View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When discussing soldiers not eager to fight, McPherson says derogatory comments about these men came from officers who had enlisted for all BUT WHICH of these reasons?
(a) Honor.
(b) Money.
(c) Duty.
(d) Patriotism.

2. When discussing the mark of honor, which of the following did Civil War soldiers most wish to avoid?
(a) Notoriety.
(b) Cowardice.
(c) Battle.
(d) Death.

3. After a soldier was killed at the battle of Dranesville in 1861, his younger brother wrote home to say that everyone's time must come; at what battle was the writer later killed?
(a) Gettysburg.
(b) Antietam.
(c) Bull Run.
(d) Shiloh.

4. In his discussion of duty, what does McPherson say Confederate soldiers are more likely to speak of?
(a) Class.
(b) Family.
(c) Reputation.
(d) Honor.

5. In his discussion of those soldiers who were not so heroic, McPherson mentions that these men were referred to as all BUT WHICH of the following?
(a) Snivelers.
(b) Sneaks.
(c) Skulkers.
(d) Stragglers.

6. Which of the following Generals retrieved his character during the Battle of Fair Oaks?
(a) General James Thomas.
(b) General Mercer Tomlinson.
(c) General Willis Gorman.
(d) General Lewis Armistead.

7. How many children does McPherson report that Jesse Beecher had when he enlisted with the 112th New York in 1862?
(a) 4.
(b) 6.
(c) 2.
(d) 8.

8. As the book opens, McPherson says that he took some Princeton students to Gettysburg in the spring of what year?
(a) 1962.
(b) 1976.
(c) 1984.
(d) 1993.

9. After the battle of Fredericksburg, the 10th New York had fought six battles in as many months and had lost all but how many men?
(a) 68.
(b) 130.
(c) 240.
(d) 320.

10. As McPherson discusses the initial impulse that prompted men to enlist on both sides after the raid on Fort Sumter he references which of the following French terms?
(a) Rage militaire.
(b) Folie.
(c) Combattre pret.
(d) Vide en haut.

11. As McPherson begins to describe the training regimen kept by soldiers, he quotes a young man from Indiana who wrote what relative, complaining a soldier "is not his own man"?
(a) Mother.
(b) Aunt.
(c) Sister.
(d) Cousin.

12. When comparing the American Patriots of 1776 to the "Southern Patriots" of 1861, McPherson notes that a famous quote by which of the following was a favorite Southern cry?
(a) John Adams.
(b) Thomas Jefferson.
(c) Patrick Henry.
(d) James Madison.

13. McPherson notes that at the battle of ___________________ on June 3, 1864, one New York regiment was driven by the Provost Guard at bayonet point.
(a) Wilderness.
(b) Cold Harbor.
(c) Peach Tree Creek.
(d) Petersburg.

14. After the story from the soldier who experienced the glaze of war during the battle at Gaines Mill, McPherson notes that another term for this phenomenon is what?
(a) Combat narcosis.
(b) Military insanity.
(c) Battle craze.
(d) Enraged glory.

15. Which of the following was a favorite word of Confederate recruits, during the discussion of their perceived fate, if the South were to be forced back into the Union?
(a) Anarchy.
(b) Subjugation.
(c) Injustice.
(d) Bigotry.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the story of James and John Welsh, McPherson says that John--who enlisted with the 27th Virginia--was killed during which of the following battles?

2. After the battle of Seven Pines, a captain from which state wrote that he was fine as long as there was battle but that afterward he was quite sick for a few days?

3. From which state was the soldier who felt that religion was what made brave soldiers, during the discussion of Civil War faith?

4. When the 7th Vermont was called forward in June 1862, which of the following regiments pouted while Vermont celebrated?

5. In the discussion of Southern propaganda, a planter wrote his wife of the defense of innocent women from the "lecherous Northern hirelings." From which state was this soldier?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 584 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample