Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 1, 1990 TAG: 9006290522
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERTA GREEN SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
About 40,000 Americans participate annually in Civil War re-enactments. Last year one of the films nominated for the Academy Awards, "Glory," centered on the first all-black units raised in the North.
"There's no question that interest in the Civil War is at an all-time high, even higher than at its centennial in the 1960s," said James I. Robertson, C.P. Miles Professor of History at Virginia Tech. "It's the most popular period in American history, with more than 90,000 books and articles in print. There's a new book or article coming out about every three days."
Robertson cited three reasons for this continued popularity, although he's quick to add that perhaps "popularity" is the wrong word. "It's probably better and more accurate to say it's intriguing.
"Well, first of all, it's our war. It's us against us. We don't share it with anyone. Americans can remember 100 percent of it.
"Also, it's easy to get to the battlefields. They're many and scattered across the country.
"Finally, it just touches so many lives. Any time I address a group, it's likely that at least three people in the audience had family in the war. The human costs were so staggering. Six hundred and twenty thousand men killed and another 100,000 civilians. That means there were more American losses in this war than in all of our other wars combined. That has a terrible impact.
"In some ways it's the national yardstick. When we elect a new president, we often compare him against Lincoln. When we evaluate a field general, we compare him to Robert E. Lee," said Robertson, a Virginia native whose great-grandfather fought in the Civil War.
Robertson's interest in the war has been a family legacy of sorts. He remembers the first term paper he ever wrote - it was about Stonewall Jackson, who also is the subject of the book he is writing.
His continuing interest is not, however, limited to the regions below the Mason-Dixon Line.
"It used to be thought that the defeated side kept the war alive, but I see the interest in the war as being stronger in the North. I give the majority of my talks in the North."
The typical Civil War buff today, Robertson said, is a man in his early 30s and a professional, such as a lawyer or doctor.
Robertson recognizes that many of the main tracks of inquiry are getting worn out. Still, he cites the increasing attention being paid to the common people - the soldiers and women - where the earlier inquiries might have stressed leaders and battles alone.
Another new area of inquiry is political, exploring the governments and policies of the two sides.
"Since this year marks the 125th anniversary of the war, I anticipate some of the interest falling off. There will probably be fewer re-enactments, fewer battles left to be underscored. There will also probably be a slippage in the number of round tables held to study and discuss the war.
"But all of this is to be expected. You can't sustain anything forever."
Robertson does cite an area of increasing concern, however: battlefield preservation.
"We need to work to save the remaining battlefields from the increasing greed of the developers. I am deeply concerned over Cloyd's Mountain west of Dublin, the cite of the largest battle in Southwest Virginia. Two future presidents were on the battlefield at the same time. There were a huge number of casualties. And now there's to be a landfill adjacent to it or on part of it.
"We need to fight seeing progress in terms of the dollar. Otherwise we face inestimable loss."
Charles Maus, executive director of the New River Resource Authority, that is studying the area for possible acquistion and development said, "We have had an archaelogical survey made and have filed those recommendations with the state's officiating body to try to mitigate any possible damages.
As part of the site study, we've identified this historicallly important area and have made adjustments in our design to preserve that site."
by CNB