Download the museum of the confederacy

Scavenger hunt questions for elementary school students visiting
THE MUSEUM OF THE CONFEDERACY
THE CONFEDERATE YEARS (MAIN LEVEL)
1. What was the first southern state to secede from the Union on December 20, 1860? When did
Virginia secede?
2. Find the sword “Stonewall” Jackson used during the battle of First Manassas. What are the
letters on the guard (handle)?
3. The ostrich plumed hat and field desk belonged to what famous general in charge of Robert E.
Lee’s cavalry?
4. What weapon helped the Confederates win the battle of Fredericksburg?
5. Find the bloodstained handkerchief. Name the Confederate general who was wounded by his
own men during the battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863.
6. Everything in the “headquarters tent” belonged to what Confederate general?
7. Find the drum used by a musician. What is the name of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War?
Where was it fought?
8. The Union army laid siege to a small town on the Mississippi River cutting it off from all
supply for forty-seven days from May through July 4of 1863. What is the name of this
important town?
9.
What important event occurred on April 9, 1865?
10. Find the suit worn by Confederate President Jefferson Davis. What happened to him while he
was wearing these clothes on May 10, 1865?
BETWEEN THE BATTLES (UPPER LEVEL)
Gallery 1
1. How was the majority of a soldier’s time spent? (see introduction)
2. Find the coat of William Remick Hodge. How old was he? What was his occupation before
the war? Did he survive?
3. What is the name for the heavy leather shoes worn by soldiers in both armies?
4. Find the drum. How was a soldier’s life directed both on and off the battlefield?
5. Name the three branches of the army that engaged in combat?
Gallery 2 (Upon entering the gallery, go LEFT)
6. Find the kettle. Name two types of food that soldiers ate.
7. Find the block of pressed tobacco. What might a Confederate soldier get in exchange for it if
he traded it to a Union soldier?
8. Name three ways soldiers passed time in camp.
9. Find the field desk. What device on the desk could be used for sending messages more
quickly than by mail?
Gallery 3 (Upon entering the gallery, go LEFT)
10. Find the Bible with the bullet hole through it. Why did religion become more important to
many soldiers during the war?
11. Find the wooden leg. To whom did it belong?
12. Most soldiers died not from bullets but from ___________________________.
13. Name two types of weapons on display.
14. There are images of many soldiers lining the last wall. Pick a soldier; record his name and
what happened to him.
(LOWER LEVEL)
1. What two Confederate generals are depicted in the large painting at the bottom of the stairs?
What is the title of this painting?
THE WAR COMES HOME
1.
Of the nine million people in the south, four million where African Americans and most were
enslaved. Find the case of slave-made objects and list your three favorites.
2. Find the large sack (Tax in Kind). New tax laws passed in 1863 required that people
contribute ______________ percent of everything they grew.
3. Find the plate. Who used it as a weapon and why?
4. Find the pink and grey striped dress sleeve. What was the fate of nineteen-year-old Alice
Virginia Greene Thomas, the maker of the sleeve? What does this tell you about the war?
5. Find the engraving “Stampede of Slaves from Hampton to Fort Monroe.” What did General
Benjamin Butler term these “runaways?”
6.
Find the case on “Substitutions and Making Do: Ersatz in the Confederacy.” List two items
that southern women made because they could no longer purchase them. Name the material
from which each was made.
7. Items that made it though the blockade were very expensive. Find the bodice (dress top).
How much did the ugly material for it cost?
8. Find the mourning dress. How long were women supposed to remain in mourning?
9. What is your favorite children’s toy or clothing item?
10. Give one example of work women did during the war?
11. Find the image of Sally Tompkins. Miss Sally was the only woman commissioned a
Confederate officer. What was her rank? What did she do to help the Confederacy?
12. What was manufactured at Tredegar Ironworks?
KNICKNACKERY: ODDITIES FORM THE VAULTS (LOWER LEVEL)
1. What is a bullet rosette?
2. In the case to the right of the rosette is a box with flowers. Of whose hair are they made?
3. Find the prisoner of war autograph book. Who was the author of the poem? What is
significant about him?
4. Find the dog head (bust). Of what is it made?
5. Find the doll Lucy Ann. For what was she used?
6. Find the sword of Heros von Borke. What were his nicknames? How much did his sword
weigh?
7. What is the large copper ball?
8. Find the body armor. Why did soldiers often throw it away?
9. Find the prosthetic arm. Between 1867 – 1894 the Commonwealth of Virginia provided
artificial limbs for more than ______________ Confederate soldiers.
10. Find the “Peasant’s Cross” necklace. Who was Varina Anne Davis?