in.

At Andersonville Prison, disease, malnutrition and abuse claimed many lives. An average of 127 men died each day, meaning that bodies were buried at the rate of one every eleven minutes. This death rate was higher than that of most battles.

At the beginning of the war, the Confederates had about 22,000 rifles and 250,000 muskets. The Union had about 30,000 rifles and 300,000 muskets. Many men still had flintlock muskets from the War of 1812.

At the beginning of the war, the Confederate Navy did not possess a single gunboat.

Balloonist Thaddeus Lowe was the first person to direct an attack using aerial reconnaissance on September 24, 1861.

Bayonets were also rarely used in battle. Enemy fire was usually so heavy a soldier couldn’t get close enough to use them. Bayonets were responsible for less than one half of a percent of battle wounds.

Being a prisoner-of-war was extremely hard during those times. Out of 430,000 prisoners held on both sides, about 260,000 died from disease, hunger or exposure to extreme weather.

Benjamin Butler was the first Democrat to be made a general by Abraham Lincoln, but lost every battle he fought in.

By the end of the Civil War, the Union had purchased about 840,000 horses and 430,000 mules.

Captain Richard Dowling fought off 15,000 Northern troops with only 43 men and six cannons, without losing a single man.

Carrying the flag was a dangerous job, as it often provided an easy target. On one day alone, at Gettysburg, twenty three flag bearers were killed from just two units.

Civil War weapons were so inaccurate that it is estimated that for every soldier shot, they needed 240 pounds of gunpowder and 900 pounds of lead.

Colonel Joshua Howell fought at Yorktown, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, the Seven Days, Fort Wagner and the Bermuda Hundred without a single wound. He died in 1864 after his own horse fell on him.

During the entire war, both sides each lost only one commander of an army. The North lost General James McPherson of the Army of Tennessee in Atlanta and the South lost General Albert Johnston, who headed the entire western theater at Shiloh.

Every Southern state except South Carolina had troops fighting for both the Union and the Confederacy.

For every man who died from battle wounds inflicted in the war, two died from disease.

Four Northern Generals all came from the same Ohio household. Brothers, Hugh, Thomas, and Charles Ewing all were promoted to the rank of general, as was their foster brother, William Tecumseh Sherman, who also married their sister.

Frederick Douglass was one of the first people to suggest using black soldiers, but Lincoln did not consider it until much later.

Future President William McKinley was a member of the Twenty-third Ohio Regiment and saw constant action in places like Antietam, Cedar Creek and Winchester. He often said that he spent four years in uniform without a day in the hospital from a wound or from illness. He was later assassinated in Buffalo, New York by an unemployed mill worker.

Galusha Pennypacker was the youngest General of the Civil War. He was only 17 years old in 1861.

General Benjamin McCulloch died at Pea Ridge from a sniper’s bullet, without ever having worn a uniform.

General Edward Hobson captured General John Morgan in 1863. Morgan escaped from the Ohio State Prison four months later and seven months after that captured Hobson in Kentucky.

General Edwin Sumner was the oldest General in the Civil War.

General William Tecumseh Sherman was accused by the Northern press of being insane.

George Barnhart Zimpleman of the Texas Rangers, fought in more than 400 battles, led in the number of horses shot out from under him and suffered two major wounds.

Gettysburg was called the “high water mark” of the Confederacy. After that battle, General Lee’s army was never able to launch another major offensive.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was the site of the largest land battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere. More than 50,000 men were killed or wounded in just three days.

Henry Wirz was the only man convicted of war crimes during the Civil War. He was the commandant of the Andersonville Prison in Georgia. He was hanged for starving the Northern prisoners.

In 1861, the population of the North was 22 million people. The population of the South was only 9 million people. 3.5 million of the 9 were slaves.

In a similar idea to the “Quaker guns”, Admiral David Dixon Porter and his men created a hollow shell of a gunboat, which was unarmed and blew smoke from its smoke stacks. Its purpose was just to distract the enemy from a distance.

In April 1861, the New York Times assured its readers that the rebellion in the South would last less than 30 days.

J.E.B. Stuart was still wearing his U.S. Army uniform when he accepted a Southern commission and when he fought at Falling Waters, Virginia in 1861.

Jefferson Davis served as U.S. Secretary of War from 1853-1857 and introduced the rifle to the military. This would eventually give the North superior firepower to the South.

Jefferson Davis was so desperate to find commanding officers, that he even promoted men to the rank of general, who had no prior military experience, such as Albert Johnston.

Jennie Wade was the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Jesse and Frank James were members of a local Confederate militia, but eventually gave that up to become renegade raiders.

Joe Wheeler is the only person to hold the rank of Major General in both the Union and Confederate Armies.

John Wilkes Booth who assassinated Abraham Lincoln had a brother named Edwin who would later save the life of Lincoln’s son Robert.

Julia Grant is the only wife of a Northern General to be taken prisoner by Confederate forces. General Nathan Bedford Forest had her released immediately.

Kady Brownell followed her husband to the battlefield near Manassas. She stayed on the field to take care of the wounded soldiers and when the flag bearer was wounded, she carried the flag across the field until she was wounded.

"Stonewall" Jackson's cousin, General William Jackson's nickname was "Mudwall".

Many people believe that Robert E. Lee commanded the Southern troops for the entire Civil War. It was actually Adjutant General Samual Cooper until nearer the end of the conflict.

Mary Todd Lincoln’s family was from the South. She had four brothers who fought for the Confederacy and blamed Ulysses Grant for the southern death toll calling him a “butcher”.

More than 3,000 horses were killed at Gettysburg alone.

Of the ten officers present at the battle of Fort Sumter, six became major generals.

One of the worst dressed officers was Confederate General William Jones. He usually wore jeans, a hickory shirt and a homemade coat.

Only one woman was ever granted a commission in the Confederate Army. Sally Tompkins was made a Captain and ran the Robertson Hospital in Richmond, Virginia.

Out of more than 1,000 Union Army officers on duty when the war began, more than 300 of them resigned to join the Confederacy.

Paul Revere's grandson, Colonel Paul Revere was killed during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Private Edmund Ruffin fired the first shot of the Civil War.

Private John J. Williams of the 34th Indiana Volunteer Infantry was the last casualty of the Civil War at the Battle of Palmito Ranch.

Quite often sounds of cannon fire could be heard from as far as forty miles away. However, there are a number of documented occasions where huge battles appeared to be silent from as few as a hundred yards. One of these occasions was the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac. This may have been caused by atmospheric conditions.

Robert E. Lee is the only West Point graduate to complete his degree without receiving a single demerit for violations of the strict disciplinary code.

Robert E. Lee spent more than a year in Confederate uniform before taking part in a battle.

Robert E. Lee was originally offered command of the Union Army, but turned it down to join the South.

Robert E. Lee was the descendent of two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee. His father Harry Lee was George Washington’s cavalry commander during the Revolutionary War. His son “Rooney” was also a Confederate General.

Samuel Clemens (also known as Mark Twain) joined the Confederate army in Missouri, but only stayed with it a few weeks, before turning to journalism. Eventually, he published the auto-biography of Union General Ulysses Grant.

Seventeen of the fifty-one Confederate generals who fought at Gettysburg were killed in battle.

Simon Bolivar Buckner was the last surviving Confederate General. He died in 1914.

Seven Northern officers became future Presidents of the United States (Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Chester A. Arthur, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley.

South Carolina was the first state to secede on December 20, 1860.

Swords were rarely used for more than decorative purposes during the war. Officers would wave them to urge their troops on and use them to cook food over the fire. General “Stonewall” Jackson used his so little, that it literally rusted to his scabbard.

The 1st Maine Heavy Artillery was the regiment with the highest number of officers killed - 32.

The 5th New Hampshire Infantry was the regiment with the most battle deaths - 195.

The Battle of Picacho Pass was fought in Arizona, making it the battle fought the farthest west.

The Civil War began on April 12, 1861 and officially ended on April 26, 1865, but the final surrender did not take place until November 6th, when the Confederate warship, Shenandoah was captured in Liverpool, England.

The Civil War introduced many firsts including naval torpedoes, machine guns, repeating rifles, battlefield photographs, the income tax, the Medal of Honor, a snorkel breathing device, a periscope for trench warfare, land mine fields, flame throwers, aerial reconnaissance (from balloons), the first African-American Army Officer and many more.

The Civil War lasted for 1,396 day, from 1861 until 1865. Approximately 623,000 soldiers died in about 10,455 military “events”.

The Confederate Navy had no ships in 1861 and eventually had 18 ships built in England.

The Confederate Navy used the world’s first successful submarine in 1864. The Hunley sank three times drowning her crew each time.

The Confederates, as a secret weapon designed an iron-casting to resemble a lump of coal and filled it with explosives. This was then placed in a Union coal bin and would explode when placed in the fire.

The CSS Shenandoah was still fighting at sea for more than six months after Lee surrendered. Its captain finally surrendered on November 6, 1865 in Liverpool, England.

The fighting in Spotsylvania was so intense that a white oak tree, almost two feet in diameter was cut down by bullets.

The first aircraft carrier was a special boat that hauled hot air balloons.

The first battle of the Civil War was at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. 3,000 shells were fired over 38 hours, but not a single man was killed on either side.

The first capital of the Confederacy was Montgomery, Alabama.

The first Confederate General killed in action was Robert Garnett on July 13, 1861 in Corrick’s Ford, Virginia.

The first major battle of the Civil War (Manassas or Bull Run) took place on the property of Wilmer McLean. After a cannonball crashed through his house, he moved his family to the town of Appomattox Court House to escape the fighting. In a strange coincidence, one of the last battles of the Civil War took place on his new property. There Robert E. Lee would surrender to Ulysses S. Grant in the parlor of his home.

The first person killed in the Civil War was Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth of New York on May 24, 1861 in Alexandria, Virginia.

The largest cavalry battle of the war took place at the Battle of Brandy Station.

The men of the Seventy-ninth New York wore kilts as uniforms.

The Northern flag is known as the “Stars and Stripes.” The Southern flag is known as the “Stars and Bars.”

The only officer know to have directed his troops while lying in a bed in the back of a wagon was Southern Colonel Eppa Hunter, who had become disabled after surgery.

The Shenandoah Valley was the most fought over area during the war. Winchester, Virginia changed hands an amazing 76 times.

The Union had only about 16,000 troops at the beginning of the war, but almost 3,000,000 by the time the war ended.

The Union Navy had only 42 ships in 1861. By 1865, they had nearly 700.

The youngest soldier was Edward Black who was a 9 year old musician.

There was another Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War who was on the opposite side. Private Abraham Lincoln was a Confederate deserter from Virginia.

There were almost 6,000 battles and skirmishes during the Civil War. Almost 600 were considered full battles, while about 35 of them were considered major battles.

There were two Brigadier Generals named Henry H. Sibley. Both served in the west. However, one fought for the North and the other for the South.

Twenty Civil War Generals graduated from West Point in 1841.

Ulysses Grant was introduced to his wife Julia Dent by her cousin, Southern General James Longstreet.

Union General George Custer was known as one of the best dressed officers of the war. He had his own tailor make a uniform of blue velvet heavily trimmed in gold.

Walter Williams was the last reported living Civil War Veteran. He died on December 19, 1959 at the age of 117.

"Wild Bill" Hickock claimed to have killed fifty Confederates with only fifty shots.

William Dixon Porter, who commanded river boats near Kentucky wanted action so badly that he tried to provoke the Confederates into a fight by hoisting insulting cartoons or taunts on a special mast on his boat.

William Pender was the youngest General killed in the Civil War at only 29 years old.