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Nicknames are obviously not an invention of our day and age, and many of the generals in the civil war had nicknames too, nicknames that were not always complimentary.
Sometimes they were even insulting.
some of the nick names were given due to their lack of perfection or just plain lack in doing there job. And some (the best and most humorous in my opinion) were word plays and puns derived from their original names.
John David Hoptak compiled a list of some of the least affectionate nicknames ,along with the reason they were given For example: George Sykes, was known as “Tardy George“.
Although Henry Warner Slocom was a reliable officer he had the bad luck to bear a name that could be turned into “Slow Come“…
Abner Doubleday and wife
My personal favorite was an officer named Abner Doubleday - who of course became “Old 48 Hours“
Winfield Scot Who had a very strong military record before the civil war became “Old Fuss-n-Feathers” during the civil war.
Ulysses S. Grant of course, was among other names also call Useless Grant…
These are only a few examples for more go here.
I found some of these to be, to my knowledge, incorrect but then again I am a 12 year old girl doing a project for U.S. history but to cover this I am part of Duke Ellington’s gifted and talented program (the test part)
I agree with that Rebecca girl. Some of those nicknames didn’t seem quite right. At the moment I can’t think of any specific examples.
You stole my NAME!!! And my age. Anyway I didn’t think any of these were wrong but I didn’t really pay attention to the accurate nicknames
I guess it can be difficult in determining if nicknames are authentic; but I would say if it comes from a publication from that era then it’s a fair chance the nickname is authentic.
What fascinates me about the Civil War are the endless topics that can be explored. For example, I had never given thought to nicknames; yet upon further examination I think it’s an interesting area worth exploring. I would like to know if anyone is familiar with a civil war personality being given a nickname due to some event in the war. What comes to mind is the what they called Gen. Grant after the Wilderness Campaign began: “Butcher” Grant. His more flattering moniker: Unconditional Surrender Grant.
I am aware of “the Rock of Chicamauga” Gen. George Thomas but how about some more, the more unusual the better, especially if they fit the campaign. What was Sherman…?
how bout “the tycoon” for lincoln.”snapping turtle”for geo meade,wasnt thomas called old slow trot at one point.how bout rock benning,ole straight ap stewart, or duke wayne he played cw officers on screen,does that count.
Yep, ’snapping turtle.’ Too bad about Gen. Thomas. Gen. Grant is my top general, but regarding how he treated Gen. Thomas creates my only negative opinion of Grant.Gen. Thomas is certainly my second favorite.
thomas was great.grant didnt like rosencrans either,except for chick and chat he did fine service.the tullahoma campaign was brilliant although the csa [bragg]did help,theres another nickname-old rosey.bragg im sure had nicknames we cant print here.heres more “the wizard of the saddle”-forrest,beauty-jeb stuart,sherman was cump for his middle name.how bout “little powell-a.p. hill,stonewall-james walker and thomas jonathon,maryland-geo steuart,alleghany-ed johnson,mud-h walker.i guess the rebs had more nicknames.
Thanks. Speaking of Bragg, I lived in North Carolina and had occasion to drive by his mansion. Wow, rundown, uncared for, ignored. A beautiful place, if it was restored, but it seems the South has a deep dislike for Braxton Bragg. You know, if the South had won, we may never had been prepared to bully France or England of the North American Continent; never have reached the power we did. What then? THe Japanese and Germans would have paled in comparison to the French and English, and we wouldn’t have been there to stop them. YOu Australians know what it’s like to be invaded by a powerful enemy. Imagine if the USA had not been the USA.
baldy-wf smith,old bald head-ewell,ole pete-longstreet,marse robert-lee,fighting joe -hooker,superb-hancock,old prayerbook-howard,one wing-loring,i thought of some more
more us nicknames,sam- us grant,autie-geo custer,uncle john-sedgewick,bull-edwin sumner,little phil-sheridan,beast-ben butler,
Yes, the list goes on.
I find all the comments wonderful. Ernest Warther of Ohio recvd the nickname Mooney. Mooney carved an exact replica of Lincoln’s funeral train. It is in Warther Museum. www.warthers.com Thank you all
i think i saw/read article in a cw magazine on mr warther isaw a picture of the train-unbelievable someone can do stuff like that.why was he called mooney?that me think of nicknames for historians of the cw i can only think of charley weaver-cliff arquette
I don’t know a lot about these nicknames but I have been to tons of sites and I ‘m pulling my hair out trying to find accurate names!
dont pull your hair out.what do you need to know?
Hey girl add this!
this site was a litle helpful especially with my social studies project. Because of you i got this project IN THE BAG! LMFAO! Anywas i would recomend this site for everyone with a social studies project! Good luck!
Thanks yuki. please tell me what LMFAO means :-)