Alva Review-Courier -

Every year when April rolls around, it is time to start thinking of pleasant things like the start of a new baseball season and the optimistic weather of springtime with new growth signaling that winter has been left behind.

For U.S. historians, however, April is also a time to remember and reflect upon the most divisive and terrible event in America’s past – the so-called Civil War. That conflict began on April 12, 1861, and formally ended on April 9, 1865.

And while new flowers, green grass and budding trees, along with outdoor activities like baseball, may bring smiles to many faces, there...