My country has had a civil war, invasions by the french, by the spanish, more recently a revolution that threw a fascist government, followed by a very colourful period of internal squirmishes between anti-regime forces, but we settled those events and that was that: off to the history books.
What motivates so many people to re-enact battles from the American Civil War?
It sounds cruel. Re-enacting a war where so many died gruesome deaths.
I mean it’s roleplaying, and the civil war may very well be the only war that americans can roleplay without shame. Both sides were american too so its also easier to roleplay than say the world wars or the dozens imperialist wars after that.