Little Known Facts About the Civil War
During the months of July and August, Art in the Age will be hosting an exhibition with Philadelphia design house The Heads of State, featuring new work inspired by the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
Below are a few lesser known facts about the Civil War to help you impress your friends at the exhibition opening this Friday, July 1st.
During the Civil War, General Stonewall Jackson walked around with his right hand in the air to balance the blood in his body. Because he was right-handed, Jackson thought that his right hand was getting more blood than his left, and so by raising his hand, he’d allow the excess blood to run into his left hand. He also never ate food that tasted good, because he assumed that anything that tasted good was completely unhealthy.
The Civil War was also known as The Brothers’ War, the War for the Union and the War of the Rebellion.
During the Civil War, glasses with colored lenses were used to treat disorders and illnesses. Yellow-trimmed glasses were used to treat syphilis, blue for insanity, and pink for depression. Thus we get the term, To see the world through rose-colored glasses.
Centuries before and decades after the Civil War, including the war itself, doorways were wide, not because of the width of women’s skirts, but so coffins could be passed through, with a pallbearer on either side.
When a woman mourned for her husband’s death in the 1860’s, she spent a minimum of two-and-a-half years in mourning. That meant little or no social activities: no parties, , no outings, no visitors, and a wardrobe that consisted of nothing but black. (Shame on Scarlet O’Hara) The husband, when mourning for his wife, however, spent three months in a black suit.
In terms of casualties, the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg) brought the bloodiest day of fighting during the Civil War. On September 17, 1862, Union and Confederate forces fought alongside Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland. In a single day, the battle produced nearly 23,000 casualties (killed or wounded). That’s roughly nine times the number of American casualties during D-Day in WWII.
Surgeons never washed their hands after an operation, because all of the blood was assumed to be the same.
After the Battle of Gettysburg, the discarded rifles were collected and sent to Washington to be inspected and reissued. Of the 37,574 rifles recovered, approximately 24,000 were still loaded; 6,000 had one round in the barrel; 12,000 had two rounds in the barrel; 6,000 had three to ten rounds in the barrel. One rifle, the most remarkable of all, had been stuffed to the top with twenty-three rounds in the barrel.
General “Stonewall” Jackson died during the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. He was shot by his own men, who thought he was the enemy.
More than half of all deaths during the American Civil War were the result of disease (not bullets). The primary culprits included typhoid fever, dysentery, tuberculosis and pneumonia.
The Confederates typically named battles for the city in which they were fought, or the closest city. The Union forces typically named battles after geographical features such as creeks and rivers. Because of this, many Civil War battles have two names — the battle of Antietam / Sharpsburg, the battle of Manassas / Bull Run, etc.
President Lincoln had a mild form smallpox (varioloid) while he gave the Gettysburg Address. On the train back to Washington he quipped, “Now I have something that I can give everybody.”
Via American Civil War Facts and Strange and Interesting Facts
