The American Civil War has been in the news a lot recently. Most notably, Matthew McConaughey is getting ready to star in Civil War drama called “The Free State of Jones” that will be aired on HBO.

According to Mike Scott of The Times-Picayune, “‘Hunger Games’ and ‘Seabiscuit’ helmer Gary Ross is set to direct ‘The Free State of Jones,’ based on the true story of Newton Knight, the leader of a band of Confederate deserters that turned on the Confederacy during the Civil War. The film gets its title from the efforts of Knight and others to secede from the Confederacy and form their own ‘Free State of Jones’ in Jones County, Miss. In addition to his anti-Confederacy activities, Knight would go on to marry a former slave and is credited with helping to establish the region's first mixed-race community.”

In their efforts to make an authentic production, the producers are making specific aesthetic requests for extras. Scott writes, “In its casting call, Caballero asks that prospective extras ‘stop all grooming from now until the shoot.’”

Perhaps these efforts to create authenticity will reveal some of the secrets revealed in a Civil War presentation happening in North Carolina. Marimar McNaughton of Lumina News writes, “Most of the digital images Moore will share are from the Library of Congress collection. ‘The particular images I want to play with the most are actually ones where there’s evidence that the photographers moved the bodies,’ she said. Moore intends to explain the backdrop of the war and how and why photographs may have been manipulated given the logistical challenges presented at the time. ‘It’s not like it’s real scandalous,’ she said. Focusing on images taken by Matthew Brady or his coterie of men in the field, Alexander Gardner and even the artist Winslow Homer, Moore will make her point.”

While watching an HBO series and/or attending a North Carolina historical presentation are good ways to engage with the history of the Civil War, some people prefer a hands-on experience. You can get a taste of the Civil War with a number of the Civil War items available at Armory Replicas.

One item in our inventory is our Civil War U.S 1860 Naval Cutlass Reproduction. Our reproduction is constructed using carbon steel with a brass basket style hand guard. The leather wrapped handle fits the hand perfectly and sports decorative brass accents and a shiny brass pommel. This weapon has a sweeping upturned blade (called a falchion), a single fuller (a fuller is the long groove found on some sword blades, it is there for balance and not as some think for exiting blood). It includes a wooden scabbard wrapped in leather with brass accents.

Our Civil War armory will give you a whole new perspective on the war.

Whatever replica armory needs you might have, your best bet is Armory Replicas!