Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon was the first General to be killed west of the Mississippi at the battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri (Oak Hills) in 1861.

Confederate Major General James Longstreet fought the Battle of Antietam in Carpet Slippers, due to an injured heel.

The most contested town in the war was Winchester, VA, changing hands 72 times.

When U.S. Grant married in 1848, his best man was James Longstreet.

Both armies regularly passed the time by staging lice races.

The oldest officer in the war was Major General William Wilkens who was 83 when commissioned in 1862.

The youngest officer in the war was E.G. Baxter of the Confederate 7^th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry who made 2^nd Lt. when he was 13 years old.

The tune for "The Bonnie Blue Flag" was borrowed from the old song "The Irish Jaunting Car." The tune is still heard today as the fight song for Georgia Tech.

Among the Union wounded at the Battle of South Mountain was future U.S. President, Lt. Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes. Another future president in the Battle of South Mountain was Sgt. William McKinley.

Although 4,000 shells were fired at Ft. Sumter (in 1861), not a single man was wounded or killed in the exchange.

The Record for most horse's shot out from under a rider is 29…and that rider was Lt. General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

The Union victory at Antietam persuaded President Lincoln to issue his Emancipation Proclamation.

Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, made her first appearance as a volunteer nurse at Antietam. At one point, a stray bullet passed through her sleeve, killing a soldier she was caring for.

Cadet Lewis Armistead was expelled from West Point for breaking a dinner plate over the head of cadet Jubal Early.

The first carrier task force of the U.S. Navy, began operations on the Potomac River, when John La Mountain used the armed steamer Fanny to launch observation balloons off fortress Monroe, at Hampton Roads VA.

John O'Connor held the record for bounty jumping. He admitted enlisting and jumping 32 times before being caught; he served a four-year prison term.

The first vessel dedicated to the launch and recovery of aerial craft was the coal barge USS George Washington Park Custis that was converted especially for this purpose. This began operation in August 1861 and launched and recovered observation balloons!

Major General Stonewall Jackson made Belle Boyd an honorary member of his staff with the rank of Captain for the intelligence she provided in the capture of Front Royal, Virginia.

Of the 10 Union officers inside Fort Sumter, 6 became major generals, 3 were killed, one of those went south and became a colonel.

In the last year of the war, more than one-fourth of the Confederate soldiers in the eastern armies had been drafted.

During her lifetime, the C.S.S. Alabama never entered a single Confederate port.

Confederate prisoners captured at Saylor's Creek included Major General George Washington Custis Lee, eldest son of Robert E. Lee.

Arlington National Cemetery used to be Robert E. Lee's mansion. But, it was his wife's house before his. Her name was Mary Lee. She was once Mary Custis because she was the granddaughter of Martha Washington.

Major General Daniel Sickles, commander of the Federal III Corps, was the first person in the United States to use the plea of "Temporary Insanity" in the case of murder. Sickles killed his wife's lover after catching them in the act before the war.

Major General George Armstrong Custer captured the first and the last battle flag of the Civil War. He was also given the table on which the treaty to end the war was written.

Four of Quantrell's Raiders at Lawrence were Cole, James, John, and Robert Younger. Known at the Younger Brothers after the war, they teamed up with Frank and Jesse James to rob banks, trains, and stagecoaches.

The 101^st Airborne Division adopted an official eagle mascot, "Young Abe." The bird was reputed to be a descendant of "Old Abe." At least the tradition and part of the name were descended from the 8^th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry.

The Confederate 1^st Louisiana Volunteer Infantry allegedly had men of 37 different nationalities in its ranks.

More than 10,000 soldiers under the age of eighteen served in the Union armies.

Bayonets accounted for less than 4% of battlefield wounds; artillery fire caused less than 5%. Bullets, on the other hand, caused more than 90% of the wounds.

The Union 39^th New York Volunteer Infantry (the Garibaldi Guard) had men of fifteen different nationalities, so that seven languages were in common use: English, French, Italian, German, Hungarian, Spanish, and Portuguese.

One battle with seven names: White Oak Swamp / Frayser's Farm / Glendale / Charles City Cross Roads / Nelson's Farm / Turkey Bend / New Market Cross Roads, VA, which was fought on June 30, 1862.