What's Civil about War?

In our Mormon culture we do a thing called "Treks" where we dress up in pioneer clothes and push or pull handcarts over rough terrain to simulate the experience of our ancestors as they crossed the plains to Utah. It's supposed to give us an appreciation for the trials they went through and the sacrifices they made in order to practice the religion they espoused.

I suppose the same might be said of the "reenactment" we experienced this weekend of the Battle of New Market, a somewhat lesser known Confederate victory fought in the Shenandoah Valley late in the conflict known variously as the Civil War, the War between the States, the War of Northern Aggression depending on your viewpoint or ancestry. The re-enactors are perhaps seeking to appreciate and keep alive the history of the bloodiest, most uncivil conflict in which this country has ever been engaged, maybe in appreciation for the sacrifices that were made to maintain the Union.

A few thousand modern day Americans dressed in clothes to simulate their 1860's ancestors, converged on the little town of New Market, Virginia to reenact a battle that had taken place 145 years earlier. If you were not in costume, you were in the minority. I, frankly, have never seen anything like it. I am of conflicting feelings about the purpose of such doings. As a Northern sympathizer I truly felt out of place and more than once wondered if such activities could only serve to preserve and perpetuate the divisions still had in our country. I saw exactly one black citizen the entire day.