Apparently It Was A Family Name

On Wednesday, after an elapsed span of 156 days and a total reading time of approximately 65 hours, I finished Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative. It did exactly what I wanted it to do: It gave me a narrative and chronological framework for understanding the American Civil War, something I didn't have at all before. (It also gave me a much better idea of how to play For the People, but that's beside the point).

It also taught me that while the Confederacy lost the war, they did prevail in a critically important area: generals with cool names. I mean, Ulysses S. "Unconditional Surrender" Grant (real name: Hiram Ulysses Grant) is pretty cool, but that's about all the Union brought to the table. (Well, that and an amusing number of generals named for Winfield Scott, Mexican War hero who was General-in-Chief when the Civil War broke out.) As proof that the South  won this contest, I present the Top Five Coolest Confederate General Names:

5. Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson"

4. Leonidas Polk, aka "The Fighting Bishop"

3. Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

2. Bushrod Johnson

1. States Rights Gist