How We’ve Commemorated the Civil War
Take a look back at how Americans have remembered the civil war during significant anniversaries of the past
- By John Hanc
- Smithsonian.com, April 11, 2011, Subscribe
(Page 2 of 2)
In 1936, the 75th anniversary of the war, we see the first example of a new phenomenon: The Civil War reenactment, as the Battle of Bull Run was refought on the actual site, although not by enthusiasts studiously attired in period garb, but 1,500 U.S. soldiers and Marines of 1936, who were ordered to fight like it was 1861. The 75th anniversary was held in the midst of the Great Depression—and the forces of the New Deal were marshaled on the Manassas battlefield, as well. According to national parks historian John Reid, hundreds of workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps worked to prepare the battlefield for the reenactment and served as ushers to the surprisingly large crowd of 31,000 spectators—only 5,000 of whom were able to be seated in the wooden stand constructed by the CCC and the National Park Service for the event.
The culmination of the 75th anniversary was the Gettysburg encampment on Independence Day weekend 1938. President Franklin Roosevelt addressed 1,800 veterans (most of them in their 90s) in what was billed as the “last reunion.” The high point of that weekend featured hundreds of U.S. tanks rolling across the battlefield, followed by a simulated air assault on the town of Gettysburg. The old veterans reportedly cheered the display of modern military technology.
By 1961, all living participants in the Civil War had passed away, but interest in the conflict was growing. In the previous decade, the emergence of Civil War Round Tables had created a cadre of eager history buffs and enthusiasts; tourism at battlefields was up and popular histories on the war by writers such as Bruce Catton had become best sellers. According to historian Robert J. Cook—whose 2007 book Troubled Commemoration looks at the 1961-1965 centennial—an opportunity was seen to create what he calls an “ambitious Cold War pageant” overseen by a federal commission. It fizzled, however—largely because of what Cook considers an overcommercialized approach, as well as organizers’ “readiness to allow white segregationists to turn the event into a heavily politicized celebration of the Confederacy at a time when Jim Crow institutions and customs were coming under increasing attack.”
The centennial, begun with high hopes for success, ended with what Cook calls “a suitably dull ceremony held under lowering skies at Appomattox Court House in April 1965.” In a country distracted by a growing war in Vietnam, there was little media attention given to the 100th anniversary re-enactment of the surrender that marked the Civil War’s end.
How the 150th will unfold remains to be seen. Many exhibitions and events being staged for the sesquicentennial in various states and cities offer previously overlooked perspectives of the war—including those of African-Americans, civilians and Native Americans, who are getting long overdue recognition.
Still, Carmichael says, “There’s a tension we see in commemorative activities by soldiers who fought that war, and that persists to this day. That is, how do you convey the brutal reality of the Civil War, without sacrificing some of the higher ideas that sustained these men throughout this conflict?”
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Comments (4)
My Great-Grandfather Howard Sr. 1840-1922 fought for the confederacy and passed on much information to my grandfather who passed on to me. As a young lad of 10 years old I remember my step-fathers father who was a veteran of the union army telling me of the horrors of the civil war. My grandfather a veteran of WW1, my father WW2 myself Vietnam. My children, my grandchildren and my great grandchildren all were bless so far by no involvement in any wars. All of us that did had something in common. No one wins a war.
Posted by R.J. Knight on October 5,2011 | 11:09 PM
Many Americans researching their genealogies will find after 150 years that they are S.O.B.s - Sons (and Daughters) of Both Sides.
Posted by Michael Backauskas on August 5,2011 | 05:40 PM
The 125th anniversary of the end of the War between the States culminated with a stiring reenactment of the battle at Saylors Creek and the surrender at Appomatox Court House. The latter was incredably emotional to both reenactors and audience -- when the confederates marched in, stacked arms and accoutrements, then marched out to the field where they dismissed, the crowd was so hushed and the tension so high that you could have heard a pin drop in the grass! Although I'm predominantly a Union sympathizer, the performance of the Confederate reenactors at that event made me and all present sympathize deeply with the depression that that 1865 event brought to the southern troops who had given their all to the cause that they held so dear.
One can only wonder how different America would be today if we had not suffered the loss of 640,000 of the nation's most idealistic and patriotic young men 150 years ago.
Posted by John Montague on August 4,2011 | 03:09 PM
What happened with George Pickett after Gettysburg, What was his future, and when did he die and was buried?
Also, I read that Robert E. Lee had angina and heart disease during the Civil War. Please verify, if possible.
Posted by Mary Mills on May 5,2011 | 03:48 PM