Gettysburg

Sunday was a very lazy day. Well, first it consisted of rounding up our vehicles which were located all over the DC Metro area, but then we laid around all day.  Joey decided to put on a movie and take a nap, and I was sorting laundry.  He put on “Gettysburg”, which is a 4 hour and 15 minute long movie about the battle of the same name, and specifically focusing on Little Round Top and Pickett’s Charge. 

I was kind of annoyed at first, because I don’t like watching dramatic movies.  I just don’t like emotions.  Period.  But the Civil War has always fascinated me, so I couldn’t help but watch.  After a while, I was no longer sorting laundry. I was completely sucked in.

If you’ve never watched this movie and have 5 hours of time to spare (there are 2 DVDs, so you have time for a bathroom/popcorn break), I HIGHLY recommend it.  The main actors are Tom Berenger, as LT GEN Longstreet, and Martin Sheen, as GEN Robert E. Lee.  The history is very well portrayed and accompanied by an incredible musical score.

Photo of the actors portraying the Civil War heroes

Since I was watching with my southern, History major husband, he taught me a thing or two during the movie.  For example, I asked him why the Confederate soldiers always yelled, whooped and hollered when they attacked.  He looked at me like I’m stupid and said, “That’s the Rebel Yell. You’ve never heard of the Rebel Yell?!”  Well, yes I’ve heard of it but I’m from the NORTH… It all makes sense to me now.  I also enjoyed making fun of him for Virginia’s valiant though extremely unsuccessful try at Pickett’s Charge… I really do enjoy the fact that I was born in the North.   Joey enjoys winning everything in life, so this is one thing that I can hold over his head for, oh, ETERNITY.

I’ve also been reading up on trivia, goofs, and ghost stories surrounding the making of the movie and of Gettysburg itself.  I’ll share a few of my favorites here, although they may be more interesting to you if you’ve actually seen the film or know anything about the history of the battles:

Trivia

·         Charles Lester Kinsolving who plays General Barksdale, is actually a descendant of the CSA General.

·         Stephen Lang, who played Gen. George Pickett, was thrown from his horse while filming the Pickett's Charge sequence. This was included in the film.

·         George Lazenby insisted that he have a real beard instead of a fake one for his role as Brig. Gen. J. Johnston Pettigrew in the film. So his scene was not shot until he had grown a full beard.

·         Tom Berenger was so fond of his role as General James Longstreet, he later opened up a restaurant/nightclub in downtown Wilmington NC called "Longstreet's Irish Pub" which is still in business today.

·         Sam Elliott was so in character on the set that a production assistant was sent out ahead of him in between takes to warn the re-enactors being used as extras that he only responded to salutes and would address individuals by their rank.

·         The scene shortly before Pickett's charge where Lee is cheered by the troops was impromptu. Some of the supporting cast had organized a 'Thank you' for Martin Sheen, and the reenactors ran out cheering for him. When the film of this incident was looked over it was dubbed over with troops yelling 'Lee' rather than 'Sheen' and added to the film.

Goofs

I am only sharing two, because I am proud to say that I noticed BOTH of them!

·     1.  Wristwatch suntan lines on left wrist of Confederate soldier when he shakes hands with the mounted Gen. Lee.

·     2. The battle of Little Round top takes place on the hot afternoon of July 2. Yet after the battle, as Chamberlain speaks to the wounded Sergeant Kilrain, you can see the actor's breath as "Kilrain" speaks his lines, evidence that the air was much colder than on a July afternoon. The same thing occurs later in the film when a messenger climbs Big Round Top to speak with Chamberlain. The messenger is breathing heavily, and the vapor of his breath is visible.

Ghost Story from the making of the movie:

Civil War battles have been the subject of many motion pictures, but one of the best and most moving was 1993’s Gettysburg. During the filming of that movie, much of which was done right on location at the actual battlefields, some of the participants had an unexplained encounter. Because the film required so many extras to serve as soldiers, the production hired re-enactors who regularly portray the Union and Confederate armies.

During a break in filming one day, several of the extras were resting at Little Round Top and admiring the setting sun. They were approached by grizzled old man, who they described as wearing a ragged and scorched Union uniform and smelling of sulfur gunpowder. He talked to them about how furious the battle was as he passed around spare rounds of ammunition, then went on his way.

At first, the extras assumed he was part of the production company, but their minds changed when they looked closely at the ammunition he gave them. They took the rounds to the man in charge of giving out such props for the movie, and he said they did not come from him. It turns out the ammunition from the strange old man were genuine musket rounds from that period.

OK now that you are extremely tired of reading fun facts about the movie, I will leave you with the most awesome ghost story of them all.  This one occurred in 1863, right before the battles commenced.

One of the earliest hauntings in Gettysburg, PA happened as the battle was still unfolding. The soldiers of the 20th Maine, (famous for the heroic bayonet charge under General Joshua Chamberlain) claimed to have encountered a ghost while they were marching toward Gettysburg.  As the story goes, they came to a fork in the road and stopped, not sure which way to go, when a man on horseback appeared and led them on toward Gettysburg.  At first they thought the man was a Union General. He looked like one, but soon they began to notice a strange glow emanating from both him and his horse. They also noticed the man had an eerie resemblance to portraits of the late George Washington. He even wore a tri cornered hat that had not been in style for over a hundred years.

The ghostly man led to the top of little round top where they would later repel a Confederate attack on the Union flank, and then he disappeared without ever being identified. Could it have been the ghost of George Washington, trying to aid the Union army in one of it's most important battles? Enough people believed so that the Secretary of war, Edwin Stanton did a formal investigation into the matter. When asked Colonel Chamberlain, responded,

"We know not what mystic power may be possessed by those who are now bivouacking with the dead. I only know the effect, but I dare not explain or deny the cause. Who shall say that Washington was not among the number of those who aided the country that he founded?"