Bull+Run+Vocabulary

1. “The cannons rattled the very constellations. **//Shells//** sailed, their lit fuses tracing **//caliper//** perfect arcs, then exploded.” //p.1//
 * Bull Run **** Vocabulary **
 * Directions: ** Define the word or words in bold. Put the definition directly below the sentence or sentences. The first one is done for you.

2. “I remembered well what shells to living flesh, and felt in a **//melancholy//** mood. Amid all the cheering, the Negroes were similarly **//glum//**… If they rejoiced…they dared let no one **//discern//** it.” //p2//. 3. “Father said God put **//willows//** here that a man might have **//switches//** to enforce his commandments. Father was a grim-faced Scot and a great believer in **//switching//.”** //p. 3// 4. “There was talk that a **//regiment//** of one thousand soldiers was being raised in Minnesota .” //p. 4// 5. “Reverend Bott **//railed//** against the rebels that day.” //p. 4// 6. “That night, Father gave him a terrible **//thrashing//…**You’re thinking to **//scamper//** off! he shouted.**”** //p.4// 7. “And the stone-hearted **//rogue//** took my spectacles with him!” //p.4// 8. “They called men to join the **//cavalry.//**//” p.5// 9. “I felt among family with ‘em, and **//forlorn//** as a ghost when they’d gone.” //p.5// 10. “…and he started in again on Lincoln and the //**sovereign**// states.” //p.5-6// 11. “How we **//yearned//** to strike a blow in the battle!.” //p. 7// 12. “All recognized that Cincinnati was **//vulnerable//** to capture.” //p. 7// 12. “Arriving, I found the building all but ringed by a crowd of **//clamoring//** whites.”  //p.8// 13. “He announced that our meeting was canceled and our entire **//enterprise//** with it.” //p. 8// 14. “Girls whose **beaus** hadn’t joined shamed them by giving out flowers to soldiers.” // p. 10 // 15. “**//Plug-ugly//** toughs, spoiling for a fight, were drawn our way like moths to a light.” // p. 12 // 16. “I burned to put upon paper the faces of the **//taunting//** traitors and fallen heroes…” // p. 12 // 17. “The recruiter **//scowled//** when I reached the front.” //p. 13// 18. “Then he stood up and **//ambled//** out the door.” //p.13// 19. “Then I **//commenced//** to blow and wag my fingers, singing out the song strong in my head.” //p.13// 20. “You’ve got spirit…and boldness…and **//pluck//** enough…to practice almighty hard…” (note: adjective) //p. 14// 21. “The next day four of us marched to a **//recruiting//** tent to join the **//infantry.”//** //p.15// 22. “Some signed on as cooks or **//teamsters//**//.” p. 15// 23. “I would stand at the front of the **//fray//**//.” p. 15// 24. “His brows **//furrowed//** at my **//fumbling//** reply.” //p. 16// 25. “I set up next to a Michigan regiment, and a **//boisterous, brawling//** lot they were.” // p. 19 // 26. “The very first day I was taking the portrait of a Swede when some **//reveler//** fired off his gun…” //p. 19// 27. “Then a **//notion//** struck me. My heart **//commenced//** to flutter like a hummingbird.” // p. 20 // 28. “They were as fond of **//wagering//** as of food.” //p. 21// 29. “She was a small, **//bandy-legged//** gray.” //p. 22// 30. “With what care their officers refined their skills through drilling, precision parades, **//mock//** charges.” (not the definition “to make fun of”) //p. 25// 31. “Many were **//felled//** long before we saw battle.” //p. 25-26// 32. “The sod house seemed **//dismal//** without Patrick…” //p. 27// 33. “The **//vile//** //**profiteers**// who sold them would, he hoped, be hanged.” (two separate words) //p.28// 34. “His letter **//replenished//** me, as if it were food.” (//p. 28//) 35. “..but mostly the men spent their time gambling and **//brawling//**.” p.30 36. “…a woman used to come by, selling it from her special-made tin **//bustle//**.” (use noun definition, not verb or adjective) //p.30// 37. “I **//recollected//** Grandpap saying that if I ever saw the Devil to cut him in half and walk on between the pieces.” //p. 30// 38. “How I longed to **//render//** my drawings in color!” //p. 31// 39. “Baggy red **//pantaloons//**…and atop every head a red **//fez//** cap…” //p. 31// 40. “…I stopped and **//gawked//** at the sight of them…” //p. 31// 41. “I heard tell of their **//penchant//** for **//mayhem//**.” //p. 31// 42. “Walking toward another camp, I **//skirted//** some woods, heard a voice, then had my faith severely shaken…the scene filled me with **//foreboding//**.” //p.32// 43. “That evening I rode a horse to Centreville and joined the Confederates as a **//courier//**//.” p. 34// 44. “…my troops were as green as June apples, spoke a **// Babel //** of tongues, and were led by officers who knew nothing of battle.” (note: Proper noun) p. 35 45. “We searched our ragbags for scraps of linen and scraped them with knives to procure **//lint//** for wounds.” //p. 37// 46. “We **//fretted//** and furiously debated but could not understand the delay.” //p. 38// 47. “Upon hearing this, we concluded that General Beauregard had been halted by his honor, which would not permit him to strike an opponent who was already all but //prostrate.” p. 38// 48. “Then one day I found myself putting in ink a **//loutish//** private’s opinion that the blood of black people was thinner and inferior to that of white’s…” //p. 40// 49. “I studied its **//meandering//** course for miles.” //p. 41// 50. “But defense held little **//allure//** for Beauregard.” //p. 41// 51. “The day was hot as the hinges of //**Hades**//. Our fine, straight lines **//wavered//**, then broke….officers **//bellowed//** to no effect.” //p. 44// 52.. “The road became **//strewn//** with cast-off blankets and such. All day and on into the night we //lurched// ahead and lay down by turns. ” //p. 44// 53. “Then a **//sneering//** captain informed us, with great disgust, that we progressed just six miles.” //p. 44// 54. “I saw a pair of them **//traipse//** back out to the road dressed up in **//plumed//** hats and satin gowns.” //p. 47// 55. “Colonel Sherman **//rebuked//** them as **//Goths//** and **//Vandals//** and ordered them punished.” (Note: these are proper nouns) //p. 47// 56. “Then our colonel announced that off the east the Union army was moving in force and that Beauregard would be **//larruped//** without us.” //p. 50// 57. “I spent a full day studying the **//terrain//**…I **//squandered//** another day waiting for them, praying that Patterson had the Rebels in the west **//penned//** up beyond the Shenandoah.” //p. 51// 58. “The spirit of George Washington **//hovered//** above them, awaiting their decision.” // p. 51 // 59. “Some were **//bedlams//** of noise and gaming and drunkenness.” //p. 52// 60. “One read a letter…saying wars were uncivilized, low immoral, and that civil wars were the worst of the **//brood//**. The letter was burned with great **jollity**.” //p. 53// 61. “We **//groped//** slowly down the road in the darkness…” //p. 55// 62. “For half an hour we **//sprawled//** on the ground while a cannon was **//eased//** over a rickety bridge.” //p. 55// 63. “Not five minutes later a low, **//sullen//** boom sounded in the distance.” //p. 56// 64. “Cabmen dull witted as their nags? Don’t be **//daft//**//!” p. 57// 65. “I **//feigned//** deafness, but took the **//precaution//** of noting our fastest route of retreat.” //p. 58// 66. “Those behind us **//singed//** our hair with their bullets.” //p.62// 67. “…I found myself a fine **//vantage//** point for observing McDowell’s attack.” //p. 64// 68. “I threw down my pencil, //**bolted**// to my feet, and cheered them on loudly myself.” //p. 64// 69. “His orders had been maddeningly **//vague//**.” //p. 65// 70. “This didn’t **//accord//** with the general’s plan.” //p. 65// 71. “He appeared paralyzed by the **//dilemma//**//.” p. 65// 72. “There were six guns in our **//battery//**, with eight men to a gun.” (note: military term) //p. 65// 73. “Look at ‘em all **//skedaddle//**//!” p. 67// 74. “Men **//scurried//** past.” //p. 70// 75. “He let loose a great deal of **//blasphemy//**//.” p. 71// 76. “I felt heavy and numb as a //**millstone**.” p. 72// 77. “…the Lord’s **//smitin//**//’// the South at last!” (see: smiting or smite) //p. 75// 78. “The soldier **//shucked//** off his pack and sat down.” //p. 75// 79. “I was amazed to see him **//pitch//** back, and **//gawked//** at the blood running down his side.” //p. 79// 80. “The right end of my line began to **//buckle//**.” //p. 82// 81. “The thought **//chafed//** me fierce.” //p. 83// 82. “My notebook held heroes, marching in unison, bravely advancing, **//disdainful//** of death.” //p. 84// 83. “…and sent every coach **//bolting//** toward the road.” //p. 87// 84. “But he **//bounded//** away, dropping the photograph…I slowly moved my arm…and cursed the **//plunderer.//**//” p. 90 & 91// 85. “I was **//baffled//**//.” p. 93// 86. “A detachment of cavalry passing the scene bent over their **//pommels//** and //**retched**//, to a man. //p. 94// 87. “…the soldiers **//trudged//** across the Long  Bridge, **//sodden, sullen//**, the very picture of defeat.” //p. 97// 88. “We attended them with no less **//solicitude//**//.” p. 99// 89. “Mother **//wailed//**. Father looked almost **//smug//**//.” p. 101// 90. “I **//fancied//** he heard me, far as he was.” //p. 102//
 * Shells:** a metal case filled with explosives that is fired by artillery and explodes in the air or when it strikes something.
 * Calliper:** instrument used to measure the diameter or thickness of something.