WHAT DID IT MEAN?

HOW DID IT START?

NOBODY KNEW.

THEN I HEARD ABOUT ANOTHER MYSTERY, A STORY ABOUT A WOMAN'S MISSING CIVIL WAR DIARY LOST IN THE ATTIC OF THE TOWN LIBRARY.

CURIOUS, I WENT UP THERE TO LOOK FOR IT.

I NEVER FOUND THE DIARY.

I FOUND SOMETHING EVEN BETTER.

WE BEGAN WITH THE DEAD.

THE FIRST THING I REMEMBER IS THAT THE GENERATION OF THE PEOPLE WHO FOUGHT THE CIVIL WAR NEVER GOT OVER THEIR DEAD.

THAT SEEMS LIKE A SIMPLE POINT, BUT IT'S AN ESSENTIAL ONE.

AND EASY FOR US TO FORGET.

EVERYTHING AFTERWARDS, SPRANG FROM THE FACT OF SORROW.

MANY OF THE GRAVES HERE, IN JUST ONE CEMETERY IN ONE TOWN, TESTIFIED TO THAT DEEP MOURNING.

BUT LET'S LOOK AT JUST TWO OF THEM.

HERE LIVES THIS CAPTAIN OF THE FIFTH VERMONT, SHOT THREE TIMES ON MAY 5, 1864 IN THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS, IN FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA.

HE WAS ONE OF OVER 1200 CASUALTIES, SUFFERING IN TWO DAYS.

THE GREATEST TRIBUTE BECAME THE FORM OF A NOTE ON A PORTRAIT SAVED BY ONE OF HIS COMRADES.

AT THE FIGHT IN THE WILDERNESS, MAY 4, 1864, IT READS ON THE BACK.

A SPLENDID OFFICER.

HIS COLLEAGUE GOT THE DATE WRONG BUT THE MAN RIGHT.

AN AFFECTIONATE PERSON, HE WAS 24.

A FEW WEEKS LATER HIS BROTHER NAMED A NEW BABY AFTER HIM.

NEARBY WAS HIS FRIEND, CAPTAIN GEORGE DAVENPORT.

LIKE CHARLIE DAVENPORT WAS FATALLY WOUNDED IN THE WILDERNESS.

SHOT IN THE HEAD, HE LIVED A WEEK WITHOUT REGAINING THE ABILITY TO SPEAK.

AT 31, A SCHOOL TEACHER BEFORE THE WAR, WHO LOVED HIM.

HER PORTRAIT WAS FOUND IN HIS POCKET.

IT WAS HER DETERMINATION TO REMEMBER HIM, AND TO MAKE HIS DEATH MEAN SOMETHING, THAT IS OUR STORY.

>> BRANDON VERMONT, MAY 29, 1864, GOD GIVE ME STRENGTH TO BEAR THE AFFLICTIONS.

IT IS HARD FOR ME TO FEEL RECOGNIZED.

AT TIMES I CANNOT, I DON'T KNOW HOW I AM GOING TO LIVE WITHOUT GEORGE.

I CANNOT, I CANNOT.

HE WAS ALL I HAD IN THIS WORLD.

WITHOUT HIM I CANNOT GO ON WITH LIFE.

>> SHE QUESTIONED EVERYTHING.

>> IT'S AWFUL.

AWFUL WAR.

IT HAS TAKEN MY ALL.

FOR WHAT?

WHEN WILL IT END?

>> SHE HAD MARRIED GEORGE DAVENPORT IN AUGUST OF 1860, WHEN SHE WAS 22.

THEY HAD BEEN TOGETHER LESS THAN A YEAR WHEN HE WAS TO DO A FIFTH VERMONT REGIMEN, A FEW MONTHS AFTER THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR.

CHILDLESS SHE HAD SEEN NO REASON NOT TO GO WITH HIM.

FOR THREE WINTERS SHE HAD LIVED WITH HIM IN THE REGIMENT AND WINTER CAMP.

SHARING "LIFE OF PI" A -- SHARING THE LIFE OF A SOLDIER, EVEN RETURNING EACH SPRING.

WHEN THEY WERE SEPARATED HE WORRIED ABOUT HER, TOO.

THE WICKED WAR WILL SOON BE OVER.

I WILL BE WITH MY BELOVED DARLING ONCE AGAIN.

NEVER MORE TO LEAVE HER.

KEEP UP GOOD COURAGE.

TRUST ALL IN THE HANDS OF GOD.

WITH HIS DEATH, THE COURAGE ALMOST FAILED.

SHE FACED THE FUTURE ALONE.

SHE WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE SUFFERING THAT YEAR.

THE WILDERNESS HAD MARKED THE BEGINNING OF MONTHS OF TERRIBLE FIGHTING.

THE DREADFUL NEWS OF CARNAGE AND BLOOD BRINGS SO MUCH OF SORROW AND ANGUISH TO OUR HOMES.

THE VERMONT RECORD, BRANDON.

>> 1864 WAS THE WORST YEAR OF THE WAR.

IT BEGAN WITH THE SLAUGHTERING OF THE WILDERNESS AND DID NOT RELENT.

A LONG LIST OF CASUALTIES EMERGED FROM VIRGINIA.

THE ROMANCE OF PATRIOTIC SACRIFICE WENT AWAY.

BY THE TIME THE ENLISTMENTS EXPIRED, PATRIOTISM HAD BEEN REPLACED BY EXHAUSTION AND SORROW.

>> WE GAVE A BIGGER VISION.

THE WEARINESS WAS TO PASSENGER, THE SCARS OF BATTLE WERE UPON THEM, THE WITH A THREE-YEAR SIEGE.

THEY LOOKED AS IF THEY WOULD BE GLAD TO GET AWAY FROM IT ALL, WE HEARD THE CHOKING SOUNDS OF MANY MORE.

>> NOVEMBER 25, THE NEWSPAPER SUMMED UP THE YEAR.

YESTERDAY WAS THANKSGIVING DAY.

TEARS AND A HEAVY HEART MAKES SOME OF YOUR SUPPER UNTASTED, AND YET YOU KEPT A DAY WITH A DEEP AND SOLEMN AND ERNEST THANKSGIVING.

GROWING WISE, YOU REACHED THE WORK OF YOUR COUNTRY, OF LIFE AND OF DEATH OF PRINCIPLE.

THIS IS WHY WE BELIEVE AND INSPIRE THOSE VACANT CHAIRS, WE WERE THANKFUL YESTERDAY.

THIS IS WHY WE BELIEVE YOU WILL BRAVELY FIGHT THROUGH LOSS AND SUFFERING, AND YOUR DEAD HEROES DID THEIRS, IN DANGER, PAIN, AND DEATH.

YOUR GIFTS OF THEM AND THEIRS OF THEIR LIFE IN A KINDRED SPIRIT.

YOURS IS THE LONGER FIGHT.

A RICHER VICTORY.

>> THE SEARCH FOR GEORGE, BARBARA LEFT-HAND TURN HEARD FROM IN A YEAR, SHORTLY AFTER HIS DEATH SHE WROTE ON BLACK BOARDED MOURNING PAPER, A SURGEON IN THE ARMY, THE GRAVE STILL RAW AND DESPERATE.

>> DO YOU THINK THAT GET HIS REMAINS, IT WOULD BE SUCH A COMFORT, COULD I EVER GET HIS REMAINS?

I MUST GRIEVE.

>> AMID THE HORRIBLE FIGHTING, HE COULD DO NOTHING.

HUNDREDS OF CASES OF AMPUTATION ARE WAITING FOR ME.

POOR FELLAS COME AND BEG FOR THE NEXT CHANCE TO HAVE AN ARM TAKEN OFF.

THIS IS THE SCENE OF HORROR SUCH I NEVER SAW.

GOD FORBID I SHOULD SEE ANOTHER.

POOR FRANKIE, GOD HELP HER, IT IS FEARFUL.

I CANNOT THINK OF IT.

WHAT SHALL I WRITE POOR FRANKIE?

I WANT TO SAY SOMETHING FOR HER BUT THERE ARE NO WORDS.

SHE MUST ACCEPT MY TEARS, WHICH FLOWED DAY AND NIGHT FOR HER.

FROM THE CHAOS OF BATTLE GEORGE WAS CARRIED TO A FIELD HOSPITAL.

BY THE TIME HE DIED A WEEK LATER THE ARMIES HAD MOVED ON.

HE HAD BEEN WRAPPED IN A BLANKET AND HASTILY BURIED.

HIS BODY COULD BE ANYWHERE, ACROSS A VAST, DANGEROUS AREA.

ONLY THE MAN WHO HAD WRITTEN TO INFORM FRANKIE OF GEORGE'S DEATH, A SPOPT STEWARD IN THE 63rd PENNSYLVANIA, KNEW WHERE IT WAS.

AND HE WAS SOMEWHERE WITH THE ARMY.

AFTER THE BATTLE THEY ADJOURNED SOUTH TO TRY TO RETRIEVE THE BODY OF THE TWO FRIENDS.

HE COULDN'T REACH THE BATTLEFIELD.

A YEAR PASSED.

WHILE FRANKIE MOURNED, AND THE ARMIES FOUGHT ON.

HER CHANCE CAME IN MAY OF 1965 WHEN THE WAR WON.

THE ARMIES WERE SCHEDULED TO MARCH IN A VICTORY PARADE THROUGH WASHINGTON.

THIS GRAND REVIEW, BUT 120,000 SOLDIERS AND HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF SPECTATORS TO THE CAPITOL.

THE SOLDIER THAT KNEW WHERE GOOD MORNING WAS BURIED WAS A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK, BUT FRANKY WOULD FIND HIM AT THE GRAND REVIEW OR NEVER.

AFTER SCOURING THE CITY SHE FOLLOWED THE TRAIL ACROSS THE POTOMAC TO WHERE THE PENNSYLVANIA PEOPLE WERE CAMPED AND FOUND HIM.

>> SATURDAY I SPENT THE ENTIRE DAY GETTING STEERED TO GO, HAD ALL THE RED TAPE TO GO THROUGH WITH, BUT SUCCEEDED AT LAST.

AS I ALWAYS DO WHEN I UNDERTAKE NICK.

SHE HAD ALSO PURCHASED TWO COFFINS.

NEXT MORNING, SUNDAY, MAY 28, THE PARTY TOOK A STEAMBOAT TO THE LANDING CLOSEST TO FREDERICKSBURG.

IN FREDERICKSBURG, HE SPENT THE NIGHT IN A HOUSE POCK MARKED BY SHELLS.

>> THE TOWN WAS DESOLATE.

THERE WAS SHELLS.

>> MONDAY MORNING PROVIDED WITH AN AMBULANCE AND AN ARMY WAGON BY COLONEL JOHN R. LEWIS OF THE FIFTH VERMONT GEORGE'S OLD COMRADE THE PARTY DEPARTED.

LEWIS ALSO DETAILED 15 CALVARYMEN TO ACCOMPANY THEM.

>> WE WENT THROUGH THE COUNTRY, IT WAS CONSIDERED UNSAFE TO GO WITHOUT A GUARD.

>> THEY TRAVELED SHE ESTIMATED 18 MILES, THE SHATTERED WOODS AROUND THE BATTLEGROUNDS STILL FULL OF UNBURIED BODIES.

IN THIS WILDERNESS OF DEATH THEY SEARCHED FOR GEORGE.

>> THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE MY DEAR HUSBAND IS DYING.

MANY GRAVES SCATTERED ALL ABOUT, AND FINALLY CAME TO A ROW OF 12 GRAVES IN THE FIELD.

CORN GROWING ON EVERY SIDE.

WE FOUND IT, CAPTAIN GEORGE DAVENPORT.

IT WAS THREE FEET DEEP, SHE FOUND THE GROWTHING WAS -- CLOTHING WAS DECAYED.

I NEED GEORGE'S SHIRT, SO I KNEW WHAT HE HAD ON, AND WAS PERFECTLY SATISFIED.

IT WAS CERTAINLY MY POOR DARLING THAT WE FOUND.

THEY TOOK UP HIS BODY PERFECTLY WHOLE AND PLACED IT IN A COFFIN, PLACED BIBS, ETC.

UNDERNEATH, FILLED IT WITH THE PIECES AND WE RECOLLECTED HAVE TO TAKE PIECE BY PIECE, BUT THEY DID NOT.

THAT WAS THE COMFORT TO ME.

>> THAT NIGHT BACK IN FRET -- FREDERICKSBURG, THEY RAN INTO THE BRIGADE.

>> WE SAT IN THE MEADOW.

>> THE NEXT DAY WITH THE HELP OF THE SOLDIER WHO BURIED HIM, THEY FOUND THE BODY OF CHARLIE.

AGAINST ALL ODDS SHE HAD ACCOMPLISHED HER PURPOSE.

RETURNING TO WASHINGTON SHE PUT THE COFFINS ON THE TRAIN HOME TO VERMONT.

>> IT WAS A GREAT PLEASURE TO BE ABLE TO GO AND POUR DOWN ON HIS GRAVE AND BRING HIS REMAINS HOME FOR BURIAL.

IT WAS GREAT REASON FOR MY THANKFULNESS.

>> THE COFFINS ARRIVED MOP, -- MONDAY, JUNE 5, PLACED IN THE TOWN HALL GARNERED BY SOLDIERS UNTIL MORNING.

ON THE MORNING OF TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 1865, FRANKIE BURIED HER HUSBAND AND HIS FRIEND AT THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

>> GEORGE'S COFFIN AND THE CAPTAINS WERE KEPT TOGETHER COVERED BY THE SAME FLAG AND TAKEN FROM THE CHURCH TO THE CEMETERY IN AN OPEN WAGON SIDE-BY-SIDE, ON GEORGE'S COFFIN WAS WHITE FLOWERS, AND ON THE CAPTAIN AS WAS HE A WHITE WREATH.

THE COFFINS MUST BE SEPARATED, AND IT WAS THE ISH WISH OF THE FRIENDS TO KEEP THEM TOGETHER.

GEORGE AND CAPTAIN O. WERE FRIENDS.

THEY STOOD TOGETHER FROM THE SAME TOWN IN THE SAME REGIMENT.

WERE TOGETHER FOR THREE YEARS IN THE FIELD.

WERE WOUNDED IN BATTLE IN ALMOST THE SAME HOUR TAKEN TO THE SAME HOSPITAL, AND DIED TOGETHER, AND NOW AFTER A LAPSE OF MORE THAN A YEAR, THEIR BODIES ARE BROUGHT HOME TOGETHER, AND BURIED IN THE SAME CHURCH IN THE SAME CEMETERY.

IT WAS A CEMETERY IN BRANDON.

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW RELIEVED I FEEL TO KNOW WHERE HE IS LYING, INSTEAD OF LIVING LIKE I HAD THE YEAR PAST NOT KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT HIM.

I WOULD GIVE SO MUCH IF I COULD LIVE NEAR HIS GRAVE, WHERE I COULD VISIT IT EVERY DAY.

CARRY FLOWERS.

NOT IN GRIEF, NOT IN HER DESIRE TO REMEMBER.

NOT IN HER BELIEF THAT GOD INTENDED THAT IT HAD TO MEAN SOMETHING.

THESE EMOTIONS WOULD SHAPE THE COMING YEARS IN WAYS THAT SHE COULD NOT ANTICIPATE.

A YEAR LATER IN 1866, GOOD MORNING O.

'S WIFE DIED IN CHILD CHILDBIRTH.

IN 1867 HE LOST LITTLE CHARLIE, HIS ONLY CHILD TO DYSENTERY.

TEN DAYS AFTER HE BURIED HIS BOY JOEL AND FRANKIE DAVENPORT WERE MARRIED IN HER HOME CHURCH, BROUGHT TOGETHER BY GRIEF, THEY WOULD REMAIN UNITED BY A COMMITMENT TO MEMORY.

FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES THEY WOULD RETURN TO THE CIVIL WAR.

IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED THE MEMORY OF THE DEAD STILL BURNED.

MILLIONS OF PEOPLE, LIKE FRANKIE, PLAY SPRING FLOWERS ON SOLDIER'S GRAVES.

THE PRIVATE CEREMONIES BECAME PUBLIC IN 1868 WHEN MEMORIAL DAY FORMALLY BEGAN.

BUT THE MEMORIES CROWDED ALL OF THE TIME, IN WAYS BIG AND SMALL.

IN 1872 BRANDON'S VETERANS, JOEL AMONG THEM, STAGED A PLAY IN THE TOWN HALL.

THE UNION SERGEANT OR THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG WAS A BADLY WRITTEN MELODRAMA.

WEED WAS A SCOTTISH IMMIGRANT WHO AT 18 HAD GONE FROM DISTINCT AS A BRANDON WORKER TO COMPANY H OF THE FIFTH VERMONT.

HE HAD SEEN THE REAL WAR, WHAT DID HE MAKE OF DIALOGUE LIKE THIS?

IN HIS BIG DEATH SCENE?

I AM DONE.

I HAVE KEPT UP MY COURAGE TO THE LAST, IT IS FAST GOING OUT.

HARD TO DIE SO YOUNG.

I DIE FEELING I HAVE DONE MY DUTY TO MY COUNTRY AND TO MY GOD.

>> GOD, COUNTRY.

MOTHER.

COMRADES.

THE SPEECH HIT ALL THE MARKERS OF A GOOD VICTORIAN SOLDIER'S DEATH.

BUT McGREGOR AND HIS FELLOW ACTORS, VETERANS OF THE FIFTH VERMONT, KNEW HOW FALSE THIS WAS.

HE HAD SEEN REAL, UGLY DEATHS ALL THROUGH THE WAR.

AT HORRIBLE PLACES LIKE FREDERICKSBURG, THE WILDERNESS, AND COLD HARBOR.

THEY ALL HAD.

THEIR HUSBAND MUCH IN NONSENSE WRITTEN BUT THE WAR AND THE HELIOS, IN BOOKS, WAR IS DRAMATIC AND POETIC.

IN LIFE IT IS CRUELTY.

TWO MEN HAD GOTTEN SICK AND DIED IN THE CONFEDERATE PRISON IN ANDERSONVILLE, GEORGIA.

NO HOW MUCH THEY MAY HAVE WISHED IT, IT WAS NOT LIKE THE PLAY.

AND LIKE EVERYONE IN BRANDON, THEY ALL KNEW OF THE REAL STORY FAR MORE DRAMATIC THAN ANYTHING IN THE PLAY.

HERE'S THE MONUMENT OF THESE BROTHERS, JOHN AND CHARLIE, ALL OF WHOM DIED IN THE WAR.

IT'S A MONUMENT, NOT A GRAVE.

THEIR BODIES ARE STILL IN VIRGINIA.

CHARLIE SUFFERED THE LAST AND CRUELEST DEATH.

THE COMPANY H OF THE FIFTH VERMONT HEDGEMENT, HE DIED IN THE LAST BIG BATTLE OF THE WAR, KILLED IN THE PREDAWN DARKNESS ON APRIL 2, 1865, AT PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA.

HE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST FOUR OR FIVE MEN IN THE ENTIRE ARMY TO BREAK THROUGH THE MASSIVE CONFEDERATE DEFENSIVE WORKS, AND HE PAID WITH HIS LIFE.

CHARLIE'S LAST WORDS SHOUTED TO THE MEN BEHIND HIM ARE RECORDED HERE.

COME ON, BOYS.

THE WORKS ARE OURS.

THE WAR ENDED A WEEK LATER.

HIS FATHER NEVER GOT OVER THE LOSS OF HIS SONS.

THE PLAY ENDED WITH THE GREAT SONG OF MEMORY AND LOSS.

THE VACANT CHAIR.

>> THE JUST CAUSE FOR WHICH HE GAVE HIS LIFE SHOWN FOREVER SAYS THE FATHER IN THE PLAY.

BUT WOULD IT?

THIS WAS THE CRITICAL QUESTION IN THE POST-WAR YEARS.

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY JUSTIFY THE HORRIBLE LOSS?

IN VERMONT IT WAS NOT ENOUGH THAT THE WAR HAD BEEN WON.

OR EVEN THAT SLAVERY HAD ENDED.

THE VERMONTERS OF THAT GENERATION NEEDED TO KNOW SOMETHING MORE.

THEY NEEDED TO KNOW THAT THE WAR HAD ESTABLISHED THE JUST AND DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY, HAD 125EBD A SOCIETY WORTH DYING FOR.

THAT LED THEM IN TURN TO POLITICS.

TO OPPOSITION TO THE COMPETING SOUTHERN CLAIM THAT THE CAUSE OF THE CONFEDERACY WAS A JUST ONE.

>> THEY REMEMBERED THE WAR IN WAYS BOTH BIG AND SMALL.

PEOPLE WERE REMINDED OF IT IN CONCERTS, ORATIONS, AND MOST OF ALL ON MEMORIAL DAY.

ON MAY 22, 1875 FRANKIE AND JOEL HELPED FORM THE CITIZEN SOLDIER'S ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTING THE CONSTANT OBSERVANCE OF MEMORIAL DAY.

FOR THE NEXT 30 YEARS THEY WOULD REMAIN ACTIVE IN IT.

THE FEELING OF OBLIGATION TO THE WAR DEAD PERMEATED VERMONT.

VERMONT'S OFFICERS HAD BEGUN TO GATHER TO REMEMBER THE CIVIL WAR BEFORE IT EVEN ENDED.

ON NOVEMBER 17, 1864, THE FIRST UNION SOCIETY OF THE VERMONT OFFICERS WAS HELD AT THE PAVILION HOTEL IN PONT PEEL -- MONTPELIER.

THEY WOULD GO TO THE STATE HOUSE WHERE THEY WOULD MEET FOR MOST OF THE NEXT 40 YEARS.

IN DOING SO, THEY REMINDED EACH OTHER THE WAR WAS FOUGHT OVER WHAT THEY CALLED AS EARLY AS 1864, AN IDEA.

THAT IDEA WAS SIMPLE.

THEY BELIEVED ABOVE ALL, THAT THE WAR HAD BEEN FOUGHT TO PRESERVE DEMOCRACY ITSELF.

THERE WAS NO ACCIDENT THAT THEY MET IN THE STATE HOUSE.

THEY KNEW EXACTLY WHAT DEMOCRACY MEANT.

THEY TOLD US AGAIN AND AGAIN.

FRANKIE AND JOEL'S FRIEND, THE COLONEL, ADDRESSED THE SUBJECT IN 1867.

IN THE VERY FIRST ORATION EVER PRESENTED TO THE REUNION SOCIETY IT MEANT SECURITY, HE SAID.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

RESPECT FOR LABOR.

MERIT RECOGNIZED.

PROPERTY DISTRIBUTED.

KNOWLEDGE DIFFUSED.

POVERTY CARED FOR.

RELIGIOUS TOLERATION, AND NATIONALITY OF SPIRIT.

AND WHAT HAD BEEN SAVED IN THE WAR HE ASSERTED WAS NOTHING SHORT OF LIBERTY ITSELF.

AND ALSO BROUGHT, HE SAID, THE FREEDOM OF A RACE OF HUMAN BEINGS.

FOR DECADES THE REUNION SOCIETY HEARD RACING EVERY OTHER YEAR IN THE VERMONT HOUSE CHAMBER.

TO THEM IT REPRESENTED EVERYTHING THAT THE WAR HAD BEEN ABOUT, THEY TURNED THE CAPITAL ITSELF INTO A GIANT MEMORIAL TO THE WAR.

THE WORK OF THE OFFICERS LINE THE ENTRANCE, BATTLE FLAGS, MONUMENTS DECORATED THE HALLS.

THEY DEVOTED AN ENTIRE WING TO A MASSIVE PAINTING VERMONTERS IN ACTION AT THE BATTLE OF CEDAR CREEK.

IN 1878 ADDRESSING THE SOCIETY IN THE HOUSE CHAMBER ABOLITIONISTS TURN SOLDIER BIGELOW SUMMED UP THE MORAL PURPOSE OF A WAR.

THE REBEB ONWAS A WAR OF IDEAS.

THE NORTH WON IN THE CONFLICT, NOT ALONE BECAUSE OF HER MIGHT BUT BECAUSE OF HER RIGHT.

WHAT WAS WORTH FIGHTING FOR DURING FOUR YEARS IS WORTH TALKING ABOUT, NOT PREDICTIVELY OR BOASTINGLY, BUT REVERENTLY, FOREVER AND FOREVER AND FOREVER.

FOR THE SOUTHERN IDEA THAT MIGHT IS THE RULE OF RIGHT, WE ARE AND SHALL EVER BE AS CRUEL AND INHOSPITABLE AS THAT VAST, GRAVE, FOOLISH HANDS FILLED WITHOUT OUR PRECIOUS DEAD.

AS TIME PASSED AND AS CAREER ADVANCED, JOEL WOULD BECOME INCREASINGLY PROMINENT IN THE SOCIETY.

THROUGH THE YEARS HE WOULD ALSO SERVE AS THE STATE'S ATTORNEY, STATE SENATOR, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, AND FROM 1887 TO 1889 AS GOVERNOR OF VERMONT.

FOR HER PART FRANKIE WAS ONE OF THE FEW WOMEN WHO HAD A PLACE AMONG THE OFFICERS.

AND NOT JUST BECAUSE SHE WAS THE WIFE OF A PUBLIC MAN.

THEY KNEW HER.

AS A YOUNG BRIDE, SHE HAD LIVED WITH THEM IN CAMP.

THEY ALSO KNEW HER SUFFERING.

AND THEY HONORED WHAT SHE HAD DONE FOR GEORGE AND CHARLIE.

IN 1880 THEY ARRANGED FOR THE SOCIETY TO MEET IN BRANDON.

THERE THE ASSEMBLED OFFICERS WOULD HEAR THE MOST REMARKABLE ORATION EVER GIVEN TO THE SOCIETY.

THE MAIN SPEAKER WAS FRANKIE'S OLD FRIENDLY, COLONEL LEWIS, SHE WAS THE COLONEL IN THE FIFTH.

LATER HE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN HELPING FRANKIE FIND HIS BODY.

HE HIMSELF HAD LOST AN ARM IN THE WILDERNESS.

AFTER THE WAR HE HAD SPENT FOUR YEARS WORKING IN AND EVENTUALLY DIRECTING THE FRIEDMAN'S BUREAU IN GEORGIA.

IN THE YEARS SINCE HE HAD SEEN RECONSTRUCTION DESTROYED.

IF THE WAR HAD BEEN A STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY, HE ASKED, WHAT DID IT MEAN THAT THOSE WHO HAD BEEN ERADICATED IN THE SOUTH SINCE THE WAR?

SPEAKING IN THE TOWN HALL, HE DESCRIBED FIRST HAND THE SUNSET OF THE BLACK LIBERTY.

BY PERSONALOSSISM, BY INTIMIDATION, BY DISGUISE KU KLUX KLAN, BY WHIPPING, BY BURNING ALIVE, THEY KEEP A FREED MAN FROM THE POLLS, OF BLOOD OF THOUSANDS OF MURDERED FREED MEN ALL OVER THE SOUTH CAUSED REVENGANCE.

THE SOLDIER SUMMED UP THEIR VIEWS OF THE WAR AND WHAT HAD HAPPENED AFTER IT, AND THE WORD REBELLION, FOR THEM, THE WAR HAD BEEN THE SUPPRESSION OF A REBELLION AGAINST LIBERTY AND DEMOCRACY.

THUS FOR 50 YEARS THE CIVIL WAR MONUMENTS THIS CAME TO DOT VERMONT WERE NOT ONLY MEMORIALS BUT STATEMENTS ABOUT REBEB JOHN AND TREASON.

OVER AND OVER THEY TELL THE SAME MESSAGE THAT THE UNION WAS IN THE RIGHT AND THE SOUTH WAS WRONG.

NOT ONLY ABOUT SLAVERY, BUT ABOUT EVERYTHING.

RECONCILIATION WITH THE SOUTH COULD NEVER IMPLY AN ABANDONED PRINCIPLE.

AS LATE AS 1915 THE MONUMENT STILL SAID THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.

BRANDON UNVEILED THIS MONUMENT ON THE MEMORIAL DAY IN 1886, 25 YEARS AFTER THE FIRST OF ITS APPROXIMATELY 310 SOLDIERS WENT TO WAR.

IT COST MORE THAN THE TOWN'S ANNUAL BUDGET.

FRANKIE AND JOEL WERE AT THE CENTER OF IT ALL.

7,000 PEOPLE, TWICE THE POPULATION OF THE TOWN CAME TO THE DEDICATION.

THE ORDER OF THE DAY WAS GENERAL LEWIS GRANT, WHO HAD LED THE FIRST VERMONT BRIGADE.

HE RETURNED FROM MINNESOTA TO BE THERE AND SPEAK ABOUT HIS PERSONAL MEMORIES OF BRANDON'S DEAD.

IT WAS A DAY OF HIGH EMOTION.

ROBINSON OF BRANDON WHO ENLISTED AT THE OUTBREAK WAS THE CAPTAIN OF COMPANY H OF THE FIFTH FOR A YEAR AND A HALF UNTIL HE WAS BADLY WOUNDED IN THE WILDERNESS.

THERE WERE 31 OF THE 38 SURVIVING MEMBERS OF HIS COMPANY HERE ON SATURDAY TO GREET HIM.

THEY RALLIED ABOUT AND CHEERED HIM TO WHICH HE RESPONDED WITH MUCH EMOTION.

WHAT COULD THIS MEAN BUT TEARS?

ROBINSON HAD NEVER FULLY RECOVERED, AND IT HAD A, AND HAD A DIFFICULT LIFE.

IN 1886 WHEN THE MONUMENT WAS DEDICATED HE WAS A PARTIALLY DEAF TRAVELING LIQUOR SALESMAN.

HE WOULD DIE AT 54.

BUT AS A YOUNG MAN IN THE WAR HE HAD LED THESE MEN THROUGH FREDERICKSBURG, SALEM HEIGHTS, GETTYSBURG, AND OTHERS, AND THEN INTO THE WILDERNESS.

THEY KNEW WHY HE WAS DEAF.

THE MONUMENT HAD BROUGHT ALL THE SUFFERING, SORROW AND PRIDE OF THE WAR FLOODING BACK.

THEY HAD NEVER REALLY LEFT.

>> NO TOWN IN VERMONT WAS MORE PROUD OF THEIR SONS WHO SUFFERED MORE OR HAS BEEN MORE FAITHFUL TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO FELL, THAN IN BRANDON.

THEY GRANT YOU THIS, THAT IN CELEBRATION OF MEMORIAL DAY, BRANDON IS PARAMOUNT.

THE YEARS WENT BY.

THE VETERANS GREW OLD.

THE WORLD CHANGED.

THE WAR WAS FORGOTTEN, SEGREGATION UNCHALLENGED IN THE SOUTH.

FOR MOST AMERICANS, THE LEGACY OF THE CIVIL WAR ENDED BY 1900.

YET ALL OVER VERMONT, OLD COMRADES STILL GATHERED TO REMEMBER THEIR DEAD.

THEY NEVERRING FOR THAT THE WAR HAD BEEN FOUGHT FOR A REASON.

THEY NEVER BELIEVED THE SENTIMENTAL ARGUMENT WITH THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN CAUSES HAD BEEN EQUALLY VALID.

THEY KNEW DIFFERENTLY.

AFTER THE DECADES PASSED, THE AGING MEN THOUGHT OF HISTORY.

THEY BEGAN TO INCORPORATE CHILDREN INTO THEIR CEREMONIES.

AND IN BRANDON, FRANKIE REMAINED THE KEY PERSON WHO ORGANIZED THE MEMORIAL DAY FLOWERS FOR DECADES THROUGH ALL THOSE YEARS SHE BROUGHT FLOWERS TO GEORGE.

IN 1902 SHE SUFFERED A STROKE.

SHE NEVER FULLY RECOVERED.

BUT BEFORE SHE WAS STRICKEN SHE HELPED TO BRING THE FIRST FLOWER GIRLS INTO BRANDON'S PARADE.

THE YEAR OF HER STROKE IS THE FIRST RECORDED YEAR THAT THE FLOWER GIRLS MARCHED.

FRANKIE NOT ONLY LIVED TO SEE THE FLOWER GIRL TRADITION, SHE STARTED IT.

>> I WOULD GIVE SO MUCH IF I COULD LIVE NEAR HIS GRAVE AND VISIT IT EVERY DAY AND CARRY FLOWERS.

>> FRANKIE DIED IN 1916.

JOEL LIED UNTIL 1924.

HIS LAST PUBLIC ACT WAS THE LATTER, URGING PEOPLE NOT TO FORGET MEMORIAL DAY.

I SAW THE MYSTERIES OF THE FLOWER GIRLS, THEY WERE PART OF THE SAME STORY, AND I LEARNED SOMETHING ELSE, HOW ONE WOMAN'S STORY AND IN ONE SMALL TOWN CAN TEACH US WHY THE CIVIL WAR STILL MATTERS.

THE GIRLS ARE BEAUTIFUL.

BUT THE GENERATION THAT FOUGHT THE WAR, THE GENERATION THAT COULD NEVER FORGET IT, FRANKY'S GENERATION, ALWAYS INSISTED THAT SENTIMENT BY ITSELF WAS INSUFFICIENT.

SENTIMENTS THEY SAID WAS MEANINGLESS WITHOUT MORAL PURPOSE.

IT TAUGHT THEM THAT.

THE YEARS AFTER THE WAR TAUGHT THEM AGAIN.

THEY WERE FAR FROM SAINTS.

THEY BELIEVED IF DEMOCRACY MEANT ANYTHING IT HAD TO APPLY TO EVERYBODY.

OVER AND OVER AGAIN THE SOLDIERS TOLD US WHAT THEY FOUGHT FOR.

FREEDOM.

SELF GOVERNMENT.

COUNTRY.

LIBERTY FOR ALL.

THEY KNEW WHAT SACRIFICE WAS.

IT MEANT SAYING GOODBYE TO YOUR BROTHER.

TO YOUR LOVING HUSBAND.

TO PRECIOUS SONS.

AND NEVER SEEING THEM AGAIN.

FOR LONG YEARS THEY SUFFERED.

THEY BELIEVED THE WAR HAD MEANT SOMETHING.

IT ACHIEVED THE LIBERTY OF MILLIONS, AND SAVED THE COUNTRY.

THAT WORK WAS ALSO LEFT UNFINISHED.

THEY HAD FOUGHT TO CREATE A SOCIETY.

THE LITTLE GIRLS SHOULD REMIND US THAT FINISHING THAT WORK WAS OUR JOB.

FRANKIE AND HER GENERATION SUFFERED AND RAVED.

AND IN THE END PATIENTLY TRANSCENDED SUFFERING AND DEATH.

BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED THAT WE WOULD LIVE IN A BETTER COUNTRY.

AND BECAUSE THEY ALSO BELIEVED IN PROMISE, THAT BLESSED ARE THEY.

FOR THEY SHALL BE COMFORTED.

>> I AM MR.

THORTON BEFORE BRANDON VERMONT, A PH.D.

IN AMERICAN HISTORY, I TAUGHT HISTORY FOR MANY YEARS.

AND I GOT THIS IDEA FOR A FILM, I MOVED TO TOWN IN 2000 AS I MENTIONED, AND LIKE A LOT OF OTHER VERMONT TOWNS, THE LIBRARY ALWAYS IS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO SPEAK RIGHT, SO THEY SAID OK WILL YOU SPEAK ON A HISTORICAL TOPIC?

WE DON'T CARE WHAT, SOMETHING HISTORICAL, AND IT'S LIKE I DON'T WANT TO GIVE LIKE A STANDARD LECTURE BUT THE TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION OR SOMETHING, AND I WANT TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING IN TOWN.

SO I SETTLED ON THE SIEVE WAR THE MIDDLE OF EVERYTHING ANDIN- NOBODY LOOKS AT IT, IT HAS ALL THESE NAMES AND YOU CAN GLEAN A LOT OF INFORMATION BASED ON THE DEATH DATES AND HOW PEOPLE DIED, SO I SAID OK I WILL DO A TALK ON THE CIVIL WAR MONUMENT, AND IT WAS BASIC STUFF, AND ONE OF MY NEIGHBORS, PHIL MARKS WAS THERE.

AND HE COMES UP TO ME AND SAYS YOU KNOW THIS STORY ABOUT THIS WOMAN WHO DUG UP HER HUSBAND?

AND I SAID NO.

AND HE SAID OH, I THINK THAT IT WAS THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG, AND THERE WAS A DIARY, AND WHERE IS IT?

I DON'T KNOW.

AND THEN I ASKED HIM A FEW QUESTIONS LIKE WHY GETTYSBURG?

IT'S A NATIONAL CEMETERY.

DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, AND HE SAID LOOK, I DON'T REALLY KNOW THE STORY, BUT MY MOTHER DOES.

SHE'S IN A NURSING HOME IN RUTLAND.

GO AND ASK HER.

SO OK.

AND I LET A COUPLE OF MONTHS GO BY AND ONE DAY I WAS IN RUTLAND AND MY WIFE WAS RUNNING ERRANDS AND I DIDN'T WANT TO GO WITH HER, AND I HAD AN HOUR TO KILL IN RUTLAND, AND SO I SAID OK, I AM GOING TO GO TO THE NURSING HOME, AND I AM SO GLAD THAT I DID BECAUSE MRS.

MARKS WAS AS SHARP AS A TACK.

SHE REMEMBERED EVERYTHING.

SHE KNEW IT WAS THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS SO IT MADE MORE SENSE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED, AND SHE HAD ALL THE, THE DATES RIGHT, AND SHE HAD A TREMENDOUS MEMORY, AND SHE DIED ABOUT A MONTH AFTER I SAW HER, SO I WAS INCREDIBLY LUCKY.

AND SHE TOLD ME, I SAID WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS DIARY OR WHATEVER?

AND SHE SAID I GAVE IT TO THE WOMAN -- SHE TOLD ME THE STORY THAT SHE HAD CLEANED OUT A HOUSE IN 1953, AND THIS WAS IN THE HOUSE.

IT TURNED OUT THE HOUSE WAS FRANKIE AND JOEL'S HOUSE.

BASICALLY IT HAD THE SAME FURNITURE IN IT FROM THE 1870s TO THE 1950s, SO SHE WAS CLEANING OUT THEIR STUFF.

AND SHE HAD GIVEN THE DIARY TO THE WOMAN WHO HAD OWNED THE HOUSE THAT SHE WAS WORKING FOR.

SO I SAID WHAT'S, YOU KNOW, WHERE IS IT?

AND SHE SAID A WOMAN PEG THOMPSON, SO I WENT BACK TO BRANDON, AND NOBODY KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT A PEG THOMPSON SO I TALKED TO MY FRIEND WHO OWNS A FLOWER SHOP AND DELIVERS FLOWERS FOREVER, A BRANDON LIFER, AND HE SAID I WILL GIVE YOU THE NAMES OF TEN OLD PEOPLE TO TALK TO, SO I CALLED THEM UP IN THEIR 80s, ONE BY ONE AND NOBODY REMEMBERS ANYTHING.

FINALLY TALKED TO THE VERY LAST WOMAN ON THE LIST AND SHE SAID OH, YEAH, I REMEMBER PEG THOMPSON, SHE WAS A PIANO TEACHER AND SHE LEFT IN 1953, FANTASTIC.

WHAT WAS HER HUSBAND'S NAME?

I DON'T REMEMBER, WHERE DID SHE MOVE TO, I DON'T REMEMBER.

DO YOU REMEMBER HER KIDS' NAMES?

I DON'T REMEMBER.

SO I LOST THE TRAIL BECAUSE WOMEN IN THEIR 80s FOR THE MOST PART ARE NOT ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND NO FACEBOOK SITE SO I LOST THE TRAIL, AND THE STORY DIED WITH IT FOR LIKE THREE YEARS, AND THEN ONE DAY I WAS MOVING BOXES AROUND THE BRANDON HISTORICAL SOCIETY IS DEFUNCT BUT THEIR STUFF IS THERE, AND I WAS MOVING THE HISTORICAL BOXES AROUND AND TRYING TO MAKE A PATH THROUGH, AND I PICKED UP THIS BOX FROM FED-EX THAT WAS YOU KNOW, JUST A SHIPPING, SMALL SHIPPING BOX, AND THE RETURN ADDRESS SAID PEG THOMPSON SO I FOUND HER, AND IN AN ASSISTIVE LIVING HOME.

AND I IDAHO DOWN TO SEE -- I DROVE DOWN TO SEE HER, AND WE HAD A PLEASANT CHAT, AND SHE TOLD ME THAT SHE REMEMBERED NOTHING OF THIS.

I THANKED HER AND WAS ABOUT TO LEAVE, AND JUST AS I WAS STANDING UP TO GO SHE SAID WAIT A MINUTE, I DO REMEMBER THAT STORY.

AND I THINK I GAVE A COPY TO THE BRANDON LIBRARY.

SO BACK TO WHERE I STARTED THE BRANDON LIBRARY I LOOKED IN THE CATALOG AND NOTHING.

I LOOKED IN THEIR OLD CARD CATALOG.

NOTHING.

I SAID TO THE LIBRARIAN, DO YOU HAVE LIKE A SECRET BRANDON STASH SOME PLACE?

AND THEY SAID NO.

IS THERE ANY PLACE IN THE OFFICE YOU KNOW, IN THE BACK THAT THINGS MIGHT HAVE BEEN STORED?

NO.

SO I WAS ABOUT TO GIVE UP AGAIN, AND THEY SAID WELL, YOU KNOW, THERE IS A LOT OF OLD STUFF IN THE ATTIC.

IF YOU WANT TO GO UP THERE AND LOOK AROUND IT'S REALLY DUSTY AND EVERYTHING BUT FEEL FREE.

SO I SPENT THREE DAYS IN THE ATTIC OF THE BRANDON LIBRARY WHICH IS THE COOLEST ATTIC EVER BY THE WAY, AND I NEVER FOUND THE DIARY BUT I FOUND THE LETTER THAT FRANKIE HAD WRITTEN TO HER BROTHER WHEN SHE GOT BACK TO BRANDON AFTER FINDING GEORGE.

SHE WROTE ABOUT A 20-PAGE LETTER BY HAND TO HER BROTHER WHO WAS A MIDSHIPMAN, AND SHE DESCRIBED EVERYTHING THAT SHE TALKED ABOUT, EVERYONE WHO HELPED HER, AND SHE TALKED BUT THE MONEY THAT SHE HAD SPENT, YOU KNOW, WHAT SHE HAD SPENT FOR LUNCH IN NEW YORK ON THE TRAIN RIDE HOME, AND SHE TALKED ABOUT WHERE SHE HAD STAYED, AND I COULD CHECK ON ALL THOSE THINGS, AND EVERYBODY THAT SHE MENTIONED WAS IN WASHINGTON IN 1866 THAT SHE SAID THERE WERE.

EVERYTHING, EVERY DETAIL CHECKED OUT.

SO THAT'S WHEN I KNEW THAT I HAD A GREAT STORY, AND WHEN I FOUND HER PICTURE I KNEW THAT I COULD MAKE IT INTO A FILM.

WHEN I GOT THE IDEA FOR FILM I HAD NEVER MADE A FILM BEFORE.

I DIDN'T REALLY KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING.

BUT I HAD A SENSE THAT BECAUSE OF DIGITAL EQUIPMENT AND, YOU KNOW, MY 13-YEAR-OLD NIECE DECIDED TO MAKE A MOVIE ABOUT HER DAY ONCE, AND SHE SPENT ALL DAY, YOU KNOW, FOOLING AROUND WITH A CAMERA, AND THEN SHE HAD SOME QUICK EDITING PROGRAM, AND SHE MADE LIKE A TWO-MINUTE FILM AND I SAID IF SHE CAN DO IT MAYBE I CAN.

EVEN THOUGH, YOU KNOW, EVERY GENERATION I AM HOPELESS WITH HIGH-TECH STUFF.

BUT ANYWAY I KNEW THAT IT WAS EASIER THAN IT HAD BEEN, AND I DIDN'T NEED AN ENORMOUS BUDGET.

AND THEN I RAN A QUICK CARTER CAMPAIGN BECAUSE IT SEEMED LIKE THE OBVIOUS THING TO DO, WITH A KICK STARTER CAMPAIGN AND I GOT SUPPORT FROM BRANDON, AND IN THAT SENSE BRANDON IS ONE OF THOSE GREAT AMERICAN SECRETS LIKE VERMONT IS, THAT WE HAVE THIS WONDERFUL PLACE HERE, THAT'S SO DIFFERENT FROM MUCH OF THE COUNTRY, UNFORTUNATELY.

BRANDON HISTORICALLY IN THE STORY OF THE FLOWER GIRLS, IS I THINK, UNIQUE IN THE UNITED STATES.

THAT, I THINK, GOES BACK TO FRANKIE DAVENPORT AND HER SECOND HUSBAND JOEL, THEY WERE SO CONCERNED WITH REMEMBERING THE CIVIL WAR THAT EVEN COMPARED TO OTHER PLACES IN VERMONT I THINK THAT BRANDON GOT THIS TRADITION SOLIDLY EMBEDDED THAT OBVIOUSLY OUTLASTED THEM.

THE FLOWER GIRL TRADITION I THINK STARTED IN 1902, MIGHT HAVE BEEN A YEAR OR TWO EARLIER THAN THAT BUT THE FIRST RECORDED INSTANCE IS 1902, AND IT'S UNBROKEN SINCE THEN, AND WE'RE ALSO JUST TREMENDOUSLY LUCK THAT NOBODY DECIDED TO MESS WITH IT.

PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW WHY THEY HAD THIS TRADITION OR EVEN THINK ABOUT IT MUCH, BUT I THINK THAT ONE OF THE REASONS IT LASTED IS JUST BECAUSE IT'S INHERENTLY SO BEAUTIFUL.

EVERY YEAR THE GIRLS ARE SO CHARMING, AND SO INNOCENT.

THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THAT AND THE DEAD SOLDIERS, EVEN WITH THE OLDER VETERANS WHO ARE PART OF THE MEMORIAL DAY PARADE, IT'S JUST BEAUTIFUL.

I THINK THAT EVERYBODY WAS AWARE OF THAT EVEN THOUGH THEY DID NOT QUITE KNOW THE STORY AND HOW THE STORY TIES IN WITH THIS TREMENDOUS SENSE OF LOSS PEOPLE HAD, AND THAT'S ANOTHER ONE OF THE REASONS THAT I WANTED TO MAKE THIS AS A FILM BECAUSE IT'S ABOUT SADNESS AND LOSS.

IT SEEMS TREMENDOUSLY OBVIOUS, OR IT SHOULD THAT PEOPLE SUFFERED TERRIBLY WHEN THEY LOST THEIR LOVED ONES IN THE CIVIL WAR, AND IT'S A TOWN, IT'S A STATE, VERMONT SUFFERED TERRIBLY.

YOU GO TO ANY CIVIL WAR MONUMENT IN VERMONT AND YOU SEE THIS LIST OF NAMES OF DEAD PEOPLE WHO DIED, VERY YOUNG MEN WITH PROMISING FUTURES.

YOU DON'T RECOVER IN THAT AS A FAMILY OR A COMMUNITY.

ONE THING THAT I WANT THEM TO TAKE AWAY FROM IT, THE THING THAT I WAS REALLY WORRIED ABOUT CONVEYING WAS THE COST OF WAR.

AND WHAT, WHAT IT MEANS TO LOSE SOMEBODY AND THEN HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT IT MEANS TO A COMMUNITY, WHAT IT DOES TO A GENERATION OF PEOPLE IN A STATE LIKE VERMONT.

SO THAT'S PARTLY WHAT IT'S ABOUT.

THE OTHER THING THAT I REALLY WAS CONCERNED WITH WAS HAVING PEOPLE THINK ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR IN A NEW WAY FOR US, BUT THE OLD WAY FOR THEM THAT IT MATTERED, THAT IT'S NOT JUST A STORY OF CLASHING ARMIES AND, YOU KNOW, BRAVE MEN MAKING SACRIFICES.

IT'S NOT A STORY OF COURAGE.

THE CIVIL WAR IS PRESENTED IN A WAY, AND UNDERSTOOD, WELL, UNDERSTOOD IN TWO WAYS, AND IN ONE SENSE A LOT OF PEOPLE IGNORE T IT'S JUST, YOU KNOW, A BUNCH OF OLD GUYS INTERESTED, OR INTO THIS STUFF.

IN ANOTHER SENSE IT'S TOLD AS A TALE OF YOUNG MEN WHO ARE SACRIFICING THEMSELVES FOR VAGUELY COURAGEOUS REASONS, BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER, AND -- BUT THAT'S NOT HOW PEOPLE IN VERMONT VIEWED IT IN THE DECADES AFTER THE WAR.

THEY VIEWED IT AS HAVING MEANT SOMETHING IMPORTANT, THAT IT WAS YOU KNOW, IT DESTROYED SLAVERY.

IT SAVED THE UNION, THAT -- AND THE MESSAGE OF THE MONUMENTS, WHICH IS YOU KNOW, SOMETHING THAT I REALLY WANTED TO GET INTO THE FILM, IS THAT THEY FELT THAT THEY HAD PUT DOWN A TREASONNIST REBELLION AND SAVED THE UNITED STATES, AND IT WAS NO EQUIVALENCY BETWEEN THE UNION AND CONFEDERATE CAUSES, AND THAT PEOPLE HAD TO UNDERSTAND THAT AND REMEMBER IT.

PEOPLE IN VERMONT WOULD BE APPALLED TODAY, THAT SYMBOLISM MEANT SOMETHING TO THEM, AND IT MEANT TREASON.

AND IT MEANT EVERYTHING THAT WAS WRONG WITH THE UNITED STATES BEFORE THE WAR.

SO I WANTED TO CONVEY THAT SENSE OF SOMETHING WAS AT STAKE.

THAT THIS IS NOT JUST A TALE OF AMERICAN COURAGE, AND THAT WE REALLY NEED TO DROP A LOT OF THAT BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER STUFF AND THINK OF THE WAR AS A TEST OF THE AMERICAN FUTURE AND WHAT COUNTRY THAT WE WANTED, AND THAT'S WHAT LED THE VERMONTERS TO MAKE THESE VERY SACRIFICES.

>> VERMONT PBS, PARTNERING WITH LOCAL FILM-MAKERS TO BRING YOU STORIES MADE HERE.