Amazing Civil War Facts, bats first!

Learn these Amazing Civil War Facts and share

Though the Confederacy was far behind the North in technology and manufacturing capability, they were not ever short of ingenuity. Take a look at these amazing Civil War facts.
The Confederates utilized bats and their poop.
Consider the wealth of bat colonies in the caves of the South, particularly Texas. The Mexican Free-tail bats congregated in caves in Texas particularly, and they had been there for eons, thus great piles of bat guano had accumulated on the cave floors.
This guano was used to extract saltpeter (potassium nitrate), one of the 3 ingredients of gunpowder, along with sulfur and charcoal.
Yankees were sent a’runnin’ because of bat guano gunpowder in Rebel bullets.
Even after the rebellion, Texans shipped tons of bat guano to other countries out of the Galveston harbor, primarily to Scotland who used the guano to make ammonia in abundant quantities.
When WWII came along, the army began research efforts to see if the bats could be affixed to small explosive devices that could then be dropped atop the Japanese. The bats would then seek out dark spaces in Japan’s cities, then catch fire, which would then start major fires in those cities.
The plan died for a variety of reasons. America won the war without the help of bats.
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1. One in every 65 Federals was killed in action, one in every 45 Confederates were killed in action.
2. General Meade who was in charge of the Union army in the battle of Gettysburg was born in Spain.
3. The term “sawbones” came about in the Civil War because the most common operation performed by surgeons was sawing off the wounded soldiers limbs.

THIS AMAZING CIVIL WAR FACTS SHOCKS SOME PEOPLE
4. One of the most Amazing Civil War facts. “Dixie” was composed by a northerner, Daniel Emmett. He was a minstrel performer and composer who often dressed in “blackface” as part of the entertainment for northern audiences.
5. In the time immediately after the war, 2 out of 3 men sentenced to state prison were former soldiers. Probably PTSD was prevalent then, just not recognized as it is today. Was was hell and always has been.
6. Seven future presidents served in the Civil War – Ulysses Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley (who was assassinated and probably died from poor medical attention from the doctors who made the wound worse), James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, Chester A. Arthur, and Andrew Johnson.

A SAD FACT
7. The Twenty-sixth North Carolina regiment had the worst losses of any regiment in battle. It lost 708 of 800 men – killed, wounded or missing at Gettysburg.
8. Generally, in good weather, soldiers could march 15 to 20 miles a day, although that amount was often higher. It would be fewer miles if the roads were muddy and slogged or if wagons held up the march.
9. A very sad, yet Amazing Civil War fact: The War Between the States was the first war in the world ( read below)

immediately reported by the press.

10. the first battle photographs were taken at Antietam, most of them after the tragic conflict. The photographs of the dead bodies, taken by Matthew Brady and his crew, were put on display. People paid to see the photographs, and the horrors of war was brought home to the general population.

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