So my fellow Civil War enthusiasts, what got you interested in the war that tore our nation apart at the seams?

For me, it was my mom. She's been interested in the Civil War since she was a kid, and she passed that interest on down to me through teaching me about and encouraging me to read everything I could about it.

I find it interesting, but I wouldn't call myself an ethusiast. I find bits and pieces about it here and there. Frankly, World War 1 is what I really study. I could probably go on for hours about that... anyway, the Civil War is pretty interesting. I remember reading something about a black division. And there was a movie about it as well. I'd say I got really interested in it after that.

2538879
I always studied war, and I live in Louisiana, so it was only a matter of time.

2538879
My parents, they were reenactors before I was born and continued to stay reenactors. So when I was old enough they took me to the events so I grew up with it.

2538879 I got interested in it because it may have been blood but yet we pulled through. It shows that no mater how hard of a time America has with good leadership we will pull through. Thanks to Abraham Lincoln we pulled through. Most look at the down fall but I for one look at the lesson and the things we learned from them. I also got interested by it because so few people remember the men who fought to bring 'All men are made equal' true.

Well, I was born in South Carolina and it was my love for Charleston and more importantly the Citadel that got me started. I remember very clearly that when I was five I learned about the Citadel cadets firing on Fort Sumpter. Then a few days later when we toured the Citadel I was disappointed that the cannons used by corps of cadets now are not the ones used to fire on the fort itself. Then during the summer that I moved to Florida I read everything I could about the Civil War out of sheer boredom.

I became interested in the Civil War when I was a kid. Since then I have visited 20 Civil War battlefields while becoming a Civil War reenactor. The Civil War is the only war we ever fought where the enemy wasn't some country we either invaded or being invaded by. Given I also live in a town that was raided by Confederates during the war escaping the legacy of the Civil War is impossible for me.