What got you interested?

showmegal · #1 08-27-2005, 10:53 PM

Would like to hear how you all got interested in the WBTS. As for me, I owe my interest to a telemarketer who talked me into signing up for a free night's stay in Branson, Mo. Being close to Springfield, Mo., my kids and I spent a night there also. One place we visitied there was Wilson's Creek which got my then-8-yr old son interested which led to spring break and summer visits to as many sites as we could get to. It sure sucks you in!

johan_steele · #2 08-28-2005, 12:12 AM

My father read me the story of Gettysburg when I was 5, as well as the story of the Revolution and War of 1812... my history sense was caught. A sense of pride in my ancestors was instilled in me by growing up going to Legion meetings w/ my father; my fascination w/ WW2 was unequaled. In college I was more interested in the Asian histories, particularly that of China until I sat in on a college class run by Prof Lybarger, a classmate of Stephen Ambrose and student of Prof Hesseltine. My ACW interest grew a bit but was kind of put on the back burner for the USAF... then I was stationed in SC... Charleston, Savannah, Columbia and a penchent for weekend drives to historical sites, then for 2 years after the USAF my job sending me all over SC & N Georgia. W/ the highlight fishing a wall to pull video line and pulling out half a 3" Ordinance bolt that had probably got there in 1865 courtesy of one of Shermans arty men and been walled up ever since. Seeing the sites and places where the battles took place and then I started spending time at the Columbia Library and various Hysterical societies. Now I paruse letters and diaries written by the men who were there and learn... something new is a prize to me.

ole · #3 08-28-2005, 03:04 AM

Curiosity and reality.

Always a voracious reader, I got a copy of Sandburg's "Prairie Years and War Years." Then Catton's trilogy, "Mr. Lincoln's Army."

Curiousity led to more of the same. Reality restricted curiousity to a single, historical subject. I now have one wall of WBTS books, less a window. This forum keeps me hopping from theatre to theatre, battle to battle, and topics that at one time I couldn't care less about.

Until I signed on, I didn't know there were people who believed Lincoln started the war, and who believed tariffs were THE cause. So .....
Ole

rivrrat · #4 08-28-2005, 10:35 AM

When I was about 9 or 10 my parents bought me a set of history books for young people. One of the set was a book on the Battle of Gettysburg. I was hooked. Then came the Centenial and the popularity of Bruce Cattons, my folks bought the set, I haven't looked back since.

hoosier · #5 08-28-2005, 08:05 PM

I didn't get really interested in the Civil War until I moved to my current home, about 20 miles north of Gettysburg, a little over 10 years ago.

When my aunt found out where I was moving, she asked if I realized that my great-grandfather had fought at the Battle of Gettysburg. I replied that I did not. She told me the name of his regiment and suggested I take a look sometime and see where he might have been positioned during the battle.

A few months later, I made my way to the Visitors Center at Gettysburg National Military Park. There were maps on the wall indicating the locations of all regiments, Union and Confederate, at various times during the battle.

When I saw the little blue line representing my great-grandfather's regiment and realized that he had been right in the thick of the action, my interest in the Civil War underwent a very sudden and dramatic increase.

cpl_lewis · #6 08-29-2005, 05:54 PM

I have always been interested in the civil war....
My dad came home one day saying he "enlisted" in the 141st civil war infantry unit. at first i was stunned..... i remember thinking there are actually people around here that do this?! i was hooked dad ended up switching to artillery and mom and I became civilians.. about a year later a week after my 16th birthday, I "enlisted" in the 4th us/alexander's 4th light artillery! I LOVE this....... I still have my dresses and go to the balls.... after working on the field i can come back , put on my dress and play double roles! I adore this.... it's more than just a hobby, it's a life in itself!

aggie80 · #7 08-29-2005, 07:32 PM

Genealogy. It was the discovery of my ancestors that fought in the Civil War that got me started. (See the genealogy thread for the full story.)

larry_cockerham · #8 08-29-2005, 10:09 PM

I too was driven through Gettysburg as a fifteen year old, and was impressed with the monuments and thought little more about it. Twenty five years later I had enough genealogy together to realize I had participants in the war. There was no turning back from that time on. I walked through the gate at the cemetery at Shiloh with my scout troop twenty years ago and felt a strange sensation in my bones. That once more peaked my interest. It hasn't gone away.

Cap'n Dan · #9 08-29-2005, 10:20 PM

I was raised on family history and especially stories of my grandfather and his brother and cousins who fought in the Civil War. My mother would relate experiences of her father, who fought in many major battles of the war, including Winchester, Kernstown, Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Weldon Railroad. Grandfather was a private in Company A, 7th Indiana Infantry Regiment along with a cousin. His brother and three cousins were in Company D, 3rd Indiana Cavalry.
Grandfather: Pvt. John Nelson Hubbard, Company A, 7th Indiana Infantry
Granduncle: Pvt. Silas Rosin Hubbard, Company D, 3rd Indiana Cavalry
Cousin: Jesse Smith, 3rd Indiana Cavalry. First soldier killed at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Cap'n Dan

samgrant · #10 08-29-2005, 10:55 PM

My dad was always reading books about the Civil War, Bruce Catton especially.

During the big 'centennial' arount 1960, there were lots of books out. One he bought was a big illustrated history (don't remember title), which greatly intriegued me.

Then got on with 'life'.

Got somewhat reinterested with the PBS series, but that didn't really do it.

What really got me going was a couple of years ago when I resolved, for better or worse, to read Shelby Foote's 3 vol. Civil War.

I was hooked!

And then read most all of Catton, (saving his 'Centennial Trilogy' for a rainy month), the most lyrical, I think of Civil War writers. (Tough to compare with Foote, but much more prolific on the subject.)

Biographies, memiors, various histories of the big war or specific battles, I now have more than I could ever had expected to do.

My regret is that I live nowhere near any War site and have no ancestors involved save a G,G grandfather who was chased out of LaGrange, Tennesse by Gen. Grant.