Friday, August 26, 2011

Civil War Oddities #6


Of the future members of the United States Supreme Court who were fighting age during the Civil War, seven were in uniform. Four fought for the Union: Oliver Wendell Holmes, John M. Harlan, William B. Woods, and Stanley Matthews. Three fought for the Confederacy: Edward D. White, Horace H. Lurton and Lucius Q. C. Lamar.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Civil War Oddities #5


A Monsieur Chillon, a French army veteran who had migrated to California, walked cross-country to war in 1861, through Indian territory accompanied only by his donkey, Jason, with whom he slept.

Chillon was welcomed by the French-speaking 3rd Louisiana of the Confederate Army and settled down. There was one trouble: the regiment’s colonel bore a strong resemblance to old Chillon, and at bedtime Jason invariably pushed into the commander’s tent and tried to curl up next to the officer, to the joyous yelping of the troops.