Gen george pickett gettysburg movie theme

For the cautious Union commander General George G. Meade, Gettysburg represented an opportunity to inflict irreparable damage on the Confederate Army. Neither commander deliberately chose Gettysburg as the setting for this titanic clash — the armies simply blundered into each other. On each of the three days it took the battle to develop, Lee had an opportunity to finish off his opponent.

Yet he was unsuccessful each time. Like a postscript to the battle, President Abraham Lincoln journeyed to Gettysburg the following November to dedicate a new national cemetery. Chamberlain, even though they're both adults. Chamberlain has to frequently remind Tom to call him "sir," not Lawrence. Anti-Villain : The Confederates may be fighting to defend a government and society based on the mass-enslavement of people viewed as racially inferior, but plenty of them like Lee and Longstreet really just seem to be fighting because they can't bear the thought of invading their own homes.

The cannons also produce less smoke than the real barrages would have. Artistic License — History : John Buford's cavalry troops are shown wearing infantry uniforms rather than the proper cavalry uniforms of the day. Since the costume department relied primarily on civil war re-enactors who brought their own uniforms and gear to play the extras, it could simply be that there were not enough cavalry uniforms available.

The film indulges heavily in the Historian's Fallacy that decision makers of the past viewed events with all the clarity of information, cognition, and perspective that we do now. This is particularly obvious when Buford presages the exact value of the Geo Effects at Gettysburg "as if [the battle] were already done; already a memory," and when Longstreet accurately lists precise details of Pickett's Charge including the casualty levels before it even happens.

It also perpetuates the "Lost Cause" narrative that would crop up decades after the fact as a form of Historical Revisionism. At the time of the confederacy there was no question that the confederates waged war for the express purpose of prolonging and continuing slavery, it was literally in the Confederate Constitution that slavery was an unassailable fact of the Confederacy, as well as no less than seven letters of secession from the Confederate States.

As slavery became less socially acceptable post war, the narrative of "States Rights" being the cause of the war was fabricated to obfuscate that fact. The film skips over a key part of the fight on Little Round Top from the original book and real life. Specifically, Company B of the 20th Maine got cut off early on and were presumed lost, but in fact remained unengaged for most of the fight until the bayonet charge gave them an opportunity to hook back up with their unit without getting slaughtered.

The sudden appearance of fresh troops with plenty of ammunition charging their flank tricked the Confederates into thinking the Federals were bringing up new units, contributing to their decision to surrender. An obvious one sees Joshua Chamberlain's 20th Maine Regiment pulled from the line and relocated from Little Round Top to Cemetery Ridge in time for Pickett's Charge, which of course never happened but is dramatically understandable as it gives the main Union protagonist a front-row seat to the movie's climax.

As such, in real life it wasn't Thomas Chamberlain but another officer, Capt.

Gen george pickett gettysburg movie theme: I thought that calling the Pickett's

Henry H. Bingham, who gen george pickett gettysburg movie theme the wounded Lewis Armistead after the battle and informed him of General Hancock's injury. The real Col. Fremantle was more of a tourist than an official representative of the British government though he traveled in the company of official representatives of other countries and did not wear his scarlet tunic, though he did write a book about his travels in which he predicted the Confederacy was sure to win — which was published about three months before they lost.

There's a moment at Little Round Top where a Confederate points a revolver at Chamberlain's face and the gun misfires, allowing Chamberlain to take the Confederate prisoner. This is actually toned down from what really happened ; in reality, the gun went off and missed Chamberlain by a hair. As the Good Book Says Hancock asks Chamberlain if the Good Book or some other source of antiquity says anything about brothers who are on opposite ends of the battlefield.

Badass Boast : Armistead gives one to Fremantle before Pickett's charge. Armistead : Colonel Fremantle We're all sons of Virginia here. That major out there, commanding the cannon First in his class at West Point, before Virgina seceded. And the boy over there with the color guard, that's Private Robert Tyler Jones. His grandfather was President of the United States.

The colonel behind me Now, his great-grandfather was the Virginian, Patrick Henry. From Charlottesville and Fredericksburg Mostly, they're all veteran soldiers now; the cowards and shirkers are long gone. Every man here knows his duty. They would make this charge, even without an officer to lead them. They know the gravity of the situation, and the mettle of their foe.

They know that this day's work will be desperate and deadly. They know, that for many of them, this will be their last charge. But not one of them needs to be told what is expected of him. They're all willing to make the supreme sacrifice We are all here, Colonel. You may tell them, when you return to your country It was published a few months before the South surrendered.

Battle Epic : Four and-a-half hours of it! Bayonet Ya : Out of ammunition and stamina to hold and repulse another Confederate charge, Chamberlain famously decides to use the bayonets on the end of their rifles and charge. Then General Lee picks his division to lead an attack on the third day. Pickett's division is shattered by the defending Union Army, losing just over half its number in killed, wounded, and missing.

Blood Knight : Rebel units charge without or against orders a few times, most importantly in the first engagement of the battle. Bloodless Carnage : Most people who get shot on camera just clutch a part of their body and fall over if from a gunor get tossed in the air if from a cannon — even at ranges that should've reduced them to chunky salsa on the spot.

This is probably because the film was originally intended to be a mainstream TV miniseries and thus couldn't show the more gory aspects of war. However, the wounded often do sport bloody bandages afterward, most notably Buster Kilrain and John Bell Hood. Additionally, the thousands of volunteer Civil War reenactors who portrayed most of the fighting forces would not have had enough experience with squibswhich can be quite painful.

Book Dumb : Pickett considers "All this book-learnin'" to be "unbecoming of a soldier," and graduated dead last in his West Point class. While unseenGeorge Armstrong Custer is mentioned briefly in several deleted scenes; he likewise graduated last from West Point. The Cameo : Ken Burnswhose interest in the Civil War was sparked by the novel, appears as a Union officer urging General Hancock to stop riding along the line during the artillery barrage.

Can't Count Bullets : Happens a few times when dealing with revolvers rifles at this time were still single-shot, by and large. Tom Chamberlain runs out at a crucial moment, having no time to reload and about to be shot when the 2nd Maine deserters save him. Shortly after this, there's a brief stalemate between Colonel Chamberlain and a Confederate officer.

Arrested in his charge, Chamberlain stands and waits for the Confederate to fire; when the revolver simply clicks, the officer surrenders. Buster mentions that with muskets, the problem is failing to count in the other direction: panicked troops sometimes load their weapon, then load it again, without remembering to gen george pickett gettysburg movie theme the shot already in place.

Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough : Col. Chamberlain has this dynamic with Buster Kilrain. The Cassandra : Buford almost becomes this, realizing on the first day that if the rebels get the high ground, it'll become another Fredericksburg. He subverts it by fighting and holding that high ground for the Union. General Hood when told to attack the Union left flank head-on, pointing out that the terrain is so lopsided for the defenders that he'd lose half of his division.

Longstreet believes him but declares that Lee already disregarded Longstreet's own arguments against such an advance, so Lee won't allow Hood to swing to the right; Hood's division is mauled at Devil's Den. Sickles moving the Union III Corps a few hundred yards west, the remainder of Hood's division does nearly catch the Union right flank just as Hood had soughtforcing Chamberlain to lead the 20th Maine all on its own to check the Confederate flanking attempt.

Longstreet himself is this when he predicts to Harrison, who wishes to join Pickett's Charge, exactly what will and in fact did happen. Ironically, Buford's unit was the actual cavalry, while the relieving units were infantry. Cavalry Officer : John Buford of the Union is a grim and grizzled campaigner who makes an expert analysis of the ground at Gettysburg and boldly moves his troops to seize the advantage for the Union before it can be taken from them.

Stuart is a youthful showboater who, though certainly brave, lacks good judgment and costs Lee valuable intelligence. The Chains of Commanding : Aptly deconstructed by General Lee to Longstreet: Lee : General, soldiering has one great trap: to be a good solider, you must love the army. To be a good commander, you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love.

We do not fear our own death, you and I. But there comes a time We are never quite prepared for so many to die. Oh, we do expect the occasional empty chair. A salute to fallen comrades. But this war goes on and on and the men die and the price gets ever higher. We are prepared to lose some of us, but we are never prepared to lose all of us.

And there is the great trap, General. When you attack, you must hold nothing back. You must commit yourself totally. We are adrift here in a sea of blood and I want it to end. I want this to be the final battle. Changed My Mind, Kid : Three of the six holdouts from the 2nd Maine ultimately agree to join the fight and and later save Tom Chamberlain.

Chromosome Casting : It's a war film. The only female cast members are some civilians as the army marches to and through Gettysburg, and none of them get more than two lines. Cigar Chomper : One of Longstreet's first acts on screen is to light up a cigar while he interviews Harrison. Colonel Badass : Lt. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. The badass comes out when he thinks he's been shot the shot really bounced off his swordbut it clearly left him in shock and he has a limp for the rest of the movie.

As they're dragging him back he sits up and shoots a charging man with his revolver. The historical Chamberlain was also a badass in that he was wounded six times during the war and survived in an era when just one was usually enough to kill you. In fact, his penchant for not only surviving wounds that would kill or cripple other men but continuing to fight led to his earning the nickname on both sides of 'Bloody Chamberlain'—literally, as he was often covered in his own blood.

Gen george pickett gettysburg movie theme: Randy Edelman ·

He later became Governor of Maine and Ambassador to France. Contemplate Our Navels : There are quite a few scenes with characters sitting around discussing the war, slavery, their thoughts and feelings, and what could or should have been. Though there was no romance between them, Armistead has his family bible an intensely personal possession sent to her in the event of his death note in the film; in reality he gave it to her before joining the Virginia forces and in the novel part of his breakdown during his own during his own death is that he fears Mira receiving the terrible news that her husband was wounded.

Years before, while he was a captain, Lewis Armistead was near-suicidal from the loss of his wife and children to scarlet fever when his friend Hancock and Almira took him in, making them his surrogate family. Longstreet and Chamberlain didn't actually know each other, and while Longstreet was second-in-command of the whole Army of Northern Virginia, Chamberlain was a lieutenant colonel commanding just one of at least Union infantry regiments with no part in determining overall strategy.

Cruel to Be Kind : Lee remarks to Longstreet on the cruel irony that in war it is better to be as aggressive as possible, because one battle that is bloody but decisive is preferable to a protracted war that slowly bleeds your country to death. He would return to the college after the war and would eventually teach every subject in the curriculum with the exception of science and mathematics.

For his determination and tactical prowess at Gettysburg, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Cultured Warrior : Several of the officers are portrayed as learned men, most prominently Col. Chamberlain professor of rhetoric at Bowdoin College. Others include Gen. Pettigrew scholar of the University of North Carolina and Col. Vincent from Harvard.

Vincent: Now we'll see how professors fight. Dare to Be Badass : Armistead when his brigade sees the wreck that Pickett's Charge has turned into and halts. What'll you think of yourself tomorrow? With me! Who will come with me? Dark and Troubled Past : Longstreet, who became somber after scarlet fever swept through his family inkilling several of his children.

Death by Adaptation : In the wake of Pickett's charge, General Lee comes across a wounded General Kemper, who reports that the doctors have diagnosed his wound as mortal.

Gen george pickett gettysburg movie theme: The movie version of battle

This actually happenedbut the "Where Are They Now? His wound continued to trouble him until his death thirty years later. Patton, a Confederate colonel and great uncle of that Patton who gets killed during Pickett's Charge. Death Seeker : Longstreet temporarily becomes one after watching Pickett's Charge fail. What's happening to my boys? Pickett : That's me.

Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead : He got it off a dead Frenchman. Pickett : Up men! And to your posts! And let no man forget today, that you are from Old Virginia! Pickett : Sirs, perhaps there are those among you who believe you are descended from a ape. I suppose there may even be those among you who believe that I am descended from a ape.

But I challenge the man to step forward who believes that General Robert E. Lee is descended from a ape. James L. Kemper : Hear, hear! Richard B. Garnett : Not likely. Kemper : [Kemper, Pickett, Garnett, and Col. Freemantle are sitting around a table playing cards, while Kemper expounds on the Confederate cause] You see, Colonel, uh Every government, everywhere.

And what you've got to do is .

Gen george pickett gettysburg movie theme: Gettysburg is a American epic

Soundtrack [ edit ]. Gettysburg soundtrack No. Title Length 1. Title Artist Length 1. Release [ edit ]. Reception [ edit ]. Accolades [ edit ]. Prequel [ edit ]. Unproduced sequel [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Baltimore Sun. Tribune Company. Archived from the original on December 8, Retrieved October 12, Archived from the original on Retrieved Turner Classic Movies.

Archived from the original on August 16, Retrieved June 17, New York City : Ballantine Books. ISBN The Philippine Star. Retrieved April 28, Orlando Sentinel. The Baltimore Sun. November Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on 6 April Retrieved 7 October Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved September 19, The L. Archived from the original on January 5, Archived from the original on May 26, Retrieved August 4, Archived from the original on September 13, Retrieved February 2, External links [ edit ].

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