"Before They Were Famous"

[LWhite64]

Re: "Before They Were Famous"

Captain Eli Lilly (pharmaceutical giant) 18th Indiana Battery

[Gary of CA]

Re: "Before They Were Famous"

Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley, Grover Cleveland. All became presidents (If I got them right).

[Secesh]

Re: "Before They Were Famous"

Wyatt Earp - Union soldier - lawman

William B. Sheperd - Confederate soldier - artist

Clara Barton - Union nurse - Founded the American Red Cross

Louisa May Alcott - Union Nurse - Author of "Little Women"

[PetePaolillo]

Re: "Before They Were Famous"

With Baseball season in full swing who can forget...

Abner Doubleday- (falsley credited with inventing baseball, since debunked)- career Army officer-Union General during War- Fired first shot at Ft. Sumter

Also..

George Westinghouse- (Engineer and inventor, founded Westinghouse elecric company)-Westinghouse enlisted in the Union Army at age 17 and served from 1862 to 1863. He then transferred to the Union Navy as an engineer. He was discharged in 1865

[Auld Pelty]

Re: "Before They Were Famous"

Richard Coke (Supreme Court Justice, TX; Governor of Texas) Confederate Captain

George Washington Littlefield (Cattleman, banker, U.T. board or regents--benefactor) Confederate Major -Terrys Texas Rangers

Sam Willson (Texas Criminal Court of Appeals, Codified Current Texas State Constitution 1876, Author of Willson's Code of Criminal Law) Captain, 1st Texas Infantry

[FranklinGuardsNYSM]

Re: "Before They Were Famous"

John S. Pemberton (inventor of Coca-Cola) - Lt. Col, 3rd GA Cavalry
James Vernor (inventor of the ginger ale that bears his name) - 2nd Lt., 4th MI Cavalry
Lew Wallace (author of "Ben-Hur") - General, U.S.A.

[FortyRounder]

I've seen a book titled Famous: 1914-18 which discusses British people who served in the First World War before going on to become actors, writers, etc. The book describes their wartime lives in detail, often attempting to locate the battlefields and other spots where certain events happened (Basil Rathbone in a trench raid, and so on). I got the idea of writing a similar book for the ACW. Does such a book exist, or do any of you think there would be a market for such a work?

Also, I'm compiling a list of people who served in the war before becoming famous. I'm not thinking about those such as the various presidents, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ambrose Bierce or the James Gang whose CW service is well-known, but those individuals whose roles in the conflict are not common knowledge. I'll keep adding to the list as I dig up more names. I would also appreciate any contributions to the list.

Elias Howe (inventor)- Union soldier
Anthony Comstock (morals crusader)- Connecticut private
William F. Cody (scout and showman)- Scout and cavalryman
Henry M. Stanley (explorer)- Confederate soldier
John "Texas Jack" Omohundro (scout and showman)- Confederate cavalryman
Virgil Earp (lawman)- Illinois infantryman
Sidney Lanier (poet)- Confederate soldier
H.W. Smith (preacher in Deadwood, South Dakota) 52nd Massachusetts Infantry
Bill Arp (humorist)- Confederate soldier
Amos T. Akerman (US Attorney General)- Confederate soldier
Mark Twain (writer) Confederate irregular
James B. "Wild Bill" Hickok (scout and lawman)- scout
John Shaw Billings (surgeon and librarian)- Army of the Potomac surgeon
Lewis Powell (assassination conspirator)- Confederate soldier
Eli Lilly (chemist and businessman)- Union soldier
P.B.S. Pinchback (governor of Louisiana)- USCT officer
Washington Roebling (engineer)- Union artilleryman and staff officer
Charlie Bassett (lawman)- Massachusetts soldier
Moses Ezekiel (sculptor)- VMI cadet
Al Sieber (scout)- 1st Minnesota Infantry
John Chipman Gray (legal scholar)- Massachusetts soldier
Joseph Pulitzer (publisher)- New York cavalryman
John Wesley Powell (explorer and geologist)- Illinois soldier