When Hoosiers research the Civil War, they’ll learn about the brutal conflict between the Union and the Confederacy; the decades of tension fueled by economic, political, and cultural differences; and the impact on the Northeast and Southern home fronts.
Hoosiers are not likely to uncover much about life in Indiana communities during this period, as most of the research about Northern states has been focused on bigger cities such as New York or Philadelphia.
Alexander M. Bracken Distinguished Professor of History Dr. Nicole Etcheson— a nationally recognized Civil War historian—sought to change that. Her nonfiction book, A Generation at War: The Civil War Era in a Northern Community, published in 2011, offers a deeply researched microhistory of Putnam County, Ind., from the Compromise of 1850 to the end of Reconstruction—showing how that county’s citizens responded to and were affected by the war.
Dr. Etcheson’s book has become the basis of a new documentary film, A Generation at War, produced by Gudaitis Productions of Bloomington, Ind. The film shares the stories of Putnam County families and individuals during the Civil War.
“The people of Putnam County have put a lot into this, and I really hope they’re happy with the result,” Dr. Etcheson said about the documentary. “Also, I felt a deep obligation to the memory of the Civil War generation in Putnam County. I hope to have given those people their due and the honor they deserve for their contribution to preserving the Union and ending enslavement.”
The documentary will premiere in Greencastle, Ind., on Wednesday, Jan. 22, at the Ashley Square Cinema and is expected to air on Indiana Public Television. Check the schedules of your local Indiana Public Television station to find out the date and time this documentary will air.
A Generation at War shares the Civil War Era stories of Putnam County residents, including John Applegate, who died after the war from diarrhea contracted at Andersonville prison camp; Alice Chapin, who was anguished when her husband enlisted and left her with two young children; and Robert Townsend, the son of formerly enslaved parents. Mr. Townsend joined Indiana’s only African American regiment but became ill and died without seeing combat.
Unearthing Putnam County Stories
Dr. Etcheson’s research for the book involved combing through old newspapers on microfilm, obtaining letters through the Indiana Historical Society and the Indiana State Library, and perusing Putnam County courthouse records. She also gathered information from cemetery and burial records and connected people through Ancestry.com.
“I knew Indiana was a big state that had a lot of anti-war sentiment, and yet a lot of young men from Indiana served in the Union Army. I filed that away and thought about coming back to look at it and see what happened in Indiana during the war,” said Dr. Etcheson, whose family has roots in Putnam County.
“Indiana’s a very typical Northern state, and Putnam County is a more typical location,” she added. “It’s got a town, Greencastle; it’s got a major economic route that goes through it with national railroads. There was kind of a railroad hub in Greencastle, but it was very rural.”
Dr. Etcheson’s book accurately depicts what life was like for Hoosiers during the Civil War. It earned two prestigious awards: the Avery O. Craven Award from the Organization of American Historians for the “Most Original Book on the Civil War Era,” and the “Best Nonfiction Book of Indiana” from the Indiana Center for the Book, Indiana State Library.
Documentarians at Gudaitis Productions contacted Dr. Etcheson in 2019 with the idea of making a film about Indiana stories from the Civil War period. A Generation at War was completed after more than five years of scriptwriting and filming at the Putnam County Playhouse.
The film is dedicated to Dr. Etcheson’s father, Gerald Ray Etcheson, who graduated from Greencastle High School, and the late Alan Backler, a documentarian who worked on A Generation at War.
