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Dear Frenchmen,
I study American history, and I am always excited to encounter Europeans who share this interest: especially since, in comparison, their own histories are much larger and complicated than the history of my own country. Please explain why the American Civil War interests you. Does it overlap with French interest or study of the Second Empire of Napoleon the 3rd, or with the Franco-Prussian War? I have always been fond of the French Prince De Polignac, who fought under Taylor in Louisiana as a soldier of fortune. The Texas rowdies he commanded called him "General Polecat," as it suited their tongues better than the French. After surrender, he returned to France to command the French 1st Division in the Franco-Prussian War. Whenever I meet a Frenchman who studies the War, Polignac comes to my mind. Please share what you enjoy about your studies in American history, and how it compares to the celebrated history of your own country.
Pemberton

Well, that's a quite difficult thing to describe.

As for me, I love history. So American War of Secession (that's the name, it was not a civil war ) or South American war of the triple alliance will both interest me.
Regardind the ACW: well, indeed, I am fond of it. Because it's a turning point (will the States or the Federal government point of view about how the constitution is to be used prevail?) and a powerfull source of What ifs.
The Southern Cause (apart from the "peculiar institution") do also have a sort of romanticist polish: c.f. Gone with the Wind. The ante-bellum South was, in my opinion, closer to Europe because of its traditionnalism than the Northern States were.

I am also fond of the 19th Century & French 2nd Empire and indeed came to study the war in North America through French 2nd Empire. Not very much because of Mexico but because the Emperor was trending toward a recognition of the C.S.A.
It also indeed overlaps an interest toward any mid-19th conflict.

Well first of all, let's be honest, there isn't any widespread interest for the ACW in France, but military history buffs find it quite interesting I suppose. An element that plays a role I think is that the ACW is the last "romantic napoleon style campaigning and manouvering" war with a rich tableau of characters, geniuses and drunkards, just like the napoleonic wars. The rest of 19th century wars are for the military history wargamer buff tame affaires, either onesided and quickly done with (Franco-prussian, Austrio-prussian) or colonial or quasi colonial (Crimea) in kind.

Although the ACW already prefigures some of the horrors of WWI, it still has some of the "magic" and richness of the napoleonic warfare, the campaigning, the drama, the history. That would be it for me anyway.

veji1 wrote: [...] the ACW is the last "romantic napoleon style campaigning and manouvering" war with a rich tableau of characters, geniuses and drunkards, just like the napoleonic wars.
[...]
Although the ACW already prefigures some of the horrors of WWI, it still has some of the "magic" and richness of the napoleonic warfare, the campaigning, the drama, the history.

+1, I could not have explain it better than you did.

Beside I was always more interested by the first years of the war than the bloody struggle of 1864/65 in Virginia.

In my case, theses men are the origin of my interest of this war


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Tuniques_Bleues


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueberry_%28comics%29

Lafrite wrote:In my case, theses men are the origin of my interest of this war

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25392[/ATTACH]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Tuniques_Bleues

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25393[/ATTACH]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueberry_%28comics%29

+1 especially with Blueberry, and when i was very Young... the blue and grey Playmobils

Lafrite wrote:In my case, theses men are the origin of my interest of this war

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25392[/ATTACH]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Tuniques_Bleues

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25393[/ATTACH]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueberry_%28comics%29

While not french, my initiation to the ACW was indeed also the Tuniques Bleues (less Blueberry as I only got to that series later, in any case it would have moved me more towards the Apache Wars). Also a few TV series (incl. the Blue and the Gray) and romanticized book series). A later influence was simply from what wargames were available in my youth, the first civil war related game I ever played being GBoACW's Pea Ridge (where only much later I discovered so many mistakes in the OOB and on the map that I designed my own game for the topic), wanting another game of that series I asked a friend to pick one up on a holiday to London, got one from another series instead and somehow I ended up buying almost as many Civil War games in the following years than WWII ones (and far more than Napoleonic). Only much later did I move from playing civil war games to actually taking a look at civil war history beyond the standard works...

These days I find the Tuniques Bleues rather disapointing (got the latest one a few weeks ago and can't pretend it moved me like the old ones) and when I get the itch I start reading through the Official Records on obscure topics...

When I realize that this war is a turning point between the Napoleonic way of war and modern war (i.e. 1970 Franco-Prussian War and WWI).
Concerning le prince de Polignac, it's an old French family, their castle is always here and the castle of Lafayette too is near my house.
Then despite the fact i'm in France, I have many references around me teasing my curiosity about your history. And I don't forget that at the beginning your nation was made from european people