General Sideburns

This is who we sent to school today.  His name is General Ambrose Everett Burnside and, yes, he is quite imposing. 

My Hubby Bee did a great job creating Burnside's outfit and famous facial hair.  (Yes, hubby is the one who uses the sewing machine and he uses it well.)

The thing about General Burnside, as Union Civil War generals go, he was sort of, well, so so.  My little guy wanted him to be grander.  I explained we really couldn't rewrite history and Burnside is what he drew from the hat.

While researching old Burnside we came upon some fun facts about this man.  He was known for his interesting facial hair.  His muttonchops did battle with every other muttonchops and so the term "sideburns" was born.  It really was quite the impressive facial hair.

But this man who someone noted had a "bigger heart than head for leading a great army" was kind, compassionate, and rather congenial.  Not exactly what Lincoln may have needed in the Battle of Fredericksburg.  But his kindly demeanor served him well as the Governor of Rhode Island and later a U.S. Senator.

Even though historians have Burnside down as one of the failing Union Generals, he did not fail in life.  One account of his funeral said it was one of the grandest shows of respect for any Rhode Island citizen.  Now there's the grandeur.  Plus, those sideburns were awesome.