The Enduring Fascination with the Civil War

Many reasons have been proposed for the enduring fascination with the Civil War, but the major one is probably that it was the single largest event in the history of the United States. The demand for Civil War collectibles is high, and an indication of how much interest there still is of this significant event in American history. This one war fought between Americans resulted in a loss of human life that exceeded that of any country as a percentage of their population during the First World War.

Casualties were high, and the fact that the war was fought relatively recently, in the days of the so-called Wild West, also contributes to it being of such great interest to Americans of all ages. What is not generally appreciated is that about two thirds of casualties were due to disease, mainly typhoid, dysentery, pneumonia and tuberculosis. At that type little was known about the cause of diseases or how to prevent or control them. Medical knowledge was very basic, though chloroform was available to dull the pain of amputations.

The American Civil War had a very significant effect on the social and political history of the country and the economic aftermath was profound. It is also the fact that is was the first and only national conflict between Americans of the same blood, when father fought son, and cousin fought cousin, which makes it such a fascinating period of American history to so many.

This fascination has led to an enduring market in Civil War collectibles, such as Union and Confederate uniforms, and weapons such as Civil War swords and guns. Civil War replicas are prized, not only by those who participate in battle reenactments, but also those with a general interest in the period in general, and specific Civil War battles in particular.

The timing of the Civil War was unfortunate for the combatants, coming at a time of steady development in weaponry such as improvements in artillery, automatic machine guns and developments in hand guns and rifles. In fact many novel types of ‘rapid fire’ gun were produced during the war, though few were actually used due to the Union being reluctant to use these new weapons.

Notwithstanding this, the war saw increasing use of rifling in muskets and canons, increasing distance and accuracy, and also the introduction of breach loading rifles. Balloons and ironclad ships also made their war debuts, although military tactics had not advanced. Battles were still fought between massed troops on either side making charges at each other against these improved weapons, and it was the combination of improvements in weapons with old-style tactics that led to the excessive number of casualties.

It is these weapons, both the new breach loaders and the older sabers, that people now collect, and those involved in reenactments also collect the more mundane items of daily life, such as eating and cooking utensils, personal items such as watches and canteens, and even smaller items such as tunic buttons. Among collectibles available on the market are items such as cap badges, hats and kepis and other items of apparel.

Belts, buckles and bugles are popular, though it is the weaponry that most people have a fascination with. There was not always much of a distinction between the swords and sabers of the Confederate and Union forces due partially to change of ownership during battle, and partially to Southern sword smiths copying the designs of the North. The pistols are highly prized, and those most commonly available are replicas.

Smith and Wesson, Colt and Navy revolvers were common, though handguns were used mainly by the cavalry, foot soldiers being banned from carrying them largely for safety reasons! The foot soldiers predominantly used muskets, rifles and their shorter cousins, the carbines. Carbines were more convenient for shooting when horsed.

This continuing and enduring fascination with the Civil War is provided for by suppliers of all kinds of Civil War collectibles and replicas, though there still many genuine articles of the period available to persistent and lucky collectors.