Gettysburg

One personal annual tradition I have is to watch the classic war film Gettysburg.  I have been a Civil War buff for longer than I can remember, so long that I don’t remember when my interest started.  One of the first books I remember reading was Mary Williamson’s Confederate Trilogy for Young Readers, published by the (sadly) now defunct Sprinkle Publications.  I still remember when the movie came out in the early ‘90s, and my Grandpa recorded it on VCR for us at my mother’s request.  As a child raised by pro-South parents, I didn’t expect much more than a Northern propaganda flick.  But I was wrong.  Ron Maxwell deserves tremendous credit both in Gettysburg and Gods and Generals for producing films that pay respect to both sides.

Since the first time I watched it when I was around 10 years old, I have been enamored with this movie.  The remarkable historical accuracy, the brilliant portrayal of characters, and perhaps the greatest of all—the music.  The soundtrack produced by Randy Edelman is so tremendous that I cannot even begin to describe how perfectly it fits with the scenes being displayed.  I am not a film critic, but there are a lot of soundtracks I like.  But, to me, nothing provides a better commentary on the drama and the pathos of a great event—a real event—than Edelman’s Gettysburg soundtrack, from the opening scenes to the final credits.  Among the other things that make me far prefer Gettysburg to Gods and Generals, the soundtrack is one of my top reasons.

One reason Gettysburg was such an excellent production was that it did not make a mistake made in other epic films, such as The Longest Day.  While The Longest Day is a brilliant film and remarkably historically accurate for a Hollywood production, it tries to cram so many characters and events into a few short hours that it becomes difficult for the viewer to really develop any kind of emotional connection with any of the characters.  One of the great strengths of Gettysburg is that, while it involves all the major characters and most of the major events of the battle, it primarily focuses in on just four men: John Buford and Joshua Chamberlain on the Union side and Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet for the Confederates.  The tension and drama of the battle is mainly seen through the eyes of these four valiant men, while other important characters such as Trimble, Ewell, Stuart, Pickett, Armistead, Fremantle, and Hancock are certainly not ignored.

The cast played their parts brilliantly, about the only legitimate criticism being that some of the generals’ beards were a little too evidently fake.  While part of me deplores a moral scoundrel like Martin Sheen playing the inimitable General Lee, it cannot be denied that he played his part superbly—in my opinion, even better than Robert Duvall, who took over the role in the prequel.  Jeff Daniels does a wonderful job as the Union colonel Chamberlain, whose courage helped save Meade’s flank at Little Round Top, and Tom Berenger also deserves high praise for his role as Longstreet.  Stephen Lang, who would go on to play Stonewall Jackson so brilliantly in the prequel, is equally marvelous as George Pickett.  Perhaps the most underrated performance was by Richard Jordan, whose touching portrayal of Lewis Armistead (who was mortally wounded during Pickett’s charge) was made as he was dying of cancer.

I have few criticisms of what is far and away my favorite movie, but to name just a couple: Chamberlain’s speech to the “mutineers” from the 2^nd Maine Regiment early in the movie almost certainly would not have contained the appeal, “We are an army out to set other men free.”  That sounds great to modern ears, but very few men from the woods of Maine would have had any interest at all in fighting for the freedom of the Negro.  There are a couple of historical errors, such as Longstreet visiting Lee’s headquarters after the fight on the second day—not only did such a visit never occur, but since the fighting continued until after sundown, it certainly would not have occurred in the daylight, as the movie shows.  Aside from those, my only other complaint is that I wish more of the drama of the battle could have been shown.  Even at more than four hours, we get only very brief glimpses of some of the crucial actions, especially on the first and second days.

Such imperfections are not enough to sour me on the movie in the slightest.  So, on July 30^th I again watched the part leading up to the battle; I watch the first day’s fight on July 1, the second day’s fight on July 2, and the unsurpassed drama and heartbreak of Pickett’s Charge on July 3.

In the end, the only really bad thing I can say about the depiction of America’s most famous battle is what was accurately portrayed: the good guys lost.

The views expressed at AbbevilleInstitute.org are not necessarily the views of the Abbeville Institute.

Samuel Ashwood

Samuel Ashwood is a minister and historian in Oklahoma.

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