New PBS Civil War documentary series to be screened at Manassas Battlefield March 29

The National Park Service will host a preview screening of Civil War: The Untold Story, a visually stunning new five-part documentary series narrated by Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey) and produced for public television by Great Divide Pictures.

The event, to be held on Saturday, March 29 at 1 p.m., at Manassas National Battlefield Park is sponsored by the park and The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership.

The screening will be held in the Henry Hill Visitor Center auditorium. Seating capacity is 130 and will be first come, first served.

The park entrance fee ($3 per adult, age 16 and older) covers admission to the battlefield for three consecutive days.  There are no additional fees for the preview screening event.

The preview will show Episode 1, “Bloody Shiloh,” which explores the causes of the war, and the Tennessee battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh. The first epic battle of the war, Shiloh claimed more casualties in two days of fighting than America had experienced in its history to that date.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion led by Dr. Robert Sutton, the Chief Historian of the National Park Service. Filmmaker Chris Wheeler will introduce the documentary.

Premiering nationally beginning April 1, 2014 – and airing locally on WHUT Howard University Television and Maryland Public Television, Civil War: The Untold Story, breaks new ground by examining the war through the lens of the Western Theater – including critical yet lesser-known battles of Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, and Atlanta. 

Filmed with sweeping cinematic style on the very grounds where these epic battles were fought, it recreates authentic scenes and features interviews with top historians to provide new insights on one of the bloodiest and most defining eras in our nation’s history—highlighting the battles, the causes and politics of war, the impact on Southern civilians and women, and the relatively unknown roles that African Americans played in the conflict, from enslaved to emancipated to soldier.

Looking at our nation’s seminal event through the lens of this untold story tells us not only who we were then, but who we are now. The series strikes a powerful chord that still resonates today. 

This event is one of 25 exclusive previews being held around the U.S. in such cities as New York, St. Louis, Memphis, Atlanta, Cincinnati, and more. 

For more information, visit the park website at http://www.nps.gov/mana or Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/manassasbattlefield or co,ntact the Visitor Center at 703-361-1339.  For information on the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership, visit http://www.hallowedground.org.