New documentary explores the Midwestern experience of the Civil War

‘A Generation at War: The Civil War Era in a Northern Community’ premieres Monday, March 3 at 8 p.m. on WTIU

Photo of two re-enactors from A Generation at War.

For all that has been portrayed about the Civil War and its impact, very little has focused on how the Civil War affected specific communities in the Union’s Midwestern heartland. A new documentary from Gudaitis Production explores how the citizens—both Black and White—of Greencastle and Putnam County, Indiana, responded to and were affected by the war.

​A Generation at War: The Civil War Era in a Northern Community premieres Monday, March 3 at 8 p.m. ET on WTIU Public Television and will be available to stream for free on the PBS app. Through this microhistory of the Civil War, the documentary provides an understanding of the broader impact of the war on people throughout Indiana and the Midwest.
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This film is based on the book A Generation at War: The Civil War Era in a Northern Community by Nicole Etcheson, who is the Alexander M. Bracken Professor of History at Ball State University. Etcheson’s book was awarded the 2012 Avery O. Craven Award from the Organization of American Historians for the most original book on the Civil War era and the 2012 Best Nonfiction Book of Indiana from the Indiana Center for the Book, Indiana State Library.