The Union included the states of Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, California, Nevada, and Oregon. Abraham Lincoln was their President.
The Confederacy included the states of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Jefferson Davis was their President.
Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri were called Border States.
Reenacting the American Civil War began even before the real fighting had ended. Civil War veterans recreated battles as a way to remember their fallen comrades and to teach others what the war was like.
Modern reenacting is thought to have begun during the 1961–1965 Civil War Centennial celebrations.
Reenacting grew in popularity during the 1980s and 1990s, due in large part to the success of the 125th Anniversary reenactment near the original Manassas battlefield, which was attended by more than 6,000 reenactors.
Time magazine estimated that there were more than 50,000 reenactors in the U.S. at that time.
Although many periods are reenacted around the world, Civil War reenactment is, by far, the most popular activity in the US.
In 2000, the number of Civil War reenactors was estimated at 50,000,though the number of participants declined sharply through the ensuing decade, to around 30,000 in 2011.
Although women and children commonly participate in reenactments as civilians (portraying, for example, members of a soldiers’ aid society), some women also take part in military portrayals. This is controversial within the reenactment community.
While there were a small handful of women who may have fought in the conflict, almost all of them did so disguised as men. Attitudes on this topic seem to vary widely.
Located on Mobile Point at the end of Fort Morgan Peninsula, this fortress was first established as Fort Bowyer during the War of 1812. Constructed by the U.S. Army in April, 1813, the fort’s objective was to guard against possible…
Located on the eastern tip of Dauphin Island, off the Gulf coast of Alabama, stand the well-preserved ramparts of Fort Gaines which have guarded the entrance to Mobile Bay for more than 150 years. For centuries before, the island had…
Ronald Regan deserves posterity’s honor, and so it makes sense that the capital’s airport and a major building there are named for him. But the proposal to substitute his image for that of Ulysses S. Grant on the $50 bill…
First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) was the first major land-based confrontation of the American Civil War.
The Battle of Big Bethel, also known as the Battle of Bethel Church or Great Bethel was one of the earliest land battles of the American Civil War (Civil War) after the surrender of Fort Sumter.
The Battle of Philippi formed part of the Western Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War, and was fought in and around Philippi, Virginia (now West Virginia) on June 3, 1861.
The Battle of Aquia Creek was an exchange of cannon fire between Union Navy gunboats and Confederate shore batteries in Stafford County, Virginia which took place from May 29, 1861 to June 1, 1861 during the early days of the…
The Battle of Sewell’s Point was an inconclusive exchange of cannon fire between the Union gunboat USS Monticello, supported by the USS Thomas Freeborn, and Confederate batteries on Sewell’s Point that took place on May 18, 19 and 21, 1861,…
