The Civil War

Many Civil War battles have two names, one southern and one northern. For instance, the South referred to one battle as "Shiloh" while the North called the same battle "Pittsburg Landing." The South tended to name battles after nearby towns and other man-made landmarks while the North named them after waterways and other geographical locations.

Union General Ambrose E. Burnside, the loser at the Battle of Fredericksburg, left little to posterity in terms of his ability as a general, but he did give his name to a form of facial hair known as the "sideburn." (On the other hand, it is not true that Union General Joe Hooker left his name to posterity, despite his love for women.)³

The state of Delaware did not ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, until 1901.

The state of Mississippi did not ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, until 1995.

By the end of the war, annual inflation in the South had reached 9,000%. That meant that something that cost $10 in January would cost nearly $1,000 in December, and a Confederate dollar printed in 1861 was valued at about 3¢ in 1865, if you could find anyone to take it.⁴