As promised: Amazing Grace

It turns out that “Amazing Grace” was written by a slave ship captain who got caught in a violent storm at sea. He promised God he would quit his evil ways if he could be spared. The storm abated, his ship stayed afloat, he wrote the song, and released the enslaved aboard his ship!

Biting on a bullet?

Union Forces used approximately 10 million opium pills and nearly 3 million ounces of opium powder or tinctures. Pain-killing drugs were in wide use and commonly prescribed for such maladies as diarrhea. Opium addiction became a problem in the Union Army due to its wide use.
Confederate forces experienced severe shortages of opium, but instead of bullets, turned to homeopathic remedies such as poppy heads, nightshade and Datura Stramonium, also called Jimson Weed, Gypsum Weed, Loco Weed, Thorn Apple, Devil's Trumpet, Mad Hatter, Crazy Tea, and Zombie's Cucumber.

Exposing some myths about the Society of Friends. (Quakers)

Not every member of the Society of Friends was an abolitionist.

Slave-owning among members began to create dissention as early as 1750. The Society of Friends began disowning or shunning members by 1778. Some members simply joined the Anglican Church and continued to dress plainly, however many members felt that they answered to a higher law rather than the federal laws which made owning slaves legal. Many, but not all members aided enslaved persons seeking freedom. Strict obedience to telling the truth might prompt a member to first don a blindfold before bringing food to the runaway slaves hiding in his barn, thus being able to truthfully answer bounty hunters with, “I have not seen them.”

Did you know that the days of the week are named after Pagan Gods? Members of the Society of Friends refer to Sunday as First Day, Monday as Second Day, and so on.

Next entry: Spies in the Civil War