Ethan Kytle: Confessions of a Civil War Historian

This weekend thousands of Valley residents will descend upon Kearney Park for Fresno’s annual Civil War Revisited reenactment.  They will be treated to “the sights and sounds of the 1860s,” as self-styled “living historians” — most clad in Union blue or Confederate gray — set up camp, march in formation and demonstrate antebellum crafts.  The centerpiece will be a reenactment of the Battle of Bull Run, pitting Yanks and Rebs against one another as if it were 1861.

This year’s event takes on a special significance.  It comes on the 150th anniversary of the start of a war that nearly tore the nation in two.  It is high time that we take stock of how we remember this pivotal moment, both at our annual Kearney Park event and beyond.

I confess that as a Civil War historian I find events like Civil War Revisited frustrating.  On the one hand, I am thrilled to see people engage history — especially my period of expertise — with enthusiasm.  Many of the students who turn up each year in my classes say that trips to the reenactment stoked an early interest in the past.

On the other hand, I am discouraged by what tends to be remembered and forgotten at such events....