Jackie Robinson famously broke baseball’s color barrier as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. But he’s not alone in having an impact on the civil rights movement through his position as an athlete, and many lesser-known figures played sports while positively affecting society through civil rights advocacy.

10Peter Norman

This Australian sprinter surprised many observers of the 1968 Olympics by taking the silver in the 200-meter dash. Norman finished second to American Tommie Smith and ahead of Smith’s teammate, John Carlos, setting the stage for what may be the most recognizable piece of sports photography ever. Smith and Carlos each wore black gloves and raised their fists in the air in the Black Power Salute. While Norman stands somewhat anonymously to the side, he actually played a significant role in the photo. He suggested that Smith, who was wearing both gloves before the ceremony, give the other glove to Carlos so that both men could join in the salute.

Many who see the photo do not immediately notice that all three men—Smith, Carlos, and Norman—wear pins reading “Olympic Project for Human Rights,” representing a group opposing racism in sports. This act of solidarity caused Norman a great deal of trouble in his home country of Australia (he was not selected for the 1972 team despite holding the fifth-fastest time in the world), but it served as a powerful and enduring image of unity in the fight for equality.

9Dock Ellis

Dock Ellis was quite a character and likely is best known for the no-hitter he threw while high on LSD. That notoriety is unfortunate given how much he accomplished as a civil rights advocate during his playing days and as a drug and alcohol counselor once his career ended. He never wavered in standing up to the injustices of inequality, and he took action as far back as his high school career, once refusing to play in game as a protest against the coach’s racism.

Ellis was very outspoken, and he was never one to let someone get away with an injustice. He challenged manager Sparky Anderson to start him in the All-Star Game so that he could face Vida Blue, saying that Anderson “wouldn’t pitch two brothers against each other.” Despite some of his on-field antics—which include tying the MLB record for being hit by pitches, an act he admitted was intentional—Ellis worked diligently in charitable endeavors, most notably helping to found the Black Athletes Foundation for Sickle Cell Research in 1971.

Among the many men who appreciated Ellis’s efforts in civil rights was Jackie Robinson, who wrote a moving letter praising Ellis and advising him on some of the difficulties he would encounter. Footage from a recently released documentary on Ellis shows him reading the letter, which moved him to tears even several decades after it was received.

8The Boston Celtics & Bill Russell

Boston—owing perhaps to protests and riots in the 1970s after Boston public schools were desegregated by a court order—has had to endure a stigma as a racist town. But the city’s hometown basketball team, the Boston Celtics, was among the most progressive when it came to matters of race. The team was the first in professional basketball to draft an African-American player in Chuck Cooper, whom they selected in 1950. The Celtics were also the first in North American sports to hire an African-American coach when Bill Russell took over the team from the legendary Red Auerbach in 1966, a time of significant unrest throughout the country.

Russell is known as one of the most successful professional athletes in history, but he has also been an outspoken advocate of civil rights, and he has recently spoken out in support of gay athletes as they endure what Russell sees as issues black athletes encountered when he played. In 2010, Russell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, for his work as “an impassioned advocate of human rights.”

7The Starting Five At Texas Western In 1966

Texas Western’s role in the civil rights movement was something of a surprise to them, as many did not realize that they were members of the first collegiate basketball team to field an all-African-American starting lineup—and, ultimately, the first to win an NCAA Championship. In recollecting the game, most of the Texas Western players recall not understanding its importance until years later, when strangers would approach them to thank them for opening doors that had previously been shut.

That championship game, played against Kentucky, took on greater significance after famous Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp reportedly declared that no all-black team could defeat his all-white squad. Pat Riley, then a member of the Kentucky squad, recalled how motivated Texas Western was after learning of Rupp’s comments, saying, “It was a violent game. I don’t mean there were any fights—but they were desperate and they were committed and they were more motivated than we were.”

Ultimately, Texas Western’s coach, Don Haskins, did not choose his starting five because of their race but rather in spite of it. He simply wanted to win, and those five gave him the best opportunity to do so. His assistant, Moe Iba, confirmed this, saying, “The fact that he was doing something historic by playing five blacks, that probably never crossed Don’s mind. Hell, he’d have played five kids from Mars if they were his best five players.”

6Stewart Udall, Secretary Of The Interior

Udall, the Secretary of the Interior to both John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s, became involved in the civil rights movement through his intervention with a Washington Redskins football franchise that refused to integrate. The Redskins had been adamant in this refusal, with its team owner, George Marshall, once saying that the team would “start signing Negroes when the Harlem Globetrotters start signing whites.” Marshall’s position on the matter was assailed by many, with one columnist referring to him as “an anachronism, as out-of-date as the drop kick.”

Despite the pleading of the press and fans, not until Udall stepped in and threatened retribution on the federal level did the Washington Redskins become the last team in the NFL to integrate. Since the Redskins’ new stadium was on federal land, Udall informed Marshall that if he continued to refuse to be integrated, the team would not be allowed to use it. In 1962, Marshall heeded Udall’s ultimatum, and the Redskins were finally integrated.

5Don Barksdale And His US Olympic Teammates

Barksdale was the first African American to represent the US on the Olympic basketball team, and his role in the civil rights movement was in a Kentucky arena in 1948, the year after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Barksdale’s moment was during an exhibition game when his teammates passed a water bottle down the bench, with each man taking a sip. After Barksdale took his, he passed it to a teammate—“Shorty” Carpenter of Arkansas—who drank from the bottle without hesitation.

While this moment seems like nothing more than a minor detail today, the water bottle drew the attention of all those in attendance, many of whom felt that Carpenter could have made a statement by refusing to drink. This was especially true given that whites and blacks in the South rarely, if ever, drank from the same glass or from the same water fountain at the time. He didn’t refuse, and the game went on. Barksdale would later go on to become the first African-American All-Star in the NBA, playing for the Boston Celtics alongside Chuck Cooper.

4Kathrine Switzer & Roberta Gibb

Before 1967, no woman had officially run in the Boston Marathon, and the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) did not willingly issue bib numbers to women who applied. The Amateur Athletic Association (AAU) did not formally accept women as participants in distance running, fearing that their bodies could not handle the rigors of long distances. Roberta Gibb ran the Boston Marathon in three consecutive years (1966–1968) but did so without a bib number, having to hide in the bushes at the race’s starting line to avoid being spotted.

Switzer, however, was issued a bib number but not with the full blessing of the BAA—according to the BAA, she did not clearly identify herself as a female entrant and signed her entry form as “K.V. Switzer.” She started the race unnoticed, but around the fourth mile, the press bus caught sight of her, causing a stir. Once race officials were notified, one of them even tried to rip off her bib number and physically remove her from the race before another runner—“Big” Tom Miller, a nationally ranked hammer thrower and former All-American football player—pushed him aside. Switzer officially finished the race and helped to clear the path for female participation in distance running events.

3Francois Pienaar & Nelson Mandela

Francois Pienaar grew up under apartheid in South Africa, when it was common to hear Nelson Mandela referred to as a terrorist who deserved to have been imprisoned for all of those years. As a rugby player, Pienaar was a part of the 1995 Rugby World Cup that came to symbolize the changing of South Africa, and Mandela supported the South African team and dismissed the notion that the springbok—the team’s emblem and a notorious symbol of apartheid—should be tossed aside. Instead, Mandela used the Rugby World Cup as an opportunity to unite the nation once again under the banner of sports.

Upon South Africa’s victory, Mandela, who wore a South Africa rugby shirt that prominently featured the springbok, presented the cup to Pienaar, the white South African team captain. The image was an important one, as it came to be recognized as a moment of reconciliation for a formerly divided nation. Pienaar and Mandela became quite close thereafter, and the man known as Madiba ended up attending Pienaar’s wedding and becoming godfather to one of the Rugby captain’s children.

2Al Davis

Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis saw his football legacy somewhat tarnished during the last decade of his life, as the Raiders endured an extended period of futility that has continued to the present day. The team has not made the playoffs since its Super Bowl run of 2002, and many observers blame Davis for being out of touch with the game. Too many forget that Davis was an innovator of the highest order throughout the overwhelming majority of his life in football, and that included his attitude toward issues of civil rights.

In 1963, just a year after the Washington Redskins had to be forced to integrate its team, Davis was refusing to play a preseason game in Mobile, Alabama as a protest against the state’s laws on segregation. Davis, again protesting the inherent unfairness of segregation, also implemented a policy stating that the Raiders would not play in cities in which players would have to stay in different hotels due to race.

Davis was also responsible for hiring the second African-American head coach in the NFL in Art Shell and also the first female front-office executive in Amy Trask. Shell, a former offensive tackle with the Raiders, played under the league’s second Latino head coach, Tom Flores, who was also hired by Davis.

1Willie O’Ree

O’Ree didn’t even realize that he had broken the color barrier in the NHL in 1958, saying, “It just didn’t dawn on me. I was just concerned about playing hockey.” O’Ree grew up in Canada, playing both hockey and baseball, and as a teenager, he had the opportunity to meet Jackie Robinson in Brooklyn after being invited to camp with the Milwaukee Braves. The two spoke briefly, and after Robinson told him that there were no black kids playing hockey, O’Ree corrected him, saying, “Yeah, there’s a few.” Less than 10 years later, O’Ree would be making his NHL debut for the Boston Bruins.

O’Ree had to endure taunts and insults while playing games on the road, but he was steadfast in his belief that those taunts deserved no response from him. There were even times when, while in the penalty box, O’Ree would be spit on and have objects thrown at him because of his race. O’Ree went on to work with the NHL after completing his professional hockey career, serving as the director of youth development for the NHL’s diversity program.

J. Francis Wolfe is a freelance writer whose work can be seen daily at Dodgers Today. When he’s not writing, he is most likely waiting for “just one more wave” or quietly reading under a shady tree.

Slavery in America didn’t end with the Emancipation Proclamation. It lived on—even after the Civil War had ended and the 13th Amendment had been put into place.

The Civil War brought the Confederate States back into the Union, but the people who lived in the South weren’t through fighting. They were determined to keep things exactly as they were during the heyday of slavery.

They made state laws that let them keep black people in essential servitude. As a result, slavery in America lived on for a lot longer than most people realize.

10 Slavery Was Used As A Legal Punishment

The 13th Amendment didn’t make all forms of slavery illegal. It kept one exception. Slavery, it ruled, was still permitted “as a punishment for crime.”

All the Southern states had to do was find a reason to arrest their former slaves, and they could legally throw them right back on the plantation. So, Southern politicians set up a series of laws called the “Black Codes” that let them arrest black people for almost anything.

In Mississippi, a black person could be arrested for anything from using obscene language to selling cotton after sunset. If he was as much as caught using a bad word, he could be charged, leased out as a slave laborer, and put to work in chain gangs and work camps on farms, mines, and quarries.

It happened a lot. By 1898, 73 percent of Alabama’s revenue came from leasing out convicts as slaves.^[1]

The enslaved convicts were treated terribly. They were beaten so brutally and viciously that, in one year, one of every four enslaved convicts died while working. Work camps kept secret, unmarked graves where they would bury men they’d beaten to death to hide the evidence. By the end, those graves held the mutilated bodies of at least 9,000 men.

9 Many Freed Slaves Worked On The Same Farms For The Same Wages

When the 13th Amendment was passed, a judge in Alabama declared that he and his Southern brethren were going to keep black slave labor alive in the South. “There is really no difference,” he said, “whether we hold them as absolute slaves or obtain their labor by some other method.”

He was right. Their new jobs as free people weren’t much different from their jobs as slaves. The newly freed slaves may have dreamed of better lives and new occupations, but a better life wasn’t easy to find. They had no money, no education, and no experience doing anything other than slaving away on a white man’s plantation.

Many ended up signing labor contracts with their former masters and were put back to work on the same farms. There, white landowners kept slave-condition gang labor alive with whites overseeing black workers.

Pay wasn’t much better than it was during slavery. In fact, it was often worse. The earliest records of black wages weren’t taken until 1910, nearly 50 years after emancipation. Even then, the average black man made no more than one-third the salary of the average white man.^[2]

8 Sharecropping Made Slaves Through Debt

Emancipated slaves had been promised 40 acres of land and a mule, but the government quickly backed out of the deal. It was an unfeasible amount of land to take from the white people who owned it, and most refused to sell their land to black people anyway. So they came up with something else—sharecropping.

White landlords would offer to give black families about 20 acres of land on which to grow cotton. In exchange, the whites expected about half of the black families’ crops. The landlords would even be able to dictate what the blacks grew, which often meant they’d be stuck growing tobacco or cotton.

With fields full of cotton, the slaves couldn’t grow their own food. So they had to buy it. But with half of their incomes going to white landlords, they were often bringing home less than slaves. They’d have to borrow money for food from the landlords, too—keeping the blacks in a perpetual cycle of debt and servitude.^[3]

7 Unemployed Black People Were Forced To Work Without Pay

If you turned down the slave-labor jobs you were being offered, they’d just make you work. If a black person in Virginia was caught without a job, he could be charged with vagrancy. He’d be forced to spend the next three months working for pay that, even at the time, was described as “slaves wages [that were] utterly inadequate to the support of themselves.”

Trying to escape just made things worse. If a vagrant working slave wages tried to run, he would be tied up with a ball and chain and forced to keep working—except that now he wouldn’t get paid a penny.^[4]

Vagrancy was called “slavery in all but its name.” But it was often much worse than what the blacks had gone through in slavery days. More than that, it forced black people to either accept the slave-like conditions that came with sharecropping and gang labor or to work without pay.

6 Fake Apprenticeships

Another way to keep legal slaves was to call them your apprentices. Plantation owners would lure their former slaves back by promising to teach them everything the plantation owners knew and get the freedmen ready to succeed on their own. However, the plantation owners just put the freedmen right back in their old slave jobs.

The former slaves would now be under contracts forcing them to work for their old masters, and the freed slaves could get in legal trouble for breaking these contracts. If they got real jobs, even the people who hired them could be sued by the slave owners for “enticing” their apprentices away.^[5]

One woman named Elizabeth Turner went through this. She was tricked into going right back to the same slave labor she’d done before emancipation. Turner managed to get out with the help of an abolitionist lawyer who took her case for free. But most weren’t so lucky. Most former slaves were illiterate and uneducated and didn’t know any way to get out of the contracts that threw them right back into slavery.

5 Confederados Took Their Slaves To Brazil

Brazil lured Confederate slave owners after the Civil War. Slavery was still legal there, and it was in wider swing than it ever had been in the US. About five million slaves had been sent across the Atlantic to Brazil—more than 10 times the number that had been sent to the US.

For many Confederates, that was a selling point. Between 10,000 and 20,000 people moved from the US to Brazil under the promise that they would be allowed to keep their slaves. Some dragged their newly emancipated slaves with them to a land where the freedmen could be forced back into servitude. Meanwhile, other Confederates picked up new slaves in Brazil at discounted prices.

Even today, there are little communities in Brazil that still revere their American slave-owning ancestors, called “Confederados” by the community that took them in.^[6] Now 150 years later, the descendants of slavers still wave Confederate flags and speak with a Georgia twang.

4 Black Workers Were Locked Up And Beaten

Systems of slavery through debt like sharecropping were officially made illegal in 1867, but they carried on for about another 100 years. Sometimes, though, it wasn’t just the debt keeping people imprisoned.

Some African Americans were lured to jobs and then actually locked up and kept from leaving. For example, one group of workers in Florida went to work in a sugarcane field and soon found themselves locked up in a filthy shack. Their new employers would beat the former slaves to get them to work and threatened to kill them if they tried to leave.^[7]

In other places across the US, black workers were shackled to beds or beaten with cat-o’-nine-tails to keep them working for nothing more than a few scraps. The men lured in were usually illiterate, and so they were completely incapable of fighting for their freedom in court.

This wasn’t the norm, however, and even white Southerners were disgusted when they found out it was happening. Little was done to stop it, though, until the 1940s. It took concentrated Axis propaganda campaigns to shame the US into genuinely and effectively stamping out these camps.

3 Blacks Couldn’t Testify Against Whites

In Kentucky, black people didn’t have the legal right to testify against white people in court. That was more than just a civil injustice. It allowed white people to effectively do whatever they wanted to their black neighbors.

A white person could walk into a black person’s house, take everything, and get away with it. And sometimes, that was exactly what happened.

A black woman named Nancy Talbot was sitting in her home when a white man broke in, grabbed everything he could carry, and left. Talbot tried pressing charges against the thief, and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind—including that of the judge—that the thief was guilty.^[8]

But Talbot was legally forbidden from testifying. Without her testimony, the judge couldn’t convict the white criminal.

Black people had the right to earn their own money now, but they didn’t have any recourse to keep it. A white person could take anything the black person had earned right out his pocket, and there was essentially nothing that the blacks could do about it.

2 White People Could Get Away With Massacres

Even if the 13th Amendment made it illegal on paper to beat a slave, laws like Kentucky’s made it perfectly possible to massacre a whole black family and get away with it. Which is exactly what John Blyew and George Kennard did.

In 1868, Blyew and Kennard broke into the home of the black-skinned Foster family with an axe. The two intruders murdered the father, mother, and grandmother and seriously wounded two of the children.^[9]

The eldest child, 16-year-old Richard, hid under his father’s dead body until the killers left. Then he crawled to a neighbor’s house for help. He’d been hit by their axe, though, and his wounds were so bad that he died two days later.

The only survivors were the youngest children: eight-year-old Laura, who had hidden and survived, and six-year-old Amelia, who had been hacked in the head but miraculously lived. Still, Amelia went the rest of her life with a massive, disfiguring scar across her face—and without her parents.

Blyew and Kennard were arrested. But under Kentucky law, the survivors weren’t allowed to testify. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled that Kennard and Blyew couldn’t be convicted because the witnesses were black.

Eventually, the law was changed and Blyew and Kennard were sent to prison. But they didn’t stay there long. Both men were pardoned by the governor and set free.

1 Mississippi Didn’t Ratify The 13th Amendment Until 1995

When the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery was passed in 1865, 27 of America’s then-36 states ratified it. As the years passed, the other states gave up their stance of protesting emancipation and threw their support behind the right of a black person to live free.

For some states, though, it took a long time. Kentucky didn’t ratify the 13th Amendment until 1976, and Mississippi waited until 1995 before officially accepting that slavery was against the Constitution.

Even after voting to end slavery in 1995, though, Mississippi still didn’t go through with it. The politicians who voted for the resolution didn’t report it to the Federal Register, so it didn’t actually take effect until 2013.

It wasn’t until activists realized that Mississippi was still registered as protesting the end of slavery that they actually put the order through. Officially, Mississippi’s government was against ending slavery until just four years ago.^[10]

Both the Union and the Confederacy enlisted child soldiers during the bloody US Civil War that lasted from April 12, 1861, to May 9, 1865. Many of the children served with distinction and returned home. Others were not so lucky and paid with their lives.

10 Edwin Francis Jemison

The portrait of Confederate Private Edwin Francis Jemison is one of the most famous photographs of the Civil War. He was born on December 4, 1844, and enlisted in the Confederate 2nd Louisiana Infantry in May 1861 when he was 16. The photograph for which he is remembered was taken soon after his enlistment.

Edwin’s first encounter with the Union Army was in April 1862 when his unit faced enemy troops in the Battle of Dam No. 1 in Virginia. His second encounter was in the July 1, 1862, Battle of Malvern Hill, which remained the deadliest battle of the Civil War until it was superseded by the Battle of Antietam.

The Confederates lost about 5,500 soldiers during the battle while the Union lost half of that number. Jemison became part of the Confederate casualty list when he was hit by a cannonball while charging toward Union lines.^[1] He was five months to clocking 18.

9 John Lincoln Clem

John Lincoln Clem was born John Joseph Klem, but he swapped “Joseph” for “Lincoln” in reverence for President Abraham Lincoln. In 1861, at age 10, John fled from home to join the Union 3rd Ohio as a drummer.

The 3rd Ohio turned him down for being underage, and he left to join the 22nd Michigan, which turned him down for the same reason. Undeterred, he tagged along with the 22nd Michigan, which later adopted him as a mascot and drummer, although he was only allowed to enlist in 1862.^[2]

John Clem swapped his drum for a musket during the September 1863 Battle of Chickamauga, where three bullets pierced holes in his hat. He strayed from his unit during the battle and was spotted running back to his lines by a Confederate colonel who chased after him and demanded his surrender.

Rather than surrendering, he shot and killed the colonel, who had referred to Clem as a “Yankee Devil.” The incident earned him a promotion and the nickname “The Drummer Boy of Chickamauga.” He was discharged from the army in 1864. But he rejoined as a second lieutenant in 1871 and retired as a brigadier general in 1915.

8 Elisha Stockwell

Elisha Stockwell first enlisted in the Union Army during a recruitment drive in Jackson County, Wisconsin, when he was 15. His father disapproved of his enlistment, which caused the recruiters to remove Elisha’s name.

Undeterred, he fled with a Union soldier who was a friend of his father and had come home on leave. Before taking off, Elisha visited his sister and told her he was going downtown. She told him to return early for dinner.

Elisha did, two years later.

During his second enlistment, he told the recruiter that he could not remember his age although he thought he was 18. The recruiter knew Elisha was younger than 18. Still, the man listed Elisha’s age as 18 and his height as 165 centimeters (5’5″)—a height he only reached two years later.

Elisha saw a dead man for the first time in the 1862 Battle of Shiloh when he stumbled on a dead, disemboweled soldier with his back to a tree. According to Elisha, the encounter made him “deadly sick.”

He also saw his first action in that battle when he joined a downhill charge toward Confederate lines. When the charge was called off, half the men in his unit were either dead or wounded.

For the first time, Elisha realized that his decision to run away from home was foolish because warfare was no joke. He returned home after the war to learn that only three (including him) of the 32 men and boys from his hometown who had left for the war had lived.^[3]

7 William Johnston

William Johnston is the youngest recipient of the Medal of Honor. He was born in July 1850 and enlisted in the Union 3rd Vermont Infantry as a drummer in May 1862.

He participated in the “Seven Days” battle that lasted from June 25 to July 1, 1862, in which his unit was forced to retreat by Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s forces. Confederate troops followed and fired at William’s unit as it retreated, forcing many soldiers to dump their weapons and drums.

Only William had his drum when the entire division, which included the 3rd Vermont Infantry, was mustered for an Independence Day parade on July 4. So he played for the entire division.

President Abraham Lincoln was so impressed with William’s resolve to hold onto his drum when the older soldiers dumped their weapons and drums that Lincoln awarded William the Medal of Honor. At age 13, William is the youngest recipient to date.^[4]

6 John Cook

John Cook enlisted in the Union 4th United States Artillery as a bugler when he was 15. He participated in the deadly Battle of Antietam where his battery was attacked by Confederate infantry.

His battery suffered about 17 wounded or dead during the first wave of the assault. The wounded included the commander, Captain Campbell, whose horse was killed. Injured survivors were targeted by enemy fire as they attempted to retreat to the rear, but John managed to drag the captain back there before returning to commandeer a cannon.

He was joined by the division’s commander, Brigadier General Gibbon, who loaded and fired the cannon like a regular soldier. Meanwhile, the Confederates made three unsuccessful attempts to capture the cannons.

The third attempt was the most dramatic as they got within 3–5 meters (10–15 ft) of the cannons. At the end of the fight, the battery had 44 men and 40 horses dead or wounded.^[5] John Cook was awarded the Medal of Honor for his efforts, making him the youngest artillery soldier to ever earn such a distinction.

5 Robert Henry Hendershot

Robert Henry Hendershot was 10 when he joined the Union’s 9th Michigan Infantry as a volunteer drummer in 1861. He took the drumming craft with unusual seriousness for an ill-mannered rascal who regularly fought with his mother and skipped school to pelt train passengers with fruits.

However, he was only allowed to enlist in the unit in March 1862. It was from this moment that his accounts of the war became divided between truths, exaggerated truths, and outright lies.

He reportedly killed a Confederate colonel during a siege in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where he was captured and freed during a prisoner exchange. He reenlisted in the 8th Michigan as Robert Henry Henderson on August 19, 1862, but found his way into the 7th Michigan instead. There, he claimed to have taken the surrender of a Confederate soldier in the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Trouble started in August 1891 when veterans of the 7th Michigan denied that Robert was ever in Fredericksburg. They stripped him of the title “The Drummer Boy of the Rappahannock” and claimed that the real drummer boy was either John T. Spillaine or Thomas Robinson.^[6]

Meanwhile, the 8th Michigan claimed that it was Charles Gardner. Robert only got his title back after several notable people, including President Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant, intervened.

4 Charles Edwin King

Charles Edwin King holds the record of being the youngest fatality of the Civil War. He was born on April 4, 1849, and enlisted as a drummer in the Union’s 49th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers on September 12, 1861. He was 12 years old. His father opposed his enlistment but gave in on the assurance of Captain Benjamin Sweeney, who promised to keep Charlie away from the front lines.

Charlie first saw action in the Battle of Williamsburg, where the Union Army was routed from the Virginia Peninsula by Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s troops. Charlie saw combat again in the September 17, 1862, Battle of Antietam, which remains the deadliest battle of the Civil War.^[7]

Estimates vary, but the casualty rate is believed to be at least 22,720 troops: 12,400 from the Confederate side and 10,320 from the Union. This doesn’t include civilians who died of disease after the battle and the 6,300 soldiers who died in a prelude to the battle three days earlier.

The battle would also be Charlie’s last as he was seriously wounded when shrapnel from a Confederate shell exploded close to him at the rear lines. The shrapnel passed through his body, causing extensive injuries that turned fatal three days later. He died on September 20, 1862, at age 13.

3 Frederick Grant

At age 12, Frederick Grant, the son of Union General Ulysses S. Grant, followed his father to war. Frederick camped in his father’s tent and was allocated his own horse and uniform. General Grant barred the boy from visiting the front lines, but he still did, at least until a Confederate soldier shot him in the leg.

Frederick’s low point of the war was the Battle of Port Gibson, where the Union suffered 131 dead and 719 wounded. Frederick visited the battlefield after the fighting and helped to gather the dead. This horrendous task made him sick, and he quickly left to join other soldiers bringing the wounded to a makeshift hospital. The sight at the hospital was worse, and the horrified boy left to sit by a tree.^[8]

A report by someone else who also visited this hospital after the battle stated that its yard was filled with a heap of amputated arms and legs. According to the person, seeing that was worse than seeing dead people, as it evoked in him very deep feelings he had never felt before.

2 Edward Black

Edward Black enlisted in the Union 21st Indiana Infantry as a drummer at age eight, making him the youngest person to ever serve in the United States Armed Forces. Like other drummers, Edward was always at the front, where he played his drums to lead and direct the troops. This made him and other drummers perfect targets for enemy soldiers willing to disorganize the unit.

Edward was captured during the Battle of Baton Rouge and imprisoned on an island in the Gulf of Mexico. But he regained his freedom when Union forces captured the island and nearby New Orleans.

After President Lincoln banned the use of child soldiers in 1862, Edward was discharged and returned to his Indianapolis home with his drum. However, the trauma and injuries he sustained during the war haunted him so badly that it probably contributed to his death at age 18. His drum currently sits at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis where it remains one of the museum’s most prized artifacts.^[9]

1 Abel Sheeks

Abel Sheeks fled his Alabama home to join the ranks of the Confederate Army when he was 16. With the Confederates short on uniforms, Abel had to wear his blue shirt and trousers (which resembled the Union’s uniform) into battle. That continued until a colleague asked if he wanted to be mistaken for a Union soldier.

After each engagement, Abel scoured the battlefield to scavenge uniforms from dead Confederate soldiers of his size. According to him, he hated doing it but was left with no choice. In a few weeks, he had a full Confederate uniform.

Training for military life was hell for the boys at the Confederate camps. Drills were the centerpiece, and shooting practice was almost nonexistent because guns and ammunition were in short supply. This meant that many Confederate soldiers received their shooting lessons right on the battlefield.^[10]

Drills at the Union camps were no better. One Union boy who had endured enough of the boring, repetitive actions during his first drill told the drill sergeant, “Let’s stop this fooling and go over to the grocery.” The drill sergeant did not take kindly to his suggestion and ordered a corporal to “drill him like hell.”

Oliver Taylor is a freelance writer and bathroom musician. You can reach him at [email protected].

Just four score and 78 years after the country declared independence, 11 southern US states seceded from the Union to protect the institution of slavery, plunging the nation into a Civil War. From 1861 to 1865, hundreds of thousands of lives were lost to disease, famine, and some of the 19th century’s most legendary battles. And that’s just the stuff you’ve probably heard about. In a war this big, plenty went down that would blow your mind. Let’s take a look at just a few of the insane, unbelievable events that actually happened during the American Civil War. 

10. The “Battle Above the Clouds”

The “Battle Above the Clouds” was named for being the only battle in the American Civil War fought with airplanes. Okay, not really. Otherwise known as the Battle of Lookout Mountain, it was fought high enough on the slopes of that mountain that the events were obscured from observers on the ground below, giving the confrontation its strange nickname. 

This pivotal engagement was fought on November 24, 1863, near Chattanooga, Tennessee. After the Union’s setback at Chickamauga, Confederate forces had used the heights of Lookout Mountain to surveil and bombard besieged Union positions in Chattanooga. Union General Ulysses S. Grant, fresh off a massive triumph at Vicksburg earlier that year, soon arrived to lift the siege and hurl the Confederates back over to the defensive. One of his first acts upon arriving was ordering Major General Joseph Hooker to reclaim the hill. Union soldiers battled through dense fog and defeated the defenders, setting the stage for further victories in the region. The Battle of Chattanooga was one of Grant’s last victories before he was promoted to command all Union armies.

9. The Siege of Fort Pulaski

Fort Pulaski, strategically positioned near the mouth of the Savannah River in Georgia, was believed to be invincible by both defending Confederates and attacking Union forces. Built with thick masonry walls, it was assumed that no artillery of the day could breach its defenses. But the Civil War would put that assumption to the test. In April 1862, Union forces under General Quincy A. Gillmore aimed their new rifled cannons at the fort, and within just 30 hours, they had done the unthinkable: they punctured the walls and forced a Confederate surrender.

This siege was a watershed moment in military engineering. The effectiveness of rifled artillery against traditional fortifications signaled the end for masonry forts. Future fortifications would need to account for this dramatic shift in firepower, changing the face of military defense structures forever. Along with industrialization, ironclad warships, and the novel use of telegraphs and railroads, rifled artillery proved to be one of the major game-changing innovations brought about by the American Civil War. 

8. The Copperhead Movement

While most narratives of the Civil War paint a picture of a united North against the Confederate South, it wasn’t so clear-cut. Enter the Copperheads, a vocal faction of Northern Democrats (then the conservative party) who were staunchly against the war and favored a negotiated peace with the Confederates. Their name “Copperhead” is derived from the venomous snake, hinting at their dangerous and stealthy nature; it was a term of derision used by their liberal Republican opponents.

The Copperheads, especially influential in the Midwest, criticized President Abraham Lincoln’s handling of the war and resisted the draft. They believed the war was detrimental to civil liberties, especially given Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus and other wartime measures. Figures like Ohio’s Clement Vallandigham became standard-bearers for the movement. Though the Copperheads never gained enough traction to halt the Union war effort, their existence and influence underscored the profound divisions and challenges Lincoln faced on the home front while also waging war against the Confederacy.

7. The Battle of Palmito Ranch

Just when the dust of the Civil War seemed to be settling, the Battle of Palmito Ranch erupted near Brownsville, Texas, in May 1865, a full month after General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House. While Lee’s surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia is widely seen as the practical end of the war, this skirmish is recognized as the last battle of the Civil War.

Confederate forces, led by Colonel John S. “Rip” Ford, squared off against a detachment of Union troops. Despite the widespread knowledge that the war was essentially over, fighting flared up, resulting in one last Confederate victory. It didn’t mean anything, of course, as the Confederacy had collapsed. It was just one last defiant effort to lash out against a victorious Union before the rebellion was snuffed out forever. The battle is often viewed as a puzzling and tragic footnote, where lives were lost even after the primary conflict had concluded. Its occurrence highlights the challenges of communication in that era and the localized nature of some hostilities, persisting even in the face of national reconciliation.

6. The Battle of Honey Springs

Native Americans and African Americans are in a dead heat for the title of “most mistreated by the American government.” But sadly, they found themselves at each other’s throats during the American Civil War, at the Battle of Honey Springs. In July 1863, after facing defeat at Cabin Creek, Confederate Colonel Stand Watie pulled back to safeguard the Honey Springs supply depot, joining forces with Brigadier General Douglas Cooper. Union Major General James Blunt, seizing the momentum, pursued Watie with a composite force that included units like the 2nd Colorado Infantry, 1st Kansas (Colored) Infantry, various cavalry, and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regiments of Indian Home Guard.

As dawn broke on July 17, Blunt cautiously neared Cooper’s line beyond Elk Creek. Cooper commanded an ensemble of Native American mounted rifles from the Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations, and three Texas cavalry regiments. After initiating with an artillery barrage and braving scorching heat, Blunt pressed his troops forward. A chaotic moment arose when the 2nd Indian Home Guards mistakenly crossed the 1st Kansas (Colored) Infantry’s frontline. As Union officers scrambled to rectify this, Confederates perceived it as a retreat and pushed forward, only to be met with a formidable stand from the 1st Kansas, leading to their eventual retreat. While Blunt pursued Cooper for a short while, he ultimately returned to Fort Gibson, having firmly established Union dominion over the Indian Territory.

5. Robert Smalls

Born into slavery in 1839 in Beaufort, South Carolina, Robert Smalls‘ life took a turn of audacity during the Civil War. In 1862, he famously commandeered the Confederate ship, the CSS Planter, in Charleston Harbor. In the dead of night, with the ship’s white crew ashore, Smalls and fellow enslaved crewmen sailed the vessel past Confederate defenses. Using his intimate knowledge of the ship and its operations, Smalls mimicked the captain’s signals at Confederate checkpoints, successfully navigating through the heavily fortified harbor.

Reaching Union naval blockade ships, Smalls surrendered the Planter and provided invaluable intelligence about Confederate defenses. This heroic act not only secured freedom for Smalls and his ship’s crew but also elevated him to national prominence. Smalls’ tale didn’t end there. After the war, he transitioned into politics, serving as a US Congressman representing South Carolina. Beyond his political career, Smalls’ story remains a powerful testament to the human spirit’s thirst for freedom and the risks some are willing to take to achieve it. It all begs the question: how in God’s name is this not an HBO miniseries yet? 

4. The Charge of the 1st Minnesota Regiment

The legendary downhill bayonet charge of Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain’s 20th Maine Regiment at Little Round Top, on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, gets huge fanfare from Civil War buffs, and for good reason. But it wasn’t the only awe-inspiring moment of heroism from defending Union troops that blunted the Confederate onslaught that day. The valiant charge of the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment deserves at least as much respect. On July 2, as Confederate forces threatened to break the Union’s center on Cemetery Ridge, the 1st Minnesota was called upon by Major General Winfield Scott Hancock to buy time for reinforcements to shore up the line. With approximately 262 men, they were given suicidal orders to charge into a full brigade of around 1,600 Confederate soldiers. 

The Minnesotans knew the odds but charged without hesitation, giving Union reinforcements the crucial minutes they needed. Their gallant stand resulted in significant casualties—around 82% of the regiment fell in those mere minutes, either killed, wounded, or captured. Though they paid a heavy price, their sacrifice effectively stymied the Confederate advance, allowing Union forces to regroup and eventually win the battle.

3. Battle of Franklin

Most Civil War buffs know about the Confederate failure of Pickett’s Charge during 1863’s Battle of Gettysburg, as well as similar Union failures at Fredericksburg (1862) and Cold Harbor (1864). But there’s actually another failed mass infantry assault that dwarfs those three in scale, yet gets little attention. Enter the Battle of Franklin, fought on November 30, 1864, when Confederate General John Bell Hood aimed to reclaim the city of Nashville from Union control. First, however, he aimed to crush Union forces under Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield at Franklin.

Hood launched one of the largest and most desperate infantry assaults of the war. Over 20,000 Confederates surged across two miles of open ground, leading to ferocious hand to hand combat. Ultimately, the Union line held, and the Confederates were repulsed with simply devastating consequences. They suffered approximately 6,000 casualties, including the loss of six generals who were killed, another five wounded, and one captured. The Union forces, in contrast, had about 2,000 casualties. This disastrous assault at Franklin crippled Hood’s army and set the stage for its final defeat at the Battle of Nashville, two weeks later. 

2. A Confederate Colony in Brazil

When the Civil War ended in 1865, the South was left in ruin. For some Southerners, the idea of living under the hated Union was simply unbearable. Seeking a fresh start and driven by various motives, including economic hardships and reluctance to live in a reunified country without slavery, several thousand Confederates made the decision to leave the US altogether. Brazil, with its vast tracts of fertile land and a government offering incentives for colonization, became a favored destination.

The Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro II, eager to cultivate cotton (and aware of the agricultural prowess of the Southern farmers), offered potential settlers land grants. From the mid-1860s to the early 1870s, thousands of Confederates moved to Brazil, settling mainly in the regions of São Paulo and Paraná. These Confederate expatriates established communities, most famously the town of Americana in São Paulo.

The cultural influence of these American settlers can still be seen today. The “Festa Confederada,” or Confederate Party, is an annual event in Americana, celebrating the heritage and culture of these Confederate immigrants. Participants often dress in antebellum attire, and the Confederate flag is prominently displayed, albeit more as a symbol of heritage than of political sentiment.

1. Newton Knight Secedes From the Confederacy

Newton Knight was a Mississippi farmer who became an infamous Southern Unionist during the Civil War. Disturbed by the Confederacy’s “Twenty Negro Law” (which allowed wealthy landowners with twenty slaves or more to avoid military service) and disheartened by the devastation of the war, Knight deserted the Confederate army in 1862. His belief was clear: the war was a rich man’s cause but a poor man’s fight.

Back in his home county of Jones in Mississippi, Knight assembled a band of like-minded deserters and runaway slaves. Together, they formed a formidable guerrilla force that fought Confederate forces and challenged the Confederacy’s grip on the region. By 1864, this resistance was so potent that Jones County was effectively out of Confederate control. The rebels even went so far as to declare their independence, referring to their territory as the “Free State of Jones.“

After the war, Knight’s defiance continued. He became an advocate for the rights of freedmen and clashed with the Ku Klux Klan. He also openly lived with a former slave named Rachel, and the two had several children. Knight’s mixed-race descendants became a unique community in Mississippi, blurring the rigid racial lines of the South.

There are instances when conflict arises not between states, but within a particular country. There are different reasons why civil wars happen. It can be political, religious or even political divide that drives a country to implode. These are instances when bloody civil wars of modern era could actually take its toll on the population. This could lead to human rights abuses, not to mention hamper progress.

It is common to see both economic and social drawbacks to countries that have engaged in these types of wars. Unfortunately, these wars could go for years or even decades at a time. Here are 12 bloody civil wars of modern era.

List of most brutal civil wars of modern era.

What was the most brutal modern civil war? What was the most recent civil war? Listed below are top 12 bloody civil wars of modern history.

12. Bosnian War

There are countries that are just waiting to erupt. This is exactly the case with Bosnia during the early 1990s. During the early 1990s, we’ve seen the collapse of the Soviet Union. Bosnia being a multi-cultural country has resulted to a civil war. In fact, it has been viewed by many human rights advocates as ethnic cleansing.

Bosnia along with Herzegovina and other former republics under Yugoslavia declared war. Bosnian Serbs attacked mainly the Muslim population in 1992. This civil war lasted for more than three years. Estimated total number of casualties is from 90,000 to 300,000.

The nationalist Croats and Serbs attacked the countryside which can be considered ethnic cleansing. The problem was only resolved by the UN after air strikes and sanctions. In the end, both parties agreed to enter a peace treaty.

11. Sectarian Violence in Pakistan

There are constant attacks to different groups in Pakistan. The usual targets are Sunni, Shia, Ahmad, Hindu and Christian groups. From 1987 to 2007, there were 4,000 deaths between Shia and Sunni sectarian conflicts alone. The groups blamed for the sectarian attacks are TTP, Sunni Militant Groups and even ISIS.

10. Islamic Resistance and Communism in the Philippines

Another one that made it in our list of bloody civil wars of modern era is The Philippine armed conflicts with communist guerrillas and Muslims. The Philippines is familiar with armed conflict. There are many insurgents that the Philippine government is dealing with.

To give you a background of the insurgencies happening in the Philippines, it can all be traced during the Martial Law years in 60s and 70s. Moro National Liberation Front was formed almost at the same timeline as the Communist Party of the Philippines. Both factions were fighting to free the country from a dictator, while the Muslim insurgents are also looking to secede from the country. Most of the gun fights happened in the countryside. Until today, these insurgencies are still present in the country.

The country has tried to enter different treaties in the past in order to potentially stop the gun fight in the countryside. However, it has resulted to more Muslim insurgents, Islamic extremists and a thriving communist guerrilla group.

9. Chinese Civil War

The Chinese Civil War officially started during the the 1920s. However, during the Second World War, both Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Ze Dong’s communist party decided to unite in order to defeat the Japanese invaders.

Chang Kai-shek did not believe in democracy. Instead, he believes in ruling China under one ruler which is backed by a military. With right wing tactics, Chiang Kai-shek rooted out opposition in China including communists. What Mao Ze Dong believed in is to utilize the poor people from the countryside and unite them to with the war against Chiang Kai-shek’s forces. By the end of the Chinese Civil War, Taiwan was formed.

What made the Chinese Civil War on our list of bloody civil wars in modern era is the protracted nature of its revolution that incurred 8 million casualties.

8. Sri Lankan Civil War

In 2011, UN released a report saying that the Sri Lankan Civil War has lost over 100,000 lives in a span of 26 years. The war was fought between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the local government of Sri Lanka.

A war that started in 1983, it only ended in 2009 when the Tigers considered to surrender. Unfortunately, civilian casualty is at 40,000 especially in the last five months of the conflict. With casualty of this magnitude, Sri Lankan Civil War made it in our list of bloody civil wars of modern.

Though peacetime was welcomed by Sri Lankans, there were a number of problems that still emerged after the civil war. For instance, restoration of rule of law has been quite difficult. Also, investigations regarding violations of human rights are still yet to be completed.

7. Angolan Civil War

Angola fought for its independence from Portugal. With the help of the Cubans and Soviet Union, Angola gained its freedom and established a socialist government. Soon after, civil war broke out. Union for Total Independence of Angola or UNITA, backed by the CIA fought against the Movement for the Liberation of Angola. For nearly 27 years, the battle was fought by both sides. It is considered by many as one of the most prolonged civil wars in modern history.

The Angolan Civil War ended in 2002 when Jonas Savimbi was killed. Right after, both parties agreed on having a ceasefire and had an election. Unfortunately, the Angolan Civil War left the economy in ruins, and left 500,000 deaths.

6. The Laos Secret War

The Laotian Civil War, otherwise known as the Secret War was fought between communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government. It was called the Secret War because of CIA’s involvement in the crisis. After the French left the Indochina region, the Royal Lao Government received the power but excluded the anti-colonial armed nationalist movement. The number of people lost during this war is at 450,000 for Laos and 600,000 in Cambodia. Refugees have also exceeded a million. Other than the numbers, another reason why it is considered as part of our list of bloody civil wars of modern era is because of the use of chemical warfare. >> 10 Deadliest Wars In Human History.

5. Somali Civil War

Since 1991, the Somali Civil war is still going on until the present. Home to a number of people, Siad Barre during the late 80s was their unpopular leader. In response, he attacked opposing forces which even accelerated his removal from power. In 1990s, he was reinstated in power using a revolution. After this, Northern part of the country declared independence. However, it is still unrecognized.

Until today, Somalia is among the top countries receiving help from the UN. UN constantly sends peacekeeping forces in order to facilitate aids distributed into the populace.

4. Iraq Civil War

Right after 9-11 when America decided to attack Iraq in search of Weapons of Mass Destruction, it has left the country in ruins. In effect, it has created a civil war that has been responsible for the creation of ISIS. It is part of our list of bloody civil wars because of number of other countries directly or indirectly affected by Iraq’s conflict.

It started when Fallujah and Mosul were conquered by ISIS. This forced the resignation of PM Nouri Al-Maliki. Also, this problem resulted to massive number of refugees and civilian casualties.

3. Boko Haram Insurgency

Boko Haram is a jihadist group that decided to take arms in 2009 against the government of Nigeria. By 2012, there were different factions that have been formed from Boko Haram. The most dominant and violent faction is led by Abubakar Shekau. In 2015, there were other Boko Haram groups that have joined Al Qaeda.

By 2013, 1,000 people already died as a result of this conflict. By 2014, it escalated even more and casualties reached to over 10,000 deaths. Today, the conflict has been seen in other African countries.

2. War in North West Pakistan

Another one making it in our list of bloody civil wars of modern era is the War in North West Pakistan. The War in North West Pakistan is a conflict which is also known as War in Waziristan. The state of Pakistan is involved in an armed conflict with groups such as Terik-i-Taliban-Pakistan (TTP) and ISIS. It started in 2004 when the government was searching for possible Al Qaeda members in Waziristan. Eventually, it has escalated into fully armed resistance. Cumulative number of casualties is at almost 60,000 today and it is still ongoing. >> Political Experiments On Pakistan In 70 Years.

1. Spanish Civil War

During 1936 to 1939, The Spanish Civil War can be considered as one of the bloodiest civil wars in modern history. It is included in our list of bloody civil wars of modern era simply because of the actions of the fascist Nationalist group.

The conflict is supporters of Nationalists led by General Franco and democratically elect president. The thing that makes Spanish Civil War significant in history is its prelude to the Second World War. Nazi Germany supported Franco who eventually ruled the country as a dictator, while Soviet Union supported the opposing side.

There are many conflicts within countries. From rebel groups trying to gain power to religious groups trying to get rid of each other, these are just some of the reasons why some conflicts are present in some countries. However, there are also instances when it is initiated by other factors such as presence of foreign influence such as CIA supporting groups that can protect US interest.

Bloody Civil Wars of Modern Era

1. Spanish Civil War
2. War in North West Pakistan
3. Boko Haram Insurgency
4. Iraq Civil War
5. Somali Civil War
6. The Laos Secret War
7. Angolan Civil War
8. Sri Lankan Civil War
9. Chinese Civil War
10. Islamic Resistance and Communism in the Philippines
11. Sectarian Violence in Pakistan
12. Bosnian War

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Nearly 160 years after the guns fell silent, it seems we’re still fighting the Civil War in our own way. What was it really about? Slavery, or state’s rights? Was this general or that leader really as brilliant or stupid as they’re often cracked up to be? Were there really Black Confederates? And what’s the deal with civilians having a picnic at Bull Run? Let’s dive into some of the most pervasive, annoying myths surrounding the American Civil War, and hopefully send them the way of the dinosaurs (and the institution of slavery). 

10. It wasn’t about slavery

Yeah? Nearly every major event that led to war – from compromises designed to maintain a balance between northern free states and southern slave states in the US Senate so neither side could out-legislate the other, to John Brown’s raid, to Bleeding Kansas, to the Dredd Scott decision and 1850’s Fugitive Slave Act, to the formation of the Republican Party itself as an abolitionist party (back when it represented northeastern liberals) – all pointed towards one central issue: slavery. After all that, does anyone really expect people to believe that southern leaders seceded because Lincoln was coming for their sweet tea and banjos? Yeah, okay. Sure. 

Still not convinced? Don’t take our word for it – read the simply charming things Confederate VP Alexander Stevens had to say about the issue of slavery and white supremacy. “[Our new government’s] foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.” Yikes. 

9. The Union went to war to end slavery 

11 southern states seceded in 1860 to form the Confederate States of America, hoping to protect (and eventually expand) the institution of slavery from newly-elected US President Abraham Lincoln. When it became clear calmer heads would not prevail, Lincoln and the US government called for 75,000 volunteers to go free the slaves. Right?

Uh, no. The North’s original war aim was merely to preserve the Union. That’s why it called itself, you know, “the Union” army and not “the Abolition” army. Hoping to avoid conflict and appeal to rebellious southern states, Lincoln himself said in his first inaugural address that, “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.”

It wasn’t until January 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation that the Union adapted abolition as an official strategic objective, slamming the door on much needed international support for the South (as Britain and France couldn’t be seen supporting a pro-slavery country now that the war was officially about slavery for both sides). 

8. It was the war of northern aggression

This one is at least a little true. The North had more men, money, and firepower, and needed to reassert control over the South, which merely needed to defend itself against incursion long enough for the North to get tired and give up (kind of like the British during the American Revolution). Therefore, the war took place largely in the south, with the North attacking and the South defending. 

But it’s really hard to make the argument that you’re the victim when you’re the one who started the war by seceding in the first place, and you’re the one who fired the first shots at Fort Sumter (which was only the latest in a long string of forceful Confederate takeovers of Federal forts and arsenals). Only then did Lincoln call for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion after giving Southerners plenty of time to see reason and resolve their differences with words, and not bayonets. 

Along with other pro-Confederate myths like the war not having to do with slavery, Robert E. Lee being brilliant and faultless, this myth can be traced back to the debunked tenants of the Lost Cause.

7. Civilians had a picnic at the first battle of Bull Run

When the war broke out, both sides underestimated the resolve of the other and figured the enemy would be good and whooped within a few weeks. Infamously, a crowd of clueless civilians actually accompanied the Union Army to the war’s first big clash, at Bull Run (also known as Manassas), bringing their kids, their Sunday best, and picnic baskets to what was sure to be great family entertainment. The carnage that actually unfolded was a shock to everyone involved. 

Yeah, you’ve probably heard this narrative a few times. And there is some truth to it – but just some. The image of a crowd of civilian onlookers observing the fight like modern day tourists at a battle reenactment has been grossly mischaracterized. Spectators weren’t stupid enough to think it’d be fun to watch young men getting their heads knocked off by cannonballs. It was mainly politicians and journalists who attended, trying to do their jobs. As far as food being present, that was because it was a full-day’s excursion from Washington, D.C., and onlookers couldn’t exactly ask Virginians for a bite to eat as they were now in an enemy country. 

6. Gettysburg was the biggest, most important battle of the war 

The Battle of Gettysburg is far and away the most famous battle of the war. It was also the bloodiest, with 47,000-51,000 casualties, including 8-9,000 dead. But it’s often mistakenly referred to as the biggest and most important battle of the war. Let’s look at both claims. 

Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had around 70-75,000 men at Gettysburg, whereas George Meade’s Union Army of the Potomac had more than 90,000, for a total of around 163,000 men. But December 1862’s Battle of Fredericksburg featured around 200,000 men. 

As far as being the most important battle, that’s up for debate. It was a defensive victory for the Union, but Lee was able to escape back into Virginia when it was all said and done, allowing him to continue the war there for another two years. The simultaneous siege of Vicksburg (which ended the day after Gettysburg with a crushing Union victory ) was arguably more strategically important, as it secured Union control over the Mississippi, cut the South in two, and destroyed a whole rebel army of 40,000 men, ending an entire theater of war.  

5. Meade should have chased and destroyed Lee after Gettysburg 

Lee tried everything to destroy Meade’s Union army at Gettysburg. But his enemy held the line against numerous assaults, including a dramatic, all-out, 12,500 man infantry assault known as Pickett’s charge on July 3, which resulted in attacking rebel divisions being decimated. The following day, Lee’s mauled, demoralized army began a torturous retreat back to native Virginia.

You’d think Meade should’ve pounced on Lee right then and there, smashing what remained of his forces and ending the war two years early. Right? President Lincoln certainly seemed to think so, writing in an unsent 1863 letter that he was “distressed immeasurably” because of Meade’s failure to seize the moment and crush Lee once and for all. 

But Meade’s caution here likely reflected wisdom, not indecision or cowardice. His own army, though victorious, had been thrashed in the fight and badly needed rest, reorganization, and hot food. If he had sent his exhausted regiments charging out of their positions towards Lee, the Confederates might’ve had an opportunity to dive behind their own stone walls and give them what for, reversing the hard-fought and desperately needed victory the Union had just achieved.  

4. Amputations were always done without anesthesia

You’ve seen it in countless Civil War movies. Doctors with saws, bloody aprons, big mustaches and seemingly no understanding of sanitation whatsoever, hacking and slicing right through the mangled limbs of wounded men who are either screaming in agony, begging for them to stop, or biting down on something so hard it’s a wonder their teeth didn’t crack. That was just what life was like in the 1860s, an age before modern medicine. 

But nope! This is actually a myth. Anesthesia had been demonstrated in surgery in the United States as early as the 1840s, so its numbing properties were well known by the Civil War and it was widely used on both sides throughout the conflict. It’s estimated that as many as 95% of all Civil War amputations utilized anesthesia. 

It didn’t look quite like it does today, we’ll admit. In the war, patients would often be asked to inhale from a chloroform-soaked sponge placed near their nose and mouth, gradually knocking them out cold. If anyone did squirm and had to be held town, it was because of the anesthetic, not the ongoing amputation. 

3. Sherman’s March to the Sea was a murderous war on civilians 

After seizing Atlanta, Union General William Sherman detached his army from its supply lines and boldly marched towards the Atlantic through Georgia, living off the land, burning farms supporting Confederate armies, wrapping railroads around trees, freeing slaves, and wreaking general havoc. This March to the Sea was the manifestation of Sherman’s belief that the fastest (and most merciful) way to end the war was to undermine the ability of civilians to support the army. 

It was harsh, yes. But tales of Union troops pillaging, plundering, and murdering for the fun of it have been greatly exaggerated. It was also, sadly, sound military strategy. It devastated the South and its ability to feed its troops and continue resisting. Also, news of the march caused desertions in Lee’s army to skyrocket during the Siege of Petersburg, bringing Grant that much closer to final victory in Virginia. 

Furthermore, outcry that Sherman was engaging in war crimes of unprecedented barbarism is rich, coming from the side that passed laws literally requiring any and all captured Black Union soldiers to be murdered on the spot, rather than taken prisoner. 

2. There were Black Confederates

“If the South was so racist during the Civil War, why did thousands of Black men serve in the Confederate army?” Oh, this one’s easy. They didn’t! 

At least, not by their own free will. Many Confederate soldiers did indeed drag their slaves to war, but only permitted them to perform menial tasks around camp. Confederate law expressly forbade giving Black men the “honor” of actually fighting (for the cause of their own enslavement). Maybe you’ve seen photos of Confederate infantryman Andrew Chandler posing with his “lifelong friend,” Silas, sitting side by side, seemingly as equals. At least some Confederate soldiers were therefore kind to their Black buddies, right? Well, no. Silas was a slave. As were all Black men who you may, from time to time, see pictures of in Confederate uniform. 

The south did eventually try to arm slaves – something that they’d been very hesitant to do as they feared a slave revolt – but that was a hail mary thrown in utter desperation in March 1865, as Southern armies were collapsing everywhere. The war would end within weeks, before any slave regiments actually saw service. 

1. Confederate generals were better 

“Between Robert E. Lee, Nathan Bedford Forrest (let’s not talk about how he was the first Grand Wizard of the KKK), and Stonewall Jackson, the Confederates were blessed with a murderer’s row of some of the finest strategic minds in military history. The north, meanwhile – oof. McClellan, Pope and Burnside were all fighting to be elected Mayor of Doofustown. They only won because they had so many more men!” 

Yeah, not so fast. Lee and Jackson had plenty of defeats under their belt and arguably fought the war far too aggressively for the outnumbered, defending side. This led to irreplaceable losses and yes, their ultimate defeat. Forrest was tactically successful as a cavalry leader, but not particularly impactful since the South didn’t win a single major battle outside Virginia throughout the entire war, other than September 1863’s Battle of Chickamauga (which didn’t help much). And between Grant, Sherman, Thomas, and Sheridan, the Union had plenty of brilliant generals. As far as only winning because of larger numbers – that’s an advantage Grant’s failed predecessors also possessed over Lee, proving that alone couldn’t possibly be the only reason he crushed Lee’s army in less than a year.

The American Civil War was exceptional in its brutality and the loss of American lives. It took place in the violent sweet spot in history after the American adoption of guerrilla warfare, rifled weapons, and repeating weapons, and before the proliferation of modern hygienic and medical standards, as well as the invention of antibiotics. This meant that the conflict was poised to deliver maximum casualties with relatively minimal recovery.

This proved true, and more Americans died in the conflict than any other war in the nation’s history. Tales of the suffering it caused are notorious, as are the tales of the paranormal legacy that suffering left behind. All in all, it makes the Civil War an eerie topic, and many stories from the conflict, whether real or paranormal, are chilling. Here are ten of those Civil War stories sure to unnerve you.

10 The Taste of Brains

It was common for literate soldiers to write diaries during their deployment, whether as personal journals or meant as letters to loved ones. Henry Fitzgerald Charles kept one, and it chronicles his service to the Union as part of the 21st Pennsylvania Cavalry. He was involved in many conflicts over his three stints in the war. Certainly, he saw his share of the war’s horrors. One stands out.

He writes about one day when he and another soldier entered the woods after a battle had ended there, looking for salvage. They rested and, “All at once I heard a gun crack and at the same time my mouth was filled with another man’s brains. There was a sharpshooter in the distant woods somewhere… I reckon he waited till he had us both in line and was going to kill two birds with one stone, but my friend’s head was too hard—it reflected the bullet. If I swallowed any of it, it certainly came up along with everything else I had in my stomach.” A bullet meant for both men was stopped by his friend’s skull, and Charles had a taste of his friend’s brains.

9 The Devil’s Den, Gettysburg

The Devil’s Den is a rocky hill in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was named for its twisting passages that seem to cut through its many large boulders, thought to be made by a giant serpent. See: the biblical Devil. The small hill is home to an impressive amount of ghost stories and purported sightings. For one, the whole hill seems to become a dead zone for electronics at random intervals. Visitors have claimed to see uniformed Union soldiers walking through it, even one with a bloody chest wound who asks passers-by for help.

If ghosts are real, then Devil’s Den would be a natural haunt. The hill was a battleground on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the single bloodiest battle in the entire Civil War, which again is the single bloodiest conflict in American history.

8 Angel’s Glow

This story concludes in a very wholesome way, but imagining how soldiers in the war experienced it, it must have been frightening. There are multiple reports from the war that soldiers’ injuries would sometimes begin mysteriously glowing blue, most famously those at the Battle of Shiloh. Further, those that did glow seemed more likely to survive. The otherworldly light came to known as Angel’s Glow.

The glow was written off as superstition for a century and a half until a 17-year-old whose mother studied bioluminescent bacteria learned of Angel’s Glow and put two and two together. He and a friend conducted some experiments and were able to unravel the whole mystery. It turns out the heavenly light of the angels was caused by the bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens. Though to soldiers at the time who knew nothing of microbiology, this must have been an unearthly experience.

7 Green Eyes

A monster story that comes from Civil War soldiers themselves is that of Ol’ Green Eyes. It is a supernatural creature that haunts the site of the Battle of Chickamauga in Tennessee and Georgia. The creature itself varies between tellings. It is sometimes a giant white ghoul, sometimes a green-skinned swamp creature with fangs, and sometimes a headless soldier searching for the lost head. The one thing that every version shares are bright, glowing green eyes. (Yes, even the headless soldier, somehow). It’s no surprise the area is haunted. Over 34,000 soldiers died on that spot within just three days.

6 The Dream of John C. Calhoun

John Calhoun was an American politician, most famous for serving as Vice President to both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. He was called the ‘cast-iron man’ for his unwavering, absolute support of Southern customs and beliefs, including slavery and white supremacy. One night a few years before the war, Calhoun was preparing a plan for the South to leave the Union when he was visited in a dream.

He said, “The sight struck me like a thunderclap. It was the face of a dead man whom extraordinary events had called back to life. The features were those of George Washington and he was dressed in his General’s uniform.” Washington then placed a black spot on Calhoun’s right hand which, said Washington, “is the mark by which Benedict Arnold is known in the next world.” Washington warned Calhoun that dissolving the Union would be traitorous, and would haunt him throughout his eternal afterlife.

5 St. Peter’s Ghost

St. Peter’s Church in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia was used as a hospital during the Civil War. Its staff cared for soldiers from both sides, and both armies were careful to avoid attacking it with artillery or otherwise harming it. It is said to be haunted by the spirit of a young soldier who died in its doorway.

The young man was wounded and asked nurses at the church to see him. Labeling his wounds as low priority, they saw to other, seemingly more grievous injuries first. The soldier laid in front of the church, waiting. Finally, his time came, and nurses began carrying him inside. Just as he passed through the entranceway, his wound overcame him and he died. Allegedly, just moments before passing, he whispered, “I’m saved.”

4 Champ Ferguson

For the vast majority of Southern men who supported the Confederate effort and wanted to help, the choice was clear: enlist and aid them as a soldier. Champ Ferguson chose a different path. Ferguson chose not to join the Confederacy in any official way and instead gathered a unit of like-minded friends and neighbors under his, and only his, command. Acting on Ferguson’s orders, the unit spent the war carrying out guerrilla attacks on whomever they pleased.

They routinely attacked and killed civilians who Ferguson believed supported the Union. They were known to be indiscriminate, attacking the wounded, the elderly, and sleeping targets. Unconfirmed (though believable) reports state that Ferguson sometimes mutilated the bodies of his victims after death, decapitating them or otherwise mutilating them. After the war, he was caught and tried, when he admitted to killing over 100 men himself. He was hanged for war crimes.

3 Andersonville Prison

Champ Ferguson’s execution for war crimes made him one of only two men in the Civil War to be put to death for this crime. The other was Captain Henry Wirz, commander of the infamous Andersonville Prison, known as Camp Sumter. Andersonville was a Confederate prison camp in which over 13,000 Union troops died due to starvation, dehydration, and disease.

Conditions at the prison were atrocious and inhumane, and some photographs of survivors look indistinguishable from those of Nazi concentration camps. Dysentery, scurvy, and typhoid fever ravaged the crowded Union POWs, killing an estimated 100 per day. Prisoners would later recount their experience as being constant cruelty and suffering, with many earnestly believing the prison was Hell.

2 Washington Again

One of the most famous triumphant stories from the Civil War is that of Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and his 20th Maine Infantry Regiment. The regiment made a dramatic charge down Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg, likely preventing a total Union loss. Instead of Chamberlain, however, many soldiers in the regiment claim to have seen the ghost of George Washington in full Revolutionary War regalia giving the order to charge.

When asked about the alleged specter later in his life, Chamberlain reportedly said, “I have no doubt that it had a tremendous psychological effect in inspiring the men. Doubtless, it was a superstition, but who among us can say that such a thing was impossible? We have not yet sounded or explored the immortal life that lies out beyond the Bar. I only know the effect, but I dare not explain or deny the cause.”

1 The Tragedy of Sullivan Ballou

Major Sullivan Ballou fought for the Union Army who became famous after a letter he wrote to his wife Sarah was featured in Ken Burns’s documentary “The Civil War.” The letter, read aloud in the documentary, changed how many people thought about soldiers of that era. Whereas before, many thought the average soldier was simple and had a basic literacy, Ballou’s letter proved they could be eloquent, deep, contemplative, and even poetic. One section reads, “The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and loved together and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us.”

Heartfelt and beautiful, the letter became iconic. In sharp contrast, however, Ballou’s life after its writing was brutal and profane. He died one week later at the First Battle of Bull Run. A cannonball ripped off much of his right leg, and he eventually succumbed to the wound. Unconfirmed reports state that Confederate soldiers discovered his burial site. He was then exhumed, decapitated, and his desecrated body cruelly hung on display.

What do a Cherokee chief, best-selling author, Texas Ranger, President of the United States, and Episcopal bishop all have in common? They were all generals in the American Civil War. Many people may have heard of Robert E. Lee or Ulysses S. Grant, but there are far more Civil War generals that have faded into the background.

The bloodiest conflict in United States history and the last major war on the North American continent pitted brother against brother, bringing together an unlikely list of characters whose fame exceeded their actions on the battlefield.

10 Lewis Wallace

Lew Wallace’s military career had its ups and downs, as he served in both the Mexican-American War as well as the Civil War. As one of Ulysses S. Grant’s generals, he was relieved of his command after allegations that he had been late in bringing reinforcements to the Battle of Shiloh in early 1862, claims which he would deny continuously. Later in the war, Wallace would halt Confederate General Jubal Early’s advance toward Washington, D.C., at the Battle of Monocacy, thereby protecting the capital.

His fame apart from the war began in 1878, when he was appointed territorial governor of New Mexico, where he ended the Lincoln County War and personally met with Billy the Kid to offer him amnesty. His final governmental position would be as an ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which he held from 1881 to 1885.

His lasting fame came, however, from his literary career, most notably his 1880 book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, which was well-received both at the time and after that, leading to the 1959 film starring Charlton Heston as well as the 2016 remake.^[1]

9 Lawrence Sullivan Ross

Lawrence Sullivan Ross’s family moved to Texas in 1839 and helped found the town of Waco, where “Sul,” as he was later called, spent much of his childhood. In 1860 he joined the Texas Rangers and assisted in the recovery of Cynthia Ann Parker, the niece of Texas politician Isaac Parker, who had been kidnapped by the Comanche Natives at a young age. After Texas seceded from the Union, he became a Confederate general and served with distinction in the western theater of the Civil War.

After the war, he operated his farm and ranch and became sheriff of Waco from 1873 to 1875, during which time he arrested nearly 700 outlaws. He was then elected a state senator and then governor of Texas. As governor, he focused on land-use reform in beneficial ways to farmers and ranchers, enacted tax-reform measures, and expanded state-sponsored charitable efforts. In 1891, the struggling Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Texas A&M University) asked Ross to step in as its president, where he improved campus facilities and fostered a strong school spirit and tradition which remains to this day.^[2]

8 Jefferson Columbus Davis

Jefferson Columbus Davis was a Union general who shared a name with the Confederate President—Jefferson Finis Davis—and shot and killed a superior officer over a disagreement in 1862. Davis served with distinction in the Mexican-American War and was stationed at Fort Sumter when Confederate forces bombarded it to begin the war. He commanded forces in the western theater of the war before being assigned to Louisville, Kentucky, under General William “Bull” Nelson. The trouble began here, as Nelson and Davis immediately disliked each other, with Nelson relieving Davis and sending him away.

Unfortunately for “Bull,” Davis was reassigned to Louisville. When he arrived and reported to Nelson, the two insulted one another and exchanged blows, after which Davis retrieved a pistol from a friend and shot General Nelson, who died within a half-hour. Davis was arrested but was soon released because of the army’s need for officers. He went on to serve throughout the remainder of the war, suffering no legal repercussions regarding the shooting but gaining fame and notoriety ever after.^[3]

7 Benjamin McCulloch

Born in Tennessee in 1811, Benjamin McCulloch was a friend of frontiersman and eventual U.S. Senator Davy Crockett, who compelled McCulloch to ride to Texas to participate in the Texas Revolution in 1836. He served in the Battle of San Jacinto, which won the war for Texas, and then served as an Indian fighter with the Texas Rangers. He repelled Mexican raids into South Texas and fought in the Mexican-American War under future U.S. President Zachary Taylor.

Between the Mexican War and the Civil War, McCulloch’s exploits included becoming a gold prospector in California, also known as “49ers,” and negotiating peace with Brigham Young in Utah (LINK 18). After Texas’s secession in 1861, McCulloch was made a brigadier general and raised a significant army in Texas, which was successful in the western theater until his death at the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas.^[4]

6 James A. Garfield

Eventually elected the 20th President of the United States, James A. Garfield was first a Union general with many other distinctions. From humble origins in Ohio, Garfield became an educated man and a noted abolitionist. He became a general in the Union Army during the Civil War, serving notably in Tennessee until 1863, when he became U.S. representative for Ohio.

A Radical Republican, Garfield supported Reconstruction measures and was influential in financial decisions, strongly supporting anti-inflation and the gold standard. In addition to his congressional career, Garfield had a significant interest in mathematics, and in 1876 he published a well-reviewed proof of the Pythagorean theorem.

He defeated fellow Union general Winfield Scott Hancock in the 1880 presidential election and pushed reform during his time in office, including civil rights for former slaves. In 1881, however, Charles Guiteau shot the president, who had previously refused him a political office. Despite an initial recovery, infection from doctors’ hands eventually killed Garfield. He was only in office for about 200 days— March 4, 1881 to September 19, 1881.^[5]

5 John C. Breckinridge

From a prominent Kentucky family which included Thomas Jefferson’s attorney general, John C. Breckinridge was an affluent politician in the years preceding the Civil War. He studied law at Princeton and graduated from Transylvania University, later being elected to the Kentucky state legislature in 1849. A states’ rights Democrat, he was then quickly elected to the U.S. House as a representative for Kentucky, where he gained notice as a solid party-line voter.

In 1856, Breckinridge was selected as the running mate for James Buchanan’s successful presidential bid, becoming the youngest vice president ever at 36. When Abraham Lincoln, head of the newly-founded Republican Party, ran for president in 1860, the Democrats were split in nominating his contender, with Southern states nominating Breckinridge and Northerners preferring Stephen Douglas.

Regardless, Lincoln was elected president, and Breckinridge accepted a Senate seat, which he quickly resigned as his sympathies lay with the new Confederacy, where he was given a generalship. He dealt with his struggles throughout the war, not being a professional military man, and had a bitter rivalry with fellow general Braxton Bragg. He survived the war but died of cirrhosis in 1875.^[6]

4 George B. McClellan

Like Breckinridge, George Brinton McClellan also lost a presidential campaign to Abraham Lincoln, though it was four years later in 1864. Before that, McClellan was a career military man, serving with distinction in the Mexican-American War and acting as an observer during the Crimean War. After the poor showing of the Union Army at the First Battle of Manassas in 1861, Winfield Scott resigned his position as General-in-Chief, which was given to McClellan by Abraham Lincoln.

McClellan proved to be very adept at training and organization and can be credited with massively improving the Union Army, but his battlefield legacy would haunt his career. With a reputation for being overly cautious, he was blamed for failing to make any headway against Confederate forces and was replaced by Henry W. Halleck after the Seven Days Battles in 1862.

As mentioned above, 1864’s presidential election saw McClellan running against Lincoln on a campaign to end the war by negotiating with the Confederacy. However, he lost by a considerably wide margin. After the war, he was elected governor of New Jersey and spent the rest of his post-official life defending his wartime legacy.^[7]

3 Stand Watie

A general with the twofold distinction of being the last Confederate general to surrender as well as the only general on either side with Native American ancestry, Stand Watie was born with the name Degadoga (meaning “He Stands”) on Cherokee land in Georgia. He was active in tribal politics as one of four chiefs who signed the Treaty of New Echota, which traded traditional Cherokee land in Georgia for new land which would become the Cherokee Nation in modern-day Oklahoma. The result was the “Trail of Tears” and a lifelong rivalry with disagreeing factions led notably by Chief John Ross, who executed the other signers of the treaty, with Watie escaping.

When the Civil War broke out, Watie joined the Confederate Army, eventually reaching the rank of brigadier general, fighting mostly in the Arkansas, Louisiana, and Indian Territory. Watie was the last Confederate general to surrender to the Union in June of 1865 and was later a delegate to the re-negotiation of treaties with the United States in September 1865. The character of Lone Watie in Clint Eastwood’s 1976 film The Outlaw Josey Wales is loosely based on Stand Watie.^[8]

2 George Crook

After his service in the Civil War, George Crook was a storied general of the Old West. He graduated from West Point in 1852 and saw action throughout the Civil War, notably under Philip Sheridan in the Valley Campaign of 1864. His real fame, however, began after the war when he was detached to the west to address problems with several Native American tribes. He led expeditions against the Sioux in the mid-1870s, which included his defeat at the Battle of the Rosebud in 1876, whose outcome may have decided George Custer’s fate at Little Bighorn.

Crook returned to Arizona in 1881 to fight the Apache tribe largely led by famed warrior Geronimo. Nicknamed the “Tan Wolf” by Apache, he was considered a strong enemy with respect for his adversary. While in pursuit, Crook went off alone hunting for food, where he came face-to-face with Geronimo and his warriors, who did not attack but came to discuss peace terms, which Crook negotiated fairly.

Unfortunately for Crook, Geronimo violated the terms of surrender, which necessitated Crook bringing him back once again. Shortly after, Crook lost his post. He spent his final years trying to ensure the U.S. government would keep its word concerning Indian treaties, which was noticed by his former enemy Chief Red Cloud, who said, “He never lied to us. His words gave my people hope”.^[9]

1 Leonidas Polk

Leonidas Polk’s career began and ended martially, graduating from West Point in 1827 and dying from a cannonball shot during the Atlanta Campaign as a Confederate general in 1864. But in between, his time was spent not in the barracks but at the pulpit as an Episcopal priest and later bishop.

In 1838 he was appointed Missionary Bishop of the Southwest and later Bishop of Louisiana in 1841. His life’s work culminated in 1860 when he broke ground for the new University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, which stands to this day). When the South seceded in 1861, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, an old friend, convinced Polk to accept a generalship in the Confederate Army.

As a general, he was well-liked by his men, but not by his superior, General Braxton Bragg, who felt his quality as a military leader was lacking. Polk was positioned between Sherman and Atlanta in 1864 when a volley of cannon fire ended his life just four years before the opening of his university.^[10]