Tweeting The Civil War, 150 Years Later

07:44

May 27, 2011

The battle of Gettysburg, Pa. July 3d. 1863, depicting the Battle of Gettysburg, fought July 1—3, 1863. The battle was part of the American Civil War and was won by the North. Hand-colored lithograph by Currier and Ives.

"Poor people ... driven from their homes by a horde of vile leveling Yankees." That's the tweet of the day, from North Carolina state historian Lerae Umfleet.

To mark the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Civil War, she will be tweeting daily for the next four years from actual diaries and letters of the era. She is also a Civil War re-enactor who dresses as a southern lady in mourning and has researched how the nation's bloodiest war affected mourning customs of the day. She found that southern ladies took up weaving their own cloth and dyeing it black because of shortages during the war.

North Carolina state historian Lerae Umfleet, who tweets and writes about the Civil War, and occasionally wears period dress. (Lerae Umfleet) — North Carolina state historian Lerae Umfleet, who tweets and writes about the Civil War, and occasionally wears Civil War enactment clothing that she makes herself. (Lerae Umfleet)

This segment aired on May 27, 2011.