There are only ten days left to experience the Discovering the Civil War exhibit at The Henry Ford. It closes Sept. 5.

I took my nine-year-old son Henry, who is frequently fascinated with all-things military. Before heading into the exhibit, Henry enlisted in the Union forces and made his own emblem, which he proudly pinned to his shirt. Okay, I helped him pin it to his shirt, but he quickly informed me that if it were real, he wouldn’t need my help pinning it on because it would be sewn on.

A welcome to the National Archives.

I found this exhibit so aptly named. It really was a process of discovery, and Henry and I learned not only a lot about the war, but also about the National Archives. We both left desiring to discover more. Not because we were dissatisfied with what we learned, just the opposite. Through the exhibit, we learned that there is an amazing wealth of artifacts and documents ready to reveal something fascinating about the past. We were completely intrigued by the many personal stories and relationships.

Upon entrance, we were greeted by a life-size HD video introduction by a National Archives historian standing in what looked like a storage facility. I have to be honest, I was fascinated with that alone, and what was ahead in the exhibit didn’t fail to engage.

Henry was easily enticed by the interactive touchscreen kiosks. The interactive elements really brought the material to life. Of course, it wasn’t all high tech. There were enlarged prints of actual documents, photographs and letters. There were also cases throughout displaying original documents.

A copy of a negative by photographic pioneer Mathew Brady.

We spent close to an hour and a half in the exhibit. There was no way we could read and absorb everything, but we both agreed that we enjoyed every minute of it. I could have easily spent much more time. Henry, on the other hand, announced he done enough reading for the day. I get that. He’s nine. That said, he still moved with purpose through the exhibit.

Other elements of fascination were displays of inventions and patents from the time period, and wall devoted to ciphers. Secret codes and nine-year-olds go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Original documentation for a substitute soldier who was paid to enlist on behalf of another man.

Henry was completely engrossed in a kiosk called Bruce’s Excellent Adventure which led the user through a series of documents and discoveries, giving choices to search the archives, the internet, the microfilm room, etc. It was really well done. I think he would have stayed there forever had there not been others waiting. Another was a called Connecting the Leaders. A little like a six-degrees from Kevin Bacon with regard to the leaders of the war, both Union and Confederate. We started calling it “six-degrees from Ulysses S. Grant.” He definitely was the most connected. The funniest part of that to me is that I didn’t realize my son didn’t have a clue who Kevin Bacon was until last night when we watched Apollo 13. I said, “Hey, that’s Kevin Bacon.” He said he thought he must have been a military leader or something, not an astronaut. (Don’t worry, he knows Bacon is an actor.)

A great visual depiction of how interconnected the leaders of the war were.

Henry and I were equally fascinated by the global aspect of the war, viewing an original correspondence with China. At the end, Henry enjoyed completing his visit by tweeting his impressions at a twitter portal. (You can follow the exhibit on twitter @discovercivilwar.)

I was sorry my older daughters and husband didn’t get a chance to go. After learning about it from Henry and me, they’re planning on fitting in a visit before the school year starts and before the exhibit is closed.

The exhibit is in Henry Ford Museum until Sept. 5. It’s probably best suited for children eight and up since the displays and interactivity require a competent reader. The exhibit is included in the admission to the museum. You can learn more about the content at the National Archives’ site for the exhibit.