Our civil war was when my uncle George flew his 25 daylight missions over places like Dresden. And my Dad patrolled the Atlantic. One of my Grandmothers had the last letter from any family we had over there from just before the war. Haven't heard from them since. Life in East Germany must have been a bitch.
I hope they survived. Maybe you'll get to visit where your ancestors lived sometime.
A few years ago, we visited a little town in France where our most recent immigrant ancestors came from in 1858. We met cousins there who were unaware of us, and we have been exchanging gifts ever since. Very nice people. They called on 9/11 to express their sympathy to America and outrage over what happened. They even root for Lance Armstrong.