The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States from 1861 to 1865, fought between northern states loyal to the Union and southern states that had seceded to form the Confederate States of America.
- If you were drafted during the American Civil War you could legally pay someone else $300 to go in your place.
- The American Civil War broke out in 1861 when the Confederates attacked a U.S. fortress, Fort Sumter, and ended with the surrender of all Confederate armies in 1865.
- The Confederacy was never recognized by any foreign country during the American Civil War.
- The U.S. Civil War had a Balloon Corps established by Abraham Lincoln.
- Sideburns are named after American Civil War General, General Burnside.
- American Civil War soldiers had a code of honor that forbade shooting at men while they were pooping.
- More than 600 women dressed as men in order to fight in the American Civil War.
- Sam Houston, the general who won Texas independence from Mexico, was removed
- from his post as Governor after refusing to support the Confederacy on the Civil War.
- During the American Civil War, it was necessary to print out money in a hurry, so the Treasury released paper bills with designated values of fractions of a dollar.
- There are more black men in prison today than there were black male slaves before the American Civil War.
- Thomas and George Crittenden were brothers who were both generals during the American Civil War: one for the North and the other for the South.
- The Confederate general Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot by his own men during a major American Civil War battle.
- During the American Civil War, Generals were 50% more likely to die in combat than Privates.
- The entire student body of the University of Mississippi enlisted for the American Civil War. They suffered a 100% casualty rate.
- Many American Civil War soldiers had "nostalgia" listed as their cause of death, meaning homesickness.
- After the American Civil War, one third to one half of the currency was counterfeit.
- The American Civil War claimed the lives of 10% of all Northern males 20–45 years old, and 30% of all Southern white males aged 18–40.
- The American Civil War was one of the earliest true industrial wars. Railroads, the telegraph, steamships, and mass-produced weapons were employed extensively.
- There's a colony in Brazil founded by 2,000 to 4,000 Confederate refugees who left the U.S. after losing the Civil War.
- The last surviving Civil War widow didn't pass away until 2008. She married an 86-year-old veteran when she was only 19.
- During the American Civil War, visiting prostitutes was called enjoying "horizontal refreshments."
- "In God We Trust" was declared the U.S.national motto in 1956. It first appeared in 1861 because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War.
- Hurricane Matthew unearthed at least a dozen Civil War cannonballs on Folly Island, South Carolina.
- Mary Walker, a surgeon during the U.S. Civil War, is the only female Medal of Honor recipient.
- During the American Civil War, free black woman Mary Bowser took a job as a servant in the Confederate White House and served as a Union spy.
- The last civil war casualty was Joshua Chamberlain, who died in 1914 from wounds he received at the Siege of Petersberg in 1864.
- During the U.S. civil war, Union soldiers found a copy of the Confederates' plan for the Antietam campaign, yet still lost.