en, Bradley, Cheryl and Katie dressed for their role in a Civil War re-enactment, as members in the American Civil War  Association. It's a non-profit education organization that uses living history as a means to help people understand the Civil War. All the materials used are kept as close to being authentic replicas as is possible . Cheryl sewed the dresses Katie and Jen are wearing. The Association is comprised of both Union and Confederate forces, including infantry, artillery, calvary and civilians. Both the Union and Confederate Brigades are recreations of actual military regiments and companies that fought in the Civil War.

The Civil War, fought between 1861 and 1865 was the greatest war in American history. On July 4, 1861 President Abraham Lincoln (right) told Congress that "This is essentially a People's contest. On the side of the Union it is a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men; to lift artificial weights from all shoulders; to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all; to afford all an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life." (In an earlier speech he said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this Government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.") The Congress authorized a call for 500,000 men. Three million fought. It was the only war fought on American soil between Americans, and that's why so many books, movies and documentaries have  been created about it. Lincoln wrote, "The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party; and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are the best adaptations to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say that it shall not end yet. By His mere great power on the minds of the now contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And, having begun, He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds."

On April 9, 1865 the Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union General Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox court house in Virginia. Grant allows Rebel officers to keep their side arms and soldiers to keep horses and mules.

"After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources," Lee tells his troops.

 

The following day celebrations broke out in Washington. On April 14 the Stars and Stripes was ceremoniously raised over Fort Sumpter. Lincoln told his Cabinet that a couple of days earlier he'd had a dream. The same dream he had that preceded all the great events of the war. He felt sure its recurrence presaged a great and fortunate happening. That night, Lincoln and his wife attended the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater (right). At 10:15 p.m., during the third act, John Wilkes Booth shot the president in the head. Doctor's moved him to a house across the street, but he never regained consciousness, and died at 7:22 the following morning. On April 26, Booth was shot and killed in a tobacco barn in Virginia. On May 4, Lincoln was buried at Oak ridge Cemetery outside Springfield, Illinois. During this month the remaining Confederate forces surrendered. The Nation was reunited as the Civil War ends. Over 620,000 Americans died in the war, with disease killing twice as many as those lost in battle. 50,000 survivors returned home as amputees. Let us never forget that our United States and standard of freedom was preserved through the suffering and sacrifices of many brave men.