WATCH: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Alexandria Civil War Drama 'Mercy Street'

PHOTO of Mansion House courtesy of Library of Congress

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Watch a behind-the-scenes preview of the cast and crew from the new PBS original drama, ”Mercy Street,” in a video recently released by PBS (video is at the bottom of the story).

The new six-part, Civil War medical drama premieres Jan. 17, 2016 at 10 p.m. on PBS, following ”Downton Abbey.” Although filmed in Richmond and Petersburg, Va., it is based on the real-life experiences of those who lived in Alexandria during the war.

During the Civil War, Alexandria was occupied by Union troops for four years, the longest of any Confederate town. The series follows the lives of two volunteer nurses on opposing sides of the Civil War — New England abolitionist Mary Phinney and Confederate supporter Emma Green, working at the Mansion House Hospital in Alexandria.

Mansion House Hospital, at 121 N. Fairfax Street, was the largest of the confiscated buildings used as a military hospital in Alexandria, utilizing the former Green’s Hotel, according to the Office of Historic Alexandria.

After the war, the hotel and Carlyle House were returned to the Green family. Emma Green was later married to Frank Stringfellow, who spied during the war for the Confederacy. Stringfellow was an 1860 graduate of Episcopal High School; after the war he became a minister. The two are buried in Alexandria’s Ivy Hill cemetery.

The old vacant hotel was torn down in the 1970s to restore the historic Carlyle House as a museum and park. The still standing Bank of Alexandria building on the corner of Cameron Street was also part of the hospital complex.