Manassas 1861

While I've reviewed my fair share of Civil War battle re-enactment videos over the years, Manassas 1861, from relative newcomer Wide Awake Films, is the best of the lot. Chronicling the story of the first great battle of the war (also known as First Manassas, or the Battle of Bull Run), Manassas 1861 handily illustrates the fact that neither side was ready for a protracted military engagement--as bonehead mistakes, crucial delays, and the timidity of officers on both sides (but primarily in the Union forces) laid the foundation for the incredible bloodshed that was to characterize this horrific war. Using a superb mixture of historical photographs, extremely realistic re-enactment scenes, animated sequences depicting battlefield movements, and--most touching of all--letters and diaries from both Union and Confederate soldiers, this 2002 Telly award-winning program admirably succeeds in both bringing this monumental blunder of a battle--technically a victory for the South--to life and giving viewers reason to reflect on what might have happened if events had turned out differently on that hot, muggy, and bloody field. Recommended. Aud: H, P. (J. Carlson)