And so it begins -- 150th anniversary of the Civil War

And so it began 150 years ago today -- The American Civil War -- variously known as the War Between the States, the War of Secession, etc. In a sense I am looking for to this 150th. I think anything that nurtures a sense of history in the public is a good thing, and public appreciation of the Civil War in particular is needed because it's not quite dead history yet.

Compared to just about any other war that Americans fought the controversy over the meaning, events and consequences of the war still reverberate. While there's some controversy over the wars we are fighting today in Afghanistan and Iraq, and even lingering bitterness over Vietnam, I'm confident that the 150th anniversary of those wars will be as little remarked as the anniversaries of the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War or the Spanish-American War. Indeed, the recent 20th anniversary of the First Gulf War passed with hardly a mention in the media.

Today I commemorated the opening of the Civil War with a Civil War Game day at Arkham Asylum where we played games from the centennial of 1961 (Avalon Hill's Civil War) and the 150th Anniversary edition of Battle Cry. Over the next few years, God willing, I hope to reprise that with other game days marking significant battle anniversaries from the war. Next up will be First Bull Run in July.