USA HISTORY

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR(1861 1865)

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN

[SOURCES]
What is the “rebel yell?”

(A) Union Generals giving the order to fire by screaming “Rebels”

(B) Rumors of confederate spirits haunting Union soldiers at night

(C) Confederate troops chanting the word “rebel” in unison over and over

(D) ** Confederate soldiers charging and screaming to instill fear in the Union troops

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -The rebel yell was a battle cry used by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War. Confederate soldiers used the yell when charging to intimidate the enemy and boost their own morale, although the yell had many other uses.

Concept note-2: -The rebel yell, the Confederate soldiers’ battle cry, is a sound we all know from westerns, in which it translates as a yee-haw. The Rebel yell was immortalized in the novel “Gone with the Wind” and in songs by Eminem and Billy Idol, who made it sound more like a yaaaaw.

Concept note-3: -The Northerners were called “Yankees” and the Southerners, “Rebels.” Sometimes these nicknames were shortened even further to “Yanks” and “Rebs.” At the beginning of the war, each soldier wore whatever uniform he had from his state’s militia, so soldiers were wearing uniforms that didn’t match.

Concept note-4: -Union soldiers might call a Confederate soldier butternut on account of the yellow and brown uniform some wore, or grayback for the more traditional Confederate uniform. A grayback was also a slang term for lice, so we can see the insult here. The most common term for a generic Confederate, however, was Johnny Reb.

Concept note-5: -The American Civil War was fought between the United States of America and the Confederate States of America, a collection of eleven southern states that left the Union in 1860 and 1861. The conflict began primarily as a result of the long-standing disagreement over the institution of slavery.