I like how professor Frederick always introduces his videos with how he knows that people will disagree with him and not share his opinions. And yet his channels is one of the very, VERY few ones i ever seen on YT whose videos have so little "dislikes", lot of them even no "dislikes" at all! 🙂 Seriously, you're doing such a wonderful job, sir and I'm absolutely happy whenever I see a new video coming out here. Best of luck with all your endeavors and looking forward to lot of interesting videos still to come. Greetings from Switzerland
“We Are Fighting for Independence, Not Slavery”. - Jefferson Davis President of the Confederacy to Edward Kirk 1864 “I worked night and day for 12 years to prevent the war, but I could not. The north was mad, blind,would not let us govern ourselves, and so the war came.” - Confederate President Jefferson Davis 1861 “Is it worth while to continue this union of states, where the north demands to be our masters and we are required to be their tributaries.” - Thomas Cooper of South Carolina 1860 “In this enlightened age, there are few I believe, but what will acknowledge, that slavery as an institution, is a moral & political evil in any Country.” - Robert E Lee 1856 “While we see the Course of the final abolition of human slavery is onward, & we give it the aid of our prayers & all justifiable means in our power we must leave the progress as well as the result in his hands who Sees the end” - Robert E Lee 1856 “I am rejoiced that slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interests of the South. So fully am I satisfied of this, as regards Virginia especially, that I would cheerfully have lost all I have lost by the war, and have suffered all I have suffered, to have this object attained.” - Robert E Lee 1865 “All I think that can now be done, is to aid our noble & generous women in their efforts to protect the graves & mark the last resting places of those who have fallen, & wait for better times.” - Robert E. Lee “I have always been in favor of Emancipation.” - Robert E Lee "I consider it a privilege to die for my country." - Paul Jones Semmes On the third day of the battle, Confederate General Lewis Armistead led his brigade during Pickett's Charge, fixing his hat on the point of sword and reputedly urging his men to “remember what you are fighting for - your homes, your friends, your sweethearts!” In an 1863 letter to his home state congressman, Elihu Washburne, Grant summed up his pre-war attitude: “I never was an Abolitionist,” he said, “not even what could be called anti-slavery.” “Slavery exists. It is black in the South, and white in the North.” - Union Vice President Johnson. “We're not fighting for the perpetuation of slavery, but for the principles of states rights and free trade, and in defense of our homes which we were ruthlessly invaded.” -VMI Jewish Cadet Moses Jacob Ezekiel 1864 “Abolish the Loyal League and the Ku Klux Klan; let us stand together. We may differ in color, but not in sentiment. Many things have been said about me which are wrong, and which white and black persons here, who stood by me through the war, can contradict.” - Nathan Bedford Forrest “African Americans should have the right to vote.” - Confederate Colonel John Salmon Ford The confederate soldier “Fought because he was provoked, intimidated, and ultimately invaded” -James Webb Born Fighting a History of the Scoth-Irish in America “I was fighting for my home, and he had no business being there” -Virginia confederate Soldier Frank Potts “Let me tell you what is coming. After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives, you may win Southern independence if God be not against you, but I doubt it. I tell you that, while I believe with you in the doctrine of states rights, the North is determined to preserve this Union. They are not a fiery, impulsive people as you are, for they live in colder climates. But when they begin to move in a given direction, they move with the steady momentum and perseverance of a mighty avalanche; and what I fear is, they will overwhelm the South.” - Texas Revolutionary/President/Governor Sam Houston List of causes of the Civil War- Harpers Ferry On the night of October 16, 1859, Brown and a band of followers seized the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in what is believed to have been an attempt to arm a slave insurrection. (Brown denied this at his trial, but evidence indicated otherwise.) They were dislodged by a force of U.S. Marines led by Army lieutenant colonel Robert E. Lee. Brown was swiftly tried for treason against Virginia and hanged. Southern reaction initially was that his acts were those of a mad fanatic, of little consequence. But when Northern abolitionists made a martyr of him, Southerners came to believe this was proof the North intended to wage a war of extermination against white Southerners. Brown’s raid thus became a step on the road to war between the sections. States' Rights The idea of states' rights was not new to the Civil War. Since the Constitution was first written there had been arguments about how much power the states should have versus how much power the federal government should have. The southern states felt that the federal government was taking away their rights and powers. Political power That was not enough to calm the fears of delegates to an 1860 secession convention in South Carolina. To the surprise of other Southern states-and even to many South Carolinians-the convention voted to dissolve the state’s contract with the United States and strike off on its own. South Carolina had threatened this before in the 1830s during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, over a tariff that benefited Northern manufacturers but increased the cost of goods in the South. Jackson had vowed to send an army to force the state to stay in the Union, and Congress authorized him to raise such an army (all Southern senators walked out in protest before the vote was taken), but a compromise prevented the confrontation from occurring. Perhaps learning from that experience the danger of going it alone, in 1860 and early 1861 South Carolina sent emissaries to other slave holding states urging their legislatures to follow its lead, nullify their contract with the United States and form a new Southern Confederacy. Six more states heeded the siren call: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Others voted down secession-temporarily. When President Lincoln called for Volunteers to invade the south, six southern states voted to join the Confederacy. The issue of slavery The burning issue that led to the disruption of the union was the debate over the future of slavery. Secession brought about a war in which the Northern and Western states and territories fought to preserve the Union, and the South fought to establish Southern independence as a new confederation of states under its own constitution. Most of the states of the North, meanwhile, one by one had gradually abolished slavery. A steady flow of immigrants, especially from Ireland and Germany during the potato famine of the 1840s and 1850s, insured the North a ready pool of laborers, many of whom could be hired at low wages, diminishing the need to cling to the institution of slavery. Child labor was also a growing trend in the North. The agrarian South utilized slaves to tend its large plantations and perform other duties. On the eve of the Civil War, some 4 million Africans and their descendants toiled as slave laborers in the South. Slavery was part of the Southern economy although only a relatively small portion of the population actually owned slaves.
The book by Doris Kearns Goodwin is filled w/LIES! She is clearly a worshipper of the LIN--CLOWN cult! Lincoln developed TOTAL WAR which is war against soldiers AND CIVILIANS! Every war since in the world has used the satanic policy; the world having yet ro recover. We CITIZENS remain 'slaves to the CENTRAL GOVT as begun by linCLOWN!!
I’ve been waiting on this. When this came out on DVD, my brother and I were in separate classes at Ole Miss on the Civil War: mine was the age of the Civil War: 1820-1865, and his was the more desirable Civil War combat class. We were excited to see Gods & Generals make a quick trip to the $5 bin at Walmart. We bought it in our zeal over our classes, and it fast became our most reliable sleep aid.
I had the pleasure of being in Dr James Robertsons Civil War History class at Virginia Tech in 1988. Outstanding course. Never missed a class even though it was at 8:00
Jared, you missed pointing this out but the blue uniform Jackson wears early on in the film is actually a Virginia State Army uniform and not a US Army uniform. Jackson graduated from West Point in 1846, served in the Mexican War, resigned from the army in 1851, and then became a professor at the Virginia Military Institute. Virginia used the same blue uniform as the US Regular Army, except that it had Virginia state buttons. Note that in Jackson's very first scene, he is wearing the round belt buckle of Virginia, as opposed to the rectangular one of the US Army.
@@johndfw8680 never read the book. I just love the the film. Stephen Lang’s performance is nothing short of a masterpiece. I also prefer Robert Duvall as General Lee it’s also rare to see a genuine representation of the south beyond the modern BS and lies that’s spread.
I remember going to see this when I was 14 with a friend of mine and their dad who was a huge CW buff, a whole wall of books and memorabilia. He and this film really got me into studying history in general. Having an intermission in a film was so alien to me at the time as well.
Jackson's hand, circa 29 minutes in. What you say about Jackson tending to hold his hand up is documented, but in this case you can see that it is wrapped in a cloth which has blood on it. He was wounded in the hand, and was holding it up to slow the flow, and loss, of blood from the wound. Later, we see him with that arm in a sling.
you are correct, i guess Jared could have worded it better (he was recovering from a bad cold) but he does say him holding his hand up is an "homage" to his quirks. regardless, thanks for your input and for watching!
I wish the movie had been more faithful to the novel which was more balanced. Also, we need more CW films about the Western front which was more significant than the fighting in the East.
I would be all-in on a movie about Shiloh. Been several times and it's one of the most well-preserved battlefields around because it's in the middle of nowhere
I personally absolutely loved both this and Gettysburg. The amount of content/storylines personally never bothered me. I am 33 and I remember seeing Gods & Generals in theaters.
Rebel Yell. I was surprised reading that book. I had always assumed Jackson was a typical man of a slave state. But to learn he repeatedly risked arrest by teaching slaves to read was a revelation to me. The other fact from that book that surprised me was that Jackson purchased two slaves because they begged him to do so to prevent their being sold to the deep south. If I recall, one of them was a skilled craftsman.
Jared said it’s important to identify the lessons he was teaching the enslaved people. It makes his arrest even more alluring considering that he professed a pro slavery Christianity. Also, Jackson did not free his two enslaved people. The type of slavery to evolve out of Virginia was still founded on supremacist views which dehumanized enslaved people. So very often, these facts have been used to admonish Jackson from his connection to slavery. I hope the book examined these facts with a lens that respects the history of chattel slavery in the United States.
I don't believe Jackson ever taught slaves to read. Was this something actually related in the book referenced? (Not that it would make a lot of difference. At the end of the day Jackson was a slave owner, and showed at no point any desire to change that status, nor to end the practice elsewhere.)
@herecomesaregular8418 if I recall correctly from the book, Jackson was not just teaching church lessons, he was teaching other peoples' slaves to read so they could read the Bible for themselves. This was illegal to do in VA at that time.
I used to go to a doctor in Fredericksburg, and it's always a trip to think of the Union crossing the Rappahannock within eye shot of rush hour traffic on the bridge (Fredericksburg can have sleepy traffic). Now 305 Lewis St. where poor Mrs. Beale lived will be vivid with me if I go down there again. Pretty crazy to stand in a neighborhood intersection where dozens of Union troops fell to capture 160 years prior.
The directors cut of the movie cut some the scenes of Jackson praying among other things and it flows better for what it’s worth. What perplexes me most about this movie is there’s no Valley campaign, it’s not even referenced. And that’s where Jackson really earned his fame. One nit to pick that hasn’t been mentioned is that Lee did not have a beard nor gray hair in 1861. His hair was still dark and he had a mustache. My advice to anyone is skip the movie and read the book. In this case the book really is better.
Good calls. The Valley Campaign could have been a movie itself. Correct on Lee's facial hair. It was undoubtedly shown white for continuity and immediate identification.
Another thing that's actually quite interesting and historically accurate is when Lee arrived at the Blair house, you can see the U.S. Capitol dome being constructed in the background, which is actually realistic because the Capitol was being transformed, adding the dome and two wings of the building around Spring 1861.
I know this is an older video but I just came across it. I remember when they filmed this. I was a student at VMI at the time. They did get one thing right. Those are actual VMI cadets in those scenes. Funny to see my friends in the movie. And yes Stonewall although extremely well respected by the corps was considered a lackluster professor. Rumor has it amongst the corps to this day he memorized his notes and only taught that. When I was a senior there we restored his cannons called “The gospels” because stonewall named them Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. Rah Virginia Mil!
It has some of the best acting and line delivery. And some of the most awful and cringy lol. But over all the movie pulls my heart strings something fierce.
It’s a shame that The last full measure will not be coming to screen anytime soon. I’ve read a lot of the Shaara books, from the Mexican war to ww2. Great reads.
I will never forgive them for not including the California scene for Hancock. Not only would that scene had set up Armistead's story in Gettysburg, but it also would've provided an excellent illustration of the choices that many of the officers in the army made.
@@robertelder164 70% of the south didn’t have slavery, many confederates were anti slavery, no confederate was convicted of treason, and the union had 1 million slaves in 1864. Looks like your ignorance is the problem
@@SouthernGentleman The Slaver traitors themselves said why they rebelled. It is slavery. Treason consists of warring against the United States, they were traitors. Kluxxer deflections change nothing.
Minor mistake, but Lee did not have a beard until the winter of 1861-62. He should have been clean shaven in the opening scene. Also, Robert Duvall was about 15 years too old to be Lee.
If you look at an 1859 photo of Lee, he was dark-haired with a mustache. The last time he was ever clean-shaven was when he was a young man through his graduation from West Point.
This is one of those movies that needs to remade. If they go with the background, then it should be centered on Bull Run. If they follow Jackson, then it should be centered on Chancellorsville.
Stephen Lang was very good as Stonewall Jackson in this movie, but I liked his portrayal as General Pickett in Gettysburg much better.... of course that was also a much better movie than the preachy and overlong Gods and Generals.
@@jakebeach7056 that would have been very cool....and Lang aged a lot better than many of the actors from Gettysburg that were in Gods and Generals, so it wouldn't have been too difficult with fancy make-up.
I named my kid after him...hoping it would cause him to aspire to greatness. It worked. @26, he's ascending to the top of his industry, capturing an invitation to the Vice-President's home for her Christmas party. (regardless of your personal opinion of her - it's the office, first and foremost. )
@williamhollin1445 that's really awesome! Congrats! That is definitely an achievement. Like you said, Regardless of opinion of her, it is an accomplishment!
Oh god. I haven’t even started this yet and I already know this is gonna be good. Despite this movie being absolutely terrible there’s definitely some good stuff in it. To me, Stephen Lang IS Stonewall Jackson. His performance is fantastic, I imagine him whenever I read about Jackson. If the movie was more focused and maybe just a bio pic on Jackson it might have worked better. The Fredericksburg sequence is also a real stand out. While the Irish vs Irish scene isn’t exactly the most accurate (Cobbs “Irish” Legion, lmao what?) it’s a perfect example of the whole brother vs brother aspect of the war. Besides that, yeah, my complaints are everyone else’s complaints. It’s overly long, boring, and hot take, might be biased.
I've had arguments with people generally well informed on the Civil War, who swear the Confederates had several "Irish regiments". They did not. So far as I can tell they had 1 that could be even slightly considered as such and it fought in the Western theatre.
@@aldosigmann419 So weird to see Lang playing a cowardly bully in that since he now has such a reputation for playing badasses. Suppose that is why he gets paid the big bucks.
I believe that "Gods & Generals" was originally shot to be a mini series for television and at the last minute Ted Turner released it as a theatrical movie to recoup the cost of the production. This gives me the best explanation on the length of the film.
That actually was "Gettysburg" that clocked in at over 4 hours and was supposed to be a miniseries on TBS/TNT. That movie was a literal retelling of the book "The Killer Angels" from cover to cover. Much better than this mess was.
@@AndreaMcMaster I think gettysburg was really better; G&G is too ... "disjointed" ! For a foreign person, Gettysburg explains the different opinions much better
There’s one scene where it shows a military supply train on what is supposed to be the Manassas Gap Railroad, but the engine and cars are clearly lettered “W&A RR”, which is for the Western & Atlantic Railroad, located in Georgia. The engine seen is B&O engine No. 25, named “William Mason”, which is an 1856 built locomotive that is today preserved at the B&O Railroad Museum. It’s my understanding that it was merely unused/recycled footage from Walt Disney’s 1956 film “The Great Locomotive Chase”, in which the Mason played the roles of the locomotives “General” and “Catoosa”, and was lettered for the W&A Railroad. The Virginia & Truckee Railroad’s No. 22 “Inyo” played the parts of the W&A locomotives “Texas” and “New York”, as well as the Rome Railroad engine “William R. Smith”. While the B&O’s replica locomotive “LaFayette” played the part of the W&A locomotive “Yonah”, then leased to Major Mark Cooper’s Iron Works Railroad in Etowah, Georgia.
This would have been fine as a mini or limited series if it also stuck close to the book as Gettysburg did. As a feature it pales to the book which is far better and the medium can’t possibly begin to do it justice.
Professor Frederick, I just found your channel, and in just time because I have grown to have an interest in the American Civil War. I'm 64 yoa, just moved to Va. and this past weekend visited the Petersburg Battle Field, what an experience it was! Would you think reading the books you talked about in this part 1 of the series, would be a good source to understand and learn about the ACW? See, I am from Puerto Rico, I don't think I have ancestors in the ACW, but I remember the 1st book I ever signed out from the school library when I was in middle school in PR was a book about the ACW, and I have always been facinated by it. Thank you for your time!
The reason Jackson had his arm raised during the scene at Manassas should have been obvious. Apparently you missed the fact his hand was bandaged because he took a musket ball to his hand that grazed it.
The best part of this movie was at the beginning when they showed all the State Flags. That got me choked up a little. It was straight downhill after that
Jackson was shot through the hand in this scene. Even though I agree with the understanding of Jackson’s “blood balancing” eccentricities but it doesn’t seem out of place here considering someone of Jackson’s education would know that his hand above his heart would slow the bleeding.
Gettysburg is still one of my all-time favorite films. So, I was pretty stoked when I heard about this movie. Then...I watched it. 😳😖🥴😵💫😵 The pacing is abysmal, the acting is really bad, and as my mom put it, "it doesn't have the magic." I'm not ragging on the actors, themselves. Robert Duvall, Jeff Daniels and some of the other actors are really good at what they do. It's just subpar writing and direction compared to Gettysburg. I love Duvall, but I didn't like him as Lee. It was too distracting to see too many different actors in the roles from Gettysburg; EVEN MORE SO to see the same actors from Gettysburg in different roles, namely Stephen Lang and William Campbell! It's a shame they didn't bring back Tom Berenger. He probably didn't like Longstreet being relegated to a glorified cameo in this film compared to being one of the primary roles in Gettysburg, but Bruce Boxleitner was not great here. Terrible casting choices for all the new roles, and very underwhelming dialog and performances from those reprising their roles from Gettysburg. "We have named the cannons Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John." (Ugh! Make it stop!🤦) Also, it reeked of über-romanticizing and fluff compared to Gettysburg. Yes, Gettysburg had Its fair share of those things too, but Gods and Generals cranked it to 11, and it was downright hard to sit through at times. I've only watched it once, and that was all I could stomach.
This film is an epic and thus the million of story lines, it's much like the ancient epics and sagas, a story of many about the major event that took place.
Not shown, but highlighted aas the after effects of battle (the 29:18 part of your video) was the hand to hand combat prior to that video snippet. I was there and had been in previous movies. Filming was going slowly so I took it upon myself to speak the scene's director and the cameramen. They were so safety conscious to an extent that scenes were dragging. I told them that we as reenactors know what to do and to let us do what we do best. He then gave us 10-15 minutes to script our own scenes and we did it flawlessly without incident. Instead of 8-10 different cuts, we only had to perform maybe 3or 4 times. My idea, and it worked. :-)
Material culture was the main thing the movie got right, especially the extended cut, from my limited knowledge they got a lot more right in that regard than in Gettysburg. The soundtrack was ok, Glory, Gettysburg, and The Horse Soldiers will continue to be my favorite civil war movies but I do admit to watching Gods and Generals occasionally
Does anybody else think it would have made more sense for the film version of Gods and Generals to begin with a text or narrated prologue explaining the events leading up to the war instead of abruptly opening with Lee turning down command of the Union Army?
Bruce Boxleitner should have been playing Phillip Sheridan😁 Sorry bit of a joke there, Boxleitner's most iconic role was as John Sheridan on the Sci-Fi series Babylon 5
The directors cut of this movie is a big improvement over the theatrical version everyone has seen. It has an entire new battle and fills in a lot of the holes in the story.
Slavery was abolished in the British Empire already and died in the rest of the Americas during the following decades. It was on the way out, as the movie suggests. The fact that the bulk of the international sympathy went to the Union further supports this position. That's not to say that the Confederates didn't secede to try to protect slavery. They did.
Slavery was growing in the United States by 1860. That's why southern states rebelled at Lincoln's election; he wanted to stop the growth. Check out the books of Eric Foner for more on this.
@@ReelHistory I’m not sure that I’m willing to trust the word of a cosmopolitan red diaper baby and openly avowed far left radical. Nonetheless, this a direct quote from his lecture: “The percentage of people working in agriculture in the South in 1860 is the same as in 1800, about 82%. In the North it has gone down to less than 50%... Now, this does not necessarily make war inevitable. Countries have different regions, they have agricultural regions, they have industrial regions. They don’t have to go to war with each other, they can compliment each other. But nonetheless it does introduce many tensions.” ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xW7jvSD3xEg.html It doesn't seem to me that a disagreement which was dealt with peacefully by the British Empire a few decades before and all the other American powers a few decades later needed to be resolved through the bloodiest war in U.S. history. Especially when the end result of all the white Americans slaughtering each other was just Jim Crow segregation for another 100 years.
@@seandilallo8718, in short, there is nothing in the antebellum era to suggest that southerners were willing to compromise further on the issue of slavery. The North yielded to them on most major policy points in this regard up to the Civil War.
@@ReelHistory The Compromise of 1850 is a good example of productive negotiation between Northerners and Southerners on this issue, just after a patriotic war that expanded their country rather than destroying it.
I watch anything with Robert Duvall so there's that. (Especially since he is related to Lee) And Jeff Daniels' Chamberlain is a favorite. But as an entertaining movie it fell short and that's too bad.
It was illegal to teach slaves to read and write. You could receive severe punishment for doing so. Jackson didn’t care. Because of his religious beliefs, Jackson thought it important enough to teach his slaves to read the Bible. Now, if his slaves were nothing more than chattel, why would Jackson care anything about them, if he did not believe that they had a human soul that could go to heaven? Your thesis makes no sense to me.
@@JDoe-gf5ozIt’s a confederate talking point that the rebels fought for states rights and not the continuation of the institution of sl^very, that sl^ves were content with being a slave, and that Lee was this insurmountable general who only lost because the south had no resources to fight the north
@@Anthony-xy3wr So why is that a myth? The Confederacy's resources were pretty awful compared to the North's, especially by 1863, and Lee was definitely a superior general to anyone they had.
THANK YOU, FOR YOUR SERVICE! | Just to be a sport, I had to watch this badly-written, dreadful Lost Cause propaganda full of NOBLE slavers who gotta do what a man's gotta do to defend slavery. As a military veteran (11Bravo) I found this movie morally offensive, because "the victims of war" are the Confederates; the self-conscious language (“I nevah thought that I would live to see. . . .”) redolent of pompous religious justification, obviously is meant for the twentieth-century viewer.
@@Rick-jf6sg --- THE THEFT OF LIFE TIME BY BAD ENTERTAINMENT IS NOT ENTERTAINING . . . this hokey movie is white supremacist propaganda, like the propaganda of Socialist Realism, about a place thankfully gone with the wind.
@@Rick-jf6sg --- WHAT IS THE PURPOSE IN TELLING THESES RACIST LIES? . . . the contemporary MAGA-Nazis and Judas Trump have clearly and definitively shown the ideologic connections that prove this movie to be white-supremacist propaganda. The intellectual dishonesty of "Gods and Generals" (2003) makes a documentary of "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" (1966). Is it not time for the right wing to "give it a rest" that you are "victims of history" rather than so-so soldiers and vanquished villains?
I think with regard to Jackson quoting scripture it all depends on the audience. I’m orthodox Presbyterian and greatly appreciate use of scripture and, having read “Christ in the camp” I think it’s perfectly consistent with the historic Jackson.
So this was a book adaptation gone wrong? How often does that happen? Interesting break down, as always. Nice bit of trivia on IMDb - Martin Sheen was in the Washington, D.C. area in early September 2001, filming scenes for The West Wing (1999). He was prepared to take a Tuesday morning flight from Dulles to LAX if Warner Brothers agreed to pay him $1 million to reprise his role of Robert E. Lee from Gettysburg (1993). Because Warner Brothers passed, Sheen was not on Flight 77 the morning of September 11, 2001. I was interested by your reference to the use of railways for efficient transportation of troops and supplies - I just happened to spend my spare time in recent days researching the Deutsche Reichsbahn - said to be the largest enterprise in the capitalist world between 1926 and 1932 following the unification of all the railway companies in the individual German states after WW1. My starting point of interest was a vague reference in Rob Kershaw's book, It Never Snows In September (1990) - the German side of Operation Market Garden in September 1944, who briefly mentions "railway guards" as one of the rear echelon units incorporated into the defence of the Nijmegen bridges, and Dutch researcher Hans Den Brok's series on the 'Market Flights' of the USAAF Troop Carrier units, which include photographs of USAAF glider pilots guarding prisoners of war in the Groesbeek POW cage. Many of those POWs were actually Reichsbahn personnel - apparently because they were issued small arms (rifles, pistols and machine-pistols) and wore a 'Wehrmacht' arm band to identify them as combatants under the rules of war. Similarly, the glider pilots were not intended to be combat troops, being regarded as too valuable for their flying skills and held back in rear areas until they could be evacuated to rejoin their squadrons, but they were used for odd jobs like guarding prisoners. One of the interesting incidents from the 82nd Airborne's area of operations around Nijmegen was a train that steamed out of the city and ran straight through the middle of the Divisional HQ area on the Groesbeek heights and on into Germany towards Kranenburg and Kleve, completely unmolested. London had requested the Dutch resistance organise a national rail strike of Dutch workers in Holland for 17 September to coincide with the airborne operation, so the train probably caught troopers by surprise. General Gavin was furious with the incident and ordered the track to be mined and a bazooka team on permanent watch to stop any more coming through. Another train did attempt to run the gauntlet and the locomotive was stopped by the bazooka. Germans scrambled off the train and ran off into the woods, and it took all night for the troopers to round them up and secure them in the POW cage. My research indicates that Nijmegen hosted the Lehr-Abteilung des Chefs des Transportwesens (transportation training battalion) for the army and Reichsbahn personnel manning the network of Bahnhofs-Kommandanturen (railway station commands) and they were probably trying to evacuate the Reichsbahn personnel that were not trained as frontline combat troops.
Watched this movie in theaters at 12 and despite its issues I still have a soft spot for it. It's not a great movie and it cut out so much despite its bloated run time but there's just something about seeing civil War battles that especially nowadays you will just never see. Every now and again I will listen to the hail Caesar speech with the cannons and musical crescendo as the assault on the wall begins at Fredricksburg or the Battle of the Irish Brigades and be reminded that I'm glad that this movie was made at least for certain scenes. I also like some of the common soldiers scenes that show a breakdown in discipline and that they are not just hordes of men running around and shooting each other for the spectacle. I would have loved to have seen the part three that covers the the end of the war for the army of Northern Virginia, maybe not the full four hours with intermission but I know that it'll never be made. For now on war shall be our Judge! Hair Casear!! We who are about to die salute you!!
I remember doing some civil war events and things with you back in the days when I was with the buzzards and I’m late to this video and your channel but you nailed it with this. Really been watching a lot of your videos and by the way the opening flag scene is the best part in my opinion also.
The easiest way to understand that society is to actively imagine the level of asshole you would HAVE to be to literally own another human. Secession is treason we can not go on like this in the end we all NEED each other you can't just separate from people you don't like and still be a Patriot.
@@Rick-jf6sg Slavery is as much a part of human existence as war itself and therefore very current and the two go hand in hand. This very same thing makes it a distraction, today. The real issue is the level of aggression that came after slavery was abolished, called Jim Crow and was in place even when there weren't laws expressly demanding it.
You can fulminate against secession if you like, as long as you are intellectually consistent and condemn the "treason" of the 13 Colonies for seceding from the British Empire.
I consider Gods and Generals the pinnacle of civil war films. Stephen Lang gives a master class performance and the details in writing are flawless. Aside from Glory this film is my favorite
For a person who didn't like this film historically, you seem to point out and compliment many parts of this film . I appreciate the narration. I enjoyed both films very much 😊
Have you read any of Gwynne's other books? He's a fine writer but he has the habit of doing too much opinionating rather than just sticking to the facts. But that hardly makes him unique among today's literati.
Great video. While Gods and Generals clearly has a lot of issues in terms of its sense of balance and its portrayal of slavery, I’ve always thought it wasn’t the absolute worst film made. I think it’s too easy to give the film a bad reputation in reviews (it’s pretty easy to shit all over), so I appreciate you taking the time to give it an objective review. Looking to the next parts of the series.
It's not just the balance and portrayal of slavery. It strays so far off of the source material that it's not even the same. It was a nightmare for me to be on the set due to the inept handling of the extras (making Gettysburg we were told to just do our thing and if we had suggestions they usually listened to us to make it better). Passion of the Stonewall was an advertisement for Bud Roberts' book that had just come out, and he just happened to be the TA on the movie.
@@kellycochran6487 Agreed, the movie is much more "The Stonewall Jackson Story" than "Gods and Generals." Multiple chapters devoted to guys like Hancock who are barely a footnote in the movie.
I've always been half tempted to try to make a fan edit of Gods and Generals. If it could be trimmed to like 90 minutes, and mostly focused on the battles themselves, it might be at least watchable.
"A union that must be stitched together by bayonets holds no charm for me." -- Robert E. Lee Lee was correct in my opinion. The South fought the war for a bad reason (slavery) and a good cause (limited federal constitutional government) and when the South lost, so did limited government, murdered at the hands of Lincoln. Chancellorsville is my favorite part of this movie.
@@ReelHistory Thanks for the reply. I consider Lincoln the man who murdered 800K Americans and destroyed the Constitution, leaving us with this shell of a bogus government that is no longer limited nor legitimate. Just my opinion. Ever read Jeffery Hummel's history of the war, EMANCIPATING SLAVES, ENSLAVING FREE MEN?
Very well said! Am so tired of the reverence or worship of Lincoln, and the Lincoln memorial itself is an affront to democracy- he looks like an emperor on a throne.
I think the issue with this, as opposed to Gettysburg is that you can show the humanity and valor of men in a given action without addressing the underlying cause. In this movie the underlying cause is front and center it's the motivation for the actions of all the characters.
A good review. Personally I enjoyed the movie, and I’ve watched the directors cut. Yes, it was extremely long, but I enjoyed some of the extra scenes, like the ones with Booth in them and the extended scenes at the Maine camp. Overall, it’s a good movie. Flawed for sure, but still good.
Wrong. Lee did not receive ownership of his father in law’s slaves, they were to be loaned to Lee to work off Custis’s debt at Arlington. They were to stay there for 5 years total or they could leave earlier if the debt was paid. Some ran away which was illegal be law. Doesn’t make discipling them right, but it was also custom to shoot deserters from the army back then and Lee was a military officer. Custis’s slaves were freed December 29, 1862. Lee said this in response to having to run his father in law’s house. “The N. Y. Tribune has attacked me for my treatment of your grandfather's slaves, but I shall not reply. He has left me an unpleasant legacy.” - Robert E Lee “While we see the Course of the final abolition of human slavery is onward, & we give it the aid of our prayers & all justifiable means in our power we must leave the progress as well as the result in his hands who Sees the end” - Robert E Lee 1856 “I am rejoiced that slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interests of the South. So fully am I satisfied of this, as regards Virginia especially, that I would cheerfully have lost all I have lost by the war, and have suffered all I have suffered, to have this object attained.” - Robert E Lee 1865 You obviously intentionally left these important parts out. Plus many countries and places like Belgium, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Ottoman Empire still had slavery and slavery died over time. Plus the Confederacy’s Allies was Britain.
I think they played it up too much in many ways- the speculative personal stuff etc. But it is cliche for a reason. The Valley Campaign came for the Confederacy in what was up until that point its darkest hour- what seemed likely to be a successful attack of the Capitol. His unlikely victories in the Valley precipitated the failure of the Peninsula Campaign and rightfully elevated him as a hero for the southerners. Make no mistake either, the Valley Campaign was probably the most brilliant series of tactical maneuvers in that war against significant odds and shows marks of true genius. Despite being outnumbered he often found himself with a numerical advantage at the point of contact with his enemy thanks to his maneuvering. Not only that but in the big picture it achieved a significant strategic distraction at a critical juncture for the south. For good reason it stands as probably the most notable and studied "campaigns" to emerge from that war. As we all know he was also an eccentric. Extremely pious, unique personality etc. And he died early. That eccentricity when coupled with military genius and a premauture death often makes for intrigue and legend building.
Removing the statues and monuments to this time in our history is one of the greatest cultural crimes we could have committed against ourselves. They were meant to heal the division and honor the dead.
@@ReelHistory There are many moments in history when statues and monuments are destroyed. Everyone is considered a shame. Earthquakes and fires happen, but the worst ones are the ones people do to themselves. The riots of Alexandria that destroyed the great library, the riots that destroyed the forum of Constantine. All self inflicted wounds that destroyed their own cultural legacies. Now America gets to join that list of aging, self destructive empires. We deny our greatness while reveling in our own downfall and call it atonement.
@@ReelHistory toppling the statue of a contemporary ruler isn’t the same thing. Current events are still unfolding, the persons impact and legacy is still to be determined. His statue has not achieved the status of cultural significance nor has it become woven into the fabric of the nation’s identity. It’s not simply the act of defacing the monument, it’s what the act represents and what the monument represents.
@@ReelHistory Jeff Shaara and his paratrooper dad rule it just stinks that those great books got turned into such bland lost cause dog water. Thanks for the great videos anyway.
If I remember correctly one problem that both sides faced during the First Battle of Bull Run was that both sides basically wore the same uniform so identification was a issue.
The people of Virginia, in their ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America, adopted by them in Convention, on the 25th day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eight-eight, having declared that the powers granted them under the said Constitution were derived from the people of the United States, and might be resumed whensoever the same should be perverted to their injury and oppression, and the Federal Government having perverted said powers, not only to the injury of the people of Virginia, but to the oppression of the southern slave states - Virginia Articles of secession Virginia voted to stay in the union but switched sides because Lincoln sent a fleet to Charleston which caused Fort Sumter. Virginia’s article of secession is in direct response to that. Written in black and white.
I don't need to add more to my haven't-read-yet box of books, but this video is nudging me towards getting my hands on a copy of the source material. Looking forward to the next installment!
This is the first video from this channel that I won't bother watching -- not because of Jared, but because that movie was possibly the most miserable excuse for cinema I've ever endured. It's hard to believe that such a travesty came from the director of the magnificent "Gettysburg."
Yes, Gods (R.E.Lee) and Generals (mostly Glorious Rebels) fighting for happy servants (slaves) and powerful music and Sechesh triumph over Federal Forces… … It is just a long movie pushing the Lost Cause to the 9th Degree. Gettysburg was much more even approach.
The whole feeling of this film is off- it’s over dramatic with it’s acting and whimsical music. It doesn’t earn its drama.. it’s takes it for granted. When compared to gettysburg, there is no comparison
Your breakdown is much better than Atun-Shei's. I feel like, along with so many people today espousing woke ideology, he tries to be irreverent as possible towards the memory of the southern soldier. Basically calls it a confederate apologist and propaganda movie. I can see why some might think that in some respects. I feel like it goes a little heavy on the southern perspective, but he completely dismisses why your average confederate soldier felt the need to fight. The answer was never as simple as "muh slavery."
I have read that Book. I have also read all the offers reports of the men that were there and that's over 22 books. The war was not over black slaves there was more to it than you think. The North tryed to tax the south for each slave. But there's so much more
