Civil War Review
By: Tate McClard
Gods and Generals
Overview of the Film
It is close to the beginning of the war and some of the first major battles are taking place. In one of the battles, the Union was taking an early lead and the confederates were retreating, but General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Stood like a stone wall and the confederates ended up winning the battle because he stood like a stone wall. They keep fighting until the end of the movie where General Jackson gets shot and dies of the wounds. The union won that battle, but the Confederates had more in them than that.
Character Analysis
There was obviously General Jackson whose major role in the film was standing like a stone wall. There was General Longstreet who was the commander of six brigades and lost the battle at A.P hill. General Lee's major role in the film was that he rejected Lincoln's offer of becoming the main General for the Union army. Lt. colonel Chamberlain was a man who volunteered for the army and then ended up becoming a General. Sgt. Buster Kilrain served under Chamberlain and also worked with a lot of the enemies from the opposing side. Jim Lewis is a special actor because he was a slave that fought for the confederates. He thought that any way the war went, he would get freedom.
Gettysburg
Overview of the Film
Gettysburg was a three day battle that was cut into a three hour movie. On day one of fighting, Buford's Calvary engaged on confederate troops. Heth was the leader of that set of confederate troops at the time and instead of telling General Lee, he engaged anyways. Another General helped him, but they couldn't trap them when they retreated. The confederates won the first day, but could have been the end of the battle and the war. On the second day of battle the Confederates fought through the front lines quick. The got to the left flank where Chamberlain stopped them and didn't let them around. The Union army won the second day and it came down to the third day. On the third day, Lee charged at Chamberlain's men one last time, but it wasn't enough. Five generals dies on the third day of battle. The Union army took the battle, but Lincoln wasn't happy because the Union army had the option of taking the war.
Character Analysis
Lt. Longstreet had a tough time at Gettysburg. Was very loyal to Lee and did what he said, but lost on both the second and third day of the war. General Lee said that retreat wasn't an option, but ended up retreating on the third day. General Pickett charged on the third day, but fell back and watched his men get demolished. General Amistad got shot on the third day when he charged. Later died. Lt. Colonel Chamberlain held the ground at Little round top and also won the battle for the Union on the third day. Sgt. Buster Kilrain helped Chamberlain at little round top and got shot there and later died.
Glory
Overview of the Movie
It started out when Colonel Shaw had a party at his parents house when a man approached him and asked him to lead the 54th regiment which is an all black regiment. He immediately said yes and the 54th regiment was formed. They went through some hard training with an Irish male. He treats them like any other solider and punishes them like one too. They finally got their first action at James Island and were successful. Then a big opportunity came up when they offered to go first at Fort Wagner. They did and all the main characters die at that battle including Colonel Shaw.
Character Analysis
There was Colonel Robert Shaw and he was the leader of the 54th Regiment. There was private trip who was a runaway slave and very negative person. There was Major Forbes and he was Shaw's best friend and he couldn't believe how hard Shaw was on the African-Americans. There was Sgt. Maj. John Rawlins and he was like a father figure to all the African-Americans. Then there was Cpl. Thomas Searles and he was a free slave who was very wealthy and wasn't a very good solider. Was also a friend of Shaw's before the 54th regiment was even created. All of these characters died in the film.
Lincoln
Overview of the Film
In the film "Lincoln", Abraham Lincoln is trying to get enough votes in the house to pass the 13th amendment to the Constitution. The bill was already passed in the Senate over a year ago, but they needed it to pass the house. To do that they needed 20 democratic votes and all the republicans to vote and the amendment would be passed. The amendment was that all slavery is banned from the United States. They needed to pass this now or else when the war ended then all of the slave states would vote against the amendment and it would never be passed. Before the vote was taken there was rumor that there were peacemakers in town and they postponed the vote. Lincoln cleared that up right away and the vote was taken. The amendment passed the House and was going to the President to be signed. The war ended and Lincoln was going to celebrate at Ford's Theater when he got assassinated. The film ended with one of his famous speeches.
Character Analysis
Abraham Lincoln was obviously in the film and he passed the 13th amendment in the house. He also got assassinated at the end of the film. There was Thaddeus Stevens who lead the charge in the House and also spoke for the Republican party. William Seward who was the Secretary of State was very angry about Lincoln bringing in peace makers. There was Robbert Todd Lincoln who wanted to go into the army after he got home from Harvard, but his Mom and Dad wouldn't let him. He went anyway. Lastly, there was Mary Todd Lincoln who was very mad at Lincoln for letting his son go into the army.
Personal Take Away
I learned a lot about the Civil War with these four films. I saw from the battle field to the political side of the Civil War. I liked all of the movies except Gods and Generals. This film was very long and boring. All the other films caught my attention quick and allowed me keep my attention throughout the whole film. I didn't know that the Civil War was so bloody and how may people died just for freedom of all people in America.