December 2009

So many statistics….So little time

by fifer1863 on December 29, 2009

According to John Busey’s “These Honored Dead: The Union Casualties at Gettysburg”, the following is a list of the number of soldiers killed during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Army Of the Potomac :

New York

978

Pennsylvania

745

Massachusetts

200

Michigan

200

US Regulars

182

Ohio

139

Maine

119

Wisconsin

105

Indiana

96

New Jersey

80

New Hampshire

67

Vermont

58

Minnesota

50

Connecticut

45

Maryland

29

Delaware

21

Rhode Island

14

West Virginia

11

Illinois

9

Total

3,148

Army of Northern Virginia:

North Carolina

1452

Virginia

1012

Georgia

774

Mississippi

393

South Carolina

295

Alabama

254

Louisiana

141

Texas

111

Florida

80

Maryland

65

Tennessee

55

Arkansas

41

Total

4,673

Total number killed: 7,821

Based on these figures, you can easily have your students working on some math concepts. Have your students answer questions such as:

  • What is the average number of soldiers killed for both the North and the South?
  • What percentage of the total number of soldiers killed were from Ohio?
  • What percentage of those killed were from the South?
  • How many more soldiers were killed from North Carolina versus Pennsylvania?

Or, how about some critical thinking skills…

  • Why do you think New York and North Carolina had the highest number of soldiers killed?
  • During what day of the battle do you think Minnesota lost the greatest number of soldiers and why?

Until next time. From just north of Gettysburg…

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Merry Christmas

by cwptedu on December 25, 2009

On January 3, 1863, Harper’s Weekly ran the following Thomas Nast image of Santa Claus visiting the Civil War Soldiers

thomas-nast-santa-claus

What can you see in the picture?  There is so much to see in this photo.  From the drummer boys playing with the Jack-in-the-box to the troops chasing a pig in the background (notice one soldier falling down in the chase).

How about a little seek and find.  Can you find:

  • a drum
  • a soldier with a pipe
  • Santa’s Reindeer
  • two American Flags
  • A soldier with a stocking
  • a soldier climbing a pole

This image is fun to look at and rich in details.  I love the outfit that Santa is wearing, the soldiers in their great coats, the Sibley tents and the “Welcome Santa” sign.  According to an brief article in the paper, Santa is showing the soldiers “Jeff Davis’s future.  He is tying a cord pretty tightly around his neck, and Jeff seems to be kicking very much at such a fate.” The article also says that a group of soldiers in the background are playing football.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours.

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Christmas Eve

by Jim on December 24, 2009

christmas-eve-1500

The above illustration by Thomas Nast is entitled “Christmas Eve, 1862″ and is from an 1862 issue of Harper’s Weekly.  On the right side of the illustration is a Civil War soldier on duty sitting next to a fire on a cold night.  In addition to holding his musket, he is holding a photo of his family.  Behind him are other soldiers sitting next to a tree and standing guard.  On the left side is his wife, kneeling in prayer with their children “nestled all snug in their beds.”

Look closely in the upper left portion of the illustration and you can see Santa (complete with reindeer) getting ready to head down the chimney.  In the upper right Santa is delivering presents to soldiers in the field.  All the while, the Civil War is raging below them in the form of both a land and a sea battle.  And in between, the hardships of war, graves of fallen soldiers.

So, on this Christmas Eve, let us pause to remember those families who have loved ones serving in our military and pray for their safe return home.

Merry Christmas.

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Weapons of the Civil War

December 16, 2009

Civil War infantry soldiers, Union and Confederate, carried what was known as a musket. These muskets came in numerous varieties and flavors, however for the purpose of this post, we will discuss only the more common models. 1861 percussion rifle-musket The Model 1861 Springfield Musket was the standard and most widely used rifle-musket of the [...]

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Nominated for an EduBlog Award

December 11, 2009

Hello Everyone, Just a note to say that I’ve been nominated for a 2009 EduBlog Award as the Best Resource Sharing Blog. I would greatly appreciate it if you take a moment to vote for my blog I would greatly appreciate it. While you are there, Civil War Sallie has also been nominated for the [...]

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The Edublog Award Nominations

December 1, 2009

The Edublog Awards 2009 are open for nomination! This is a chance for educators to nominate and celebrate the achievements of edubloggers, twitterers, podcasters, video makers, online communities, wiki hosts and other web based users of educational technology. Here are the categories, I would like to nominate the following individuals: Best individual blog — Speaking [...]

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