Being in school for over a decade has probably convinced you that you know everything there is to know about the Civil War. You have probably sat through countless History classes and quizzes. Unfortunately, you don’t know the half of it.
Here are some very surprising facts about the Civil War that you probably didn’t know about:
1.) Robert E. Lee’s estate was confiscated and turned into a cemetery during the Civil War.
2.) The Gatling Gun was invented during the Civil War.
3.) Hundreds of women dressed up as men and fought in the Civil War.
4.) Lincoln was shot at and nearly killed years before his assassination, a bullet went through his top hat.
5.) Walt Whitman served as a nurse during the Civil War.
6.) Soldiers would march on average 15-20 miles a day.
7.) The 13th Amendment, which ended slavery wasn’t ratified until 1901 in Delaware and 1976 in Kentucky.
8.) Union General Daniel Sickles was the first person to successfully use the temporary insanity plea in court.
9.) During the war there were over 60,000 amputations.
10.) Confederate General Martin Green’s last words were, “A bullet has not yet been molded that will kill me.” Moments later he was shot in the head and killed.
11.) In the 20 years after the Civil War, the nation’s divorce rate went up 150%.
12.) Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was the first woman surgeon in US Military history and is the only woman to with the Medal of Honor.
13.) Disease was the biggest killer in the war. Over one million soldiers got malaria.
14.) When he was assassinated, Abraham Lincoln had a $5 Confederate bill in his wallet.
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