Extra Credit Questions

[Laurie Verge]

Which one was it? Watie or Shelby?

[Bill Richter]

Shelby never surrendered, so it is Stand Watie, a Cherokee from Oklahoma

[LincolnMan]

Yes, Bill is correct!

[Eva Elisabeth]

Here's another "general" question:

Which Union general was - after their first meeting - described by A. Lincoln as a
"brown, chunky little chap, with a long body, short legs, not enough neck to hang him, and such long arms that, if his ankles itch he can scratch them without stooping" ?

[L Verge]

I love the description and will guess Ben Butler???

[Eva Elisabeth]

Good guess, but it wasn't Butler.
He later became a military govenor in two Southern states.

[Thomas Thorne]

Phil Sheridan
Tom

[Rogerm]

I'm not sure who this general was, but having just come across this quote by Lincoln, which I had never read before, made me laugh out loud. Kudos Eva for bringing it up!!!!

[Eva Elisabeth]

Pleased you like it, Laurie and Roger, and the story continued quite funny, too. Lincoln later said to the same man:

"General..., when the war begun, I thought a cavalryman should be at least six feet four inches high, but I have changed my mind. Five feet four will do in a pinch."

---

Tom, I'm sorry, I overlooked your reply. Brilliant, you were perfectly right! It was Philip Sheridan (see his Civil War Memoirs).

[Eva Elisabeth]

Which general never met with Abraham Lincoln in Washington during the war?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Sorry, I've to correct my question. I just read that the general himself in his memoirs mentiones one brief occasion.
The background is that I was fascinated reading the sentence "General...?...only visited the White House once. That visit occurred BEFORE the CW (=hint #1) broke out. I couldn't really believe this at fist and checked the other generals (If I forgot one - the question is about one of the main generals!), they all came to Washington more than once during the war. But I was a bit too superficial about checking the sought-after general. So I must add "just once", and this should be correct:

Which general met with Abraham Lincoln in Washington during the war just once?

[Rogerm]

Was it general Fremont who did once send his wife to meet with Lincoln?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Roger, congratulations. You are much smarter than I was. It was a poor question and - worse - although I thought I had been careful, I had done some poor research. After double-checking Frémont now, you are right. I first thought he had been in Washington two times, but that was wrong.

The general in the sentence I read was Sherman. He vistited Lincoln at the White House in March 61 and once later that year, in October, when was assigned to succeed R. Anderson as a commander in Kentucky. Outside Washington he met Lincoln on July 23,1861, when Lincoln visited the troops after the First Bull Run (or Manassas, to be fair to the Southern audience), and at the end of the war in Richmond.

I was so fascinated when I thought about this because from nowadays perspective it seems so incredible that such a leading general meets the president (and visits the capital) so rarely. The main reason for this, I suppose, was the distance, and if it was, the single sentence I mentioned above would indirectly reveal so much about the difficulties and conditions in those days - without modern means of transport, electric lightening or central heating (and, not to forget, the internet!). It would be quite interesting to experience this for some days, but not necessarily during wartime or as a slave, an definitly only with a return ticket!

[LincolnMan]

Who was the first commander-in-chief to ride in a helicopter?

[RJNorton]

Just a guess - Truman?