Posted on 08/03/2017 11:49:12 AM PDT by mairdie
Gettysburg might well be a movie that couldn't be made today. It tells an emotional story of the toll on both sides and lets each side explain their position without prejudice. This music video summarizes the movie, while a webpage gives an in-depth description of what is happening during the scenes.
http://www.iment.com/maida/tv/misc/gettysburg.htm#details
I purchased first editions of most of the autobiographies of the men, being especially fascinated with Generals Longstreet and Chamberlain. Chamberlain's writing is brilliant, and his description of what it was like to see his men marching in the final parade, his unit enlarged by the ghosts of those he lost, is incredible.
My great grandfather's connection was to General Hancock. GGF was one of the special judge advocates at the Lincoln assassination trial and ran the investigation for Stanton, later putting the record together for the Library of Congress. Stanton probably wanted him because he'd just gotten the death penalty for the southern conspirators in Indianapolis. Like many of the Civil War soldiers, GGF spent a lot of his life defending his friends, and General Hancock was getting a lot of flak because he wouldn't turn over Mary Surratt to avoid her execution. GGF's speeches always involved a large section defending Hancock, as well as Judge Holt.
http://www.iment.com/maida/familytree/burnett/lincoln5.htm#hancock
Another tidbit on Hancock, from his autobiography, was that he was hit while on horseback, and operations were unsuccessful. He was reconciling himself to death when the Surgeon General came to say goodbye and, in the doorway, asked if he could try one more time. Hancock agreed. The doctor put him in a chair on top of a table so that he could operate at the same angle that the bullet went in. He was successful and Hancock lived.
From one of my very favorite movies. Love the connection.
We own it as well as the prequil, Gods and Generals, on DVD. There was supposed to be a third one that covered “after Gettysburg” but it never materialized.
The prequil was quite boring but an interesting docudrama. Gettysburg is amazing. Both show how little value was placed on the individual’s life. Also Gettysburg shows how both sides were religeous, especially the south, interestingly.
It was a different world. People seemed to see life as a temporary thing and what you did with it was far more important than preserving it.
Gods and Generals was one of the greatest disappointments. I doubt I’ve watched it twice, it was so bad. Bad reviews probably did in the 3rd movie. Gettysburg was based on Michael Shaara’s Killer Angels. His son, Jeffrey Shaara, was responsible for the prequel and sequel and he was certainly not up to his father in skill.
It does seem to have been a more religious time. Much of my own religious research centers around the Revolutionary War period, so I’m not that knowledgeable about mid 19th century religion.
For your land - for your homes - for your sweethearts - for your wives - for Virginia! Forward.
How could they do it? How could they march across that long field with a side assault doing them in and knowing so few would ever make it to that wall?
I watch every year on the 3rd and 4th of July. This year our son passed away on the 6th. I don’t know if I can watch it again.
“Son, what will you think of yourself in the morning”? Gen. Lewis Armistead.
Oh, Mercat, I am so very sorry. That is heartbreaking.
Having read both books and having seen both movies your analysis is spot on. Well done.
I live near Perryville, KY, where they have re-enactments every year. After watching the first one, I realized where they got all those “extras” for the movie. The scene where the camera scrolls by all the firing canons gave me goosebumps. Heck, just writing about it brings tears to my eyes.
You really got a fairly good feel for what it would have been a participant in such an event. Well, as good as a movie can bring. Your own understanding can add to it.
On a side note, having now lived in Kentucky for six years and learning all about ticks and chiggers on my forested property, I honestly don’t know how any of those soldiers back then survived the bugs.
My deepest thanks, glennaro. Gettysburg hit so deep that the disappointment over Gods and Generals was equally deep. If you look at Gettysburg, the essence was that you had someone on each side who cared for the person on the other side and there was nothing that could be done to save either of the men. Gods and Generals was missing that type of center that made you care so deeply. That’s what I couldn’t find for Brian in Chamberlain at the end of the war. There was no other person with whom he had the connection of Hancock/Armistead. Maybe because he came from New England academia instead of the melting pot of the military. I actually went to the grave of Chamberlain and brought back a leaf that had lain on it.
So very, very sorry for your loss. Prayers up ...
And Longstreet so badly wanting not to send the men forward that, at the end, he just nods his agreement to start the march to Pickett. Definitely goosebumps. I’ve never seen a re-enactment. Must be amazing. Weren’t more of the soldiers lost to diseases than to battles?
"General Lee, ......I have no division."
YES! One of the strongest lines in the whole movie.
The Pickett group marching into a hail of lead part actually caused my wife and I to cry while watching it. Simply unbelievable.
I recorded the sound of the re-enactment with my Zoom H4n. The canons are amazing. The guns sound like popcorn. I dodged a bullet but I’m fine. ;-)
How could they do it? How could they march across that long field with a side assault doing them in and knowing so few would ever make it to that wall?
This was a time when, as Genesis said in one of their songs, “when honor meant more than life”. We’ve gotten very soft. We have a lot more to lose than they did. As a culture, we are also not as connected with the concept that life is a mist.
Gen Henry Seymour Lansing and his brother, my 2nd GGF, Gen Henry Livingston Lansing, both created the NY Military Association at the same time, rose thru the ranks around the same time and were always being confused. Who names TWO sons Henry??
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