My son: "But Dad... Surely no movie back in the day could portray the grandiose nature of a large scale battle and artillery duel without CGI" Me: "Oh... my sweet summer's child..."
The clip is four and a half minutes long. The actual barrage/cannonade lasted for four-plus hours, and could be heard forty miles away in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
I was doing research, and I viewed micro films of newspapers from this day. The artillery exchange was heard all the way in philadelphia. It sounded like a distant thunder. And philly is approximately 140 miles away. amazing.
My Great Great Great Father was there. He served in 3rd Pennsylvania cavalry Regiment. We still have his list of his Accomplishments, he was Wounded in the Hip at Gettysburg. I get so Emotional watching this movie. To even think if was killed our family would not even be here. He married After the civil war.
@@roderickreilly9666 That's because they have real powder loads in them. Th re-enactors were ecstatic at getting to fire so many cannon at once. Normally you couldn't afford that much powder.
and a bunch of overweight, out/shape old reinactors withstupid, overacting so-called "actors." Another dumb lightweight, overacted, underfunded stupid confederate glorifying movie playing to our least educated sides. 'Lincoln' (Daniel Day lewis), 'Glory' (Denzel) are tremendous films, Cold Mt was a realistic film, not an e/z one to watch. Shenendoah (j stewart) was a solid civil war film.
Emperor Constantine 1. We were Confederates. The first day of filming we practiced for the cannonade, but when we were supposed to film it in the afternoon a huge line of thunderstorms rolled up and ruined that. My father was in the first day battle going up against Bufords Cavalry. And I was in the woods before Pickett’s Charge.
@@garandguy101 Not exactly true. My father and I were also extras. We snuck in real ammo and managed to take out a few yanks. The south shall rise again! ;)
Syawal Hamidan well they had a gatling gun but didnt use it properly, a bayonet charge can take out a M1 Garand but I suspect they would lose a few hundred soldiers
No body uses such thing as a western hemisphere except Americans classic trying to feel big when it's tiny if it was the northern or southern hemisphere people might actually care Americans always trying to seem bigger than it is
As intimidating as it would seem to get bombarded like this, the guns really didn't do any damage, and it simply alerted the Union to the attack that would come afterward. Colonel Henry Hunt, commander of the Union artillery knew what was coming, and made sure to conserve his ammo for the inevitable charge.
Wasn’t the lack of damage due to them using high quality British powder vs the weaker Southern made powder they were used to? The extra energy caused their shots to sail over the targets.
One of the best scenes from "Gettysburg"! - I always get chills watching this scene. It amazes me though that the actual artillery barrage lasted a reported 2 hours. That would certainly eliminate any element of surprise, or remove any doubt on where the subsequent attack was going to be made.
There was not going to be any surprise. The only chance was to knock those guns out on the ridge. Longstreet was correct.....they were never going to take that hill.
If you every get to Gettyburg, take time to walk the field of Pickett's charge from the starting point of the Confederate line to the stone wall at Cemetary ridge. You will have no choice but to appreciate the bravery of the Confederates who make that trek on that day. It was unbearably hot, it was uphill and there is no cover. I did it on a relative cool day, and I still cannot describe the feeling I had in my stomach walking that mile to the stone wall.
@@jellyfish1333 Why do I get the impression you don't have a clue what bravery is all about? Stop using your 21st century morality to judge people who lived 160 yrs ago. Typical liberal BS.
The guy that runs up to Hancock and begs for him to get down. It is none other Ken Burns, who brought to life the powerful "Civil War Series" for PBS that inspired Turner to do this movie. Ken did a cameo in the movie.
There had been talk for years it was going to happen, but Ted had family blood spilled at the fence (the scene where Turner gets blown up is him portraying his ancestor). It's too bad Maxwell bolluxed up G&G so badly as to ensure Last Full Measure never gets made...
@@scottishhellcat Hardly. Maxwell did such a shitty job directing and editing G&G, strayed so far off of the source material and generally screwed everything up that it tanked. Hard. So hard that no one will fund the project. And Ted was already rich before he married Jane Fonda.
The Union batteries' multiple fires were filmed by three different cameras, each at a distinct angle, then replayed three times to simulate three rounds per gun. You can tell not only b/c the shot delivered by that last gun on the right is always at the EXACT TIME INTERVAL to the next-to-last gun across the playings, but b/c the field in front of the gun line returns to clear air with each playing, when it should be filled with dense smoke had each gun really fired three times.
My great-great grandather was the governor of Wisconsin during the Civil War. He was also postmaster general for the United States. The military camp where the training and garrison of Union troops took place later became known as Camp Randall, after his last name. Today its where the University of Wisconsin football teams stadium is. Camp Randall stadium
The sound of the cannon volley fire never fails to amp me up. What an extremely terrifying prospect, to be under fire from such a concentration of artillery.
My great-great-grandfather and his three brothers fought in the Civil War, but none of them were in this particular battle. However, my great-great-grandfather's regiment, the 4th Mississippi Infantry Regiment saw a lot of combat. Also, one of my great-great-grandfather's brothers was killed in a battle in Georgia in 1864----he was not with the 4th but with some other Mississippi regiment.
They say this was the biggest bombardment ever done on US Soil. It was so loud that the ear drums of the soldiers manning the cannons ear drums teared and blood drained from their ears. It shook the ground so much that it was said some Union Soldiers who took cover on the ground had their organs shake so much it caused internal bleeding. Crazy stuff
I was at Gettysburg yesterday. I was at Waterloo two weeks ago. Defending armies with better uphill obscured positions defeating outstanding generals that were forced to attack against their better judgement.
I have read that the field of Waterloo is much flatter now than in 1815 and the crest that the British sheltered behind was quite a bit higher than now, due to subsequent plowing through generations.
@@OutnBacker yes and no. The crest was removed to create the monument (lions mound) to the Prince of orange. When Wellington visited some years later he complained "they have ruined my battlefield"
They did a couple things right in the movie. for instance, the Union shot over their own men and the Confederates didn't because the Confederate fuses weren't very reliable. Also, the union guns were shown to be more polished than the Confederates. The guns should've had more recoil though.
@@@bigbaba1111 The south was defeated by logistics. The north had more industry and also built railway lines on a standard gauge throughout the war on a scale the south could not hope to match. Because of this not only were they able to produce more and better munitions they were able to transport troops and supplies to where they were needed much more quickly than the south.
@@tbruce8187 you are 100% correct. i just wonder, and now i play the "what if" game, what would happen if lee had moved his army between the Potomac army and D.C and fought a defensive battle with the same outcome like fredricksburg? would the north accept a peace offer?
T Bruce there’s a deeper reason. The war was actually rooted in contingency; it’s not like the north crushed the south, and the north actually had more men killed by the south than vice Versa. While it’s normal for the attackers to suffer more deaths, it shows how close of a conflict the war really was. The reason the north really won was the ideological conviction and greater morale that they had over the south, which was due to greater resources granted, but mainly because the confederate troops weren’t secure in their family being protected back home. As a result, there was greater desertion and lower morale.
Actually, the folks who made the movie had little if any control over the arms, equipment and uniforms used. The production company wanted to make as historically-accurate a movie as they could, so they did something only done once or twice before - instead of hiring extras and outfitting them in costume uniforms, they hired re-enactors who brought their own historically correct uniforms, weapons, and equipment. After all, who is going to be more historically accurate than a re-enactor? At the end of the CD there's a section where they showed the filming of the artillery barrage, and one of the re-enactors said that he had never enjoyed anything as much as filming that barrage because they had to do it THREE TIMES to get it right.
This is the most amazing reenactment. But the actual numbers of cannons and confederates in pickets charge far surpass what have seen in this movie. I believe there was up to 3,000 to 5,000 volunteers in total for the movie. Pickets charge was 15,000 men🤯
In this historic battle and at this time when Pickett's Charge failed , the back of the Confederacy was broken and Lee never tried to invade the North again. Vicksburg fell the same day as i recall and the next day was July 4 1864. God bless America
Vicksburg surrendered the 4th. The Confederacy was split. Lee couldn't invade the north again, because Grant broke the pattern and didn't retreat after Wilderness. Grant seized the initiative and chased Lee all the way to Petersburg/Richmond.
The cannon is a lot louder when there is an actual cannonball in the instead of just gunpowder on top of that the cannon goes flying backwards a few feet not slightly backed a few inches
"That man had my division slaughtered at Gettysburg." Gen. George Pickett speaking about Gen. Lee. That charge never should have happened. It was just like Fredericksburg. Napoleon himself wouldn't have dreamed of trying that. And he did some astonishing things with greater odds.
2:08 lol the most dangerous part in this movie is if you''re a soldier , rebel or union, with a small object in front of you to a hydraulic spring device. Because if you're that guy, you will be blown into the air !
160 y this week. Along with the twin victory at Vicksburg. Distant relatives in the War of Independence and the War of the Rebellion and World Wars I and II. Uncles at Midway and first in Japan(UDT). Relatives lived at Gettysburg. Sacred ground.
Hancock is a brave general, it was him so saved the army of the Potomac when Stonewall Jacksons did a surprised attack. when the union troops were running he rallied them to repelled the confederates. the battle of Chancellorsville was a defeat for them but they got revenge of the confederates for Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville at Gettysburg.
And by his stupidity in doing so, allowed himself to be killed for his own vanity, rather than living and directing his men in battle and maybe saving their lives and helping shorten the war saving countless other lives.
@Alfred Neuman - It was not stupidity. It was standard behavior of generals and colonels at that time. Perhaps it was not the most utilitarian, viewed by today's standards, but it was not stupid, nor vain.
Thanks to the huge smoke clouds the Confederates couldn't observe their grand barrage largely sailing over the Union center-and hitting the rear support units much the delight of Union veterans who saw the shirkers and REMF's getting a taste of it for once. General Gibbon visited General Meade earlier and told Meade he needed to eat something to keep his strength-Meade finally relented and they dined on what Gibbon said "was a rather tough old rooster." When the overshooting Confederate artillery began falling on the farmhouse Meade used as HQ (one round smashing through where he'd been standing seconds earlier) he found staff cowering behind the wooden structure and berated them for thinking the flimsy wooden structure offered any protection. He then told them that they might as well just take it out in the open. Meade was everywhere during the battle-he wanted to personally lead a counter charge the evening of the second day, the full battle fury on him. His staff had to hold him back as he waved his hat and his men forward.
In an interview after the movie was made Jeff Daniels (Colonel Chamberlain) was only informed prior to the filming of the artillery barrage that for movie affect there will be the firing of cannon. He said he thought yeah okay that's understandable, it's a war movie so it's to be expected they have to fire a few cannons for the movie. He didn't expect just how many cannons were going to be fired and the intensity of the sound and vibration produced by them. In the interview he said, "When I was laying on the ground, the flinching from me that you saw was real. With each blast of cannon fire the vibration caused the ground to thrust upward into my stomach lifting me off the ground and these cannon were only using a quarter of the powder charge actually used in the battle. How unnerving, how intense it must have been for the men on the battlefield that day
Most historians here in Gettysburg Pennsylvania list the distance between the center of the two lines as being a mile between the line of trees behind the Virginia Monument on Seminary Ridge to the High Water Mark Monument at the Corps of Trees on Cemetery Ridge. The Confederate Right Flank where Confederate Avenue converges with the Emmitsburg Road to the Codori Farm where General Pickett watched his division reach the Bloody Angle about a quarter mile. A P. Hood's divisions of Trimble and Pettigrew from modern Long Lane in the Colt Park Housing Development to the William Bryant Farm around 50 yards.
Amongst these armies were Prussian officers on both sides and including this battle itself. They observed and served both on the Confederate and Union sides and they would use the knowledge that they observed from the carnage of this battle and others for effective use and defense of artillery as well as other battle tactics. This was used in the Austro-Prussian war, against the Belgians and French during the Franco-Prussian war. Not only that but things, like trench warfare and charges were carried into WW1 but quickly became outdated from updated artillery, weaponry, machinery, and technology in general. I find it fascinating that a lot of major European wars were fought with tactics gained from two major American wars, the Civil War and the Revolutionary War. But the Civil War was by far the most influential war in terms of late 19th century and early 20th century wars fought around the world.
During the Battle of Antietam the Union Artillery shot Rebel Batteries to pieces. Yankee artillery was rifled for the most part, Confederate guns, for the most part weren’t. The Tredegar Iron Works outside of Richmond, Virginia worked night and day to replace those guns. Even by the Battle of Chancellorsville the Rebel Army of Northern Virginia had barely enough guns. After the Yankee Army of the Potomac retreated from Chancellorsville Robert E. Lee had to wait until just before he began his invasion of Pennsylvania to get the artillery he needed.
Those cannon shots needed to be fixated at the stone wall. Not sure if it was ever effective. By breaking up the stone wall and the fencing, it would have aided Pickett's division so much more.
In reality the guns would have been spaced about 15 meters apart to reduce casualties from not only returning enemy fire but the possible explosions of nearby caissons and even the breach failures of their own cannon.
That smoke must have made observation tasking for the cannon batteries impossible after the first few rounds, like smoke screen if the wind isn't blowing. How would gun commanders even know who their shells are hitting? Just keep firing, hope for the best? Runners?
Yes.That's the ways it was.Additionally,they jugded their succes by the amount of return-fire.That is why Union batteries stopped firing!Thereby fooling the rebels!
I read a book about Gettysburg (I'll have to dig it out for the specific title if you are interested) and in it is some soldiers' testimonies of the battle. I remember one saying that at one point you couldn't see more than a foot in front of you so a lot of men were crouching or even laying down to see and get better shots. The humidity those days really made the smoke stick as well.
Lee Should've Took Longstreets Advice & Make Diversionary Attacks On Culp's Hill & The Union Center, While Longstreets Attacked With The Main Force At The Round Top's... This Attack Would've Rolled Up The Union's Left Flank, Forceing The Union To Retreat...
Longstreet wasn't the only general to advise Lee, Pickett tried to warn Lee 3 times that a frontal assault was not going to break the line. What Longstreet and Pickett saw that Lee had not was Chamberlain's troops reinforcement of the center. Lee was adamant that Pickett charge. The result was a disaster.The other issue was the Confederate cavalry was off galavanting in Fredrick MD the first two days of. Arriving late to the party. Quite frankly the whole move to take the war north was a waste. One of Lees greatest advantages was being able to keep the Army of the Potomac pinned north of the Rappahannock river. They were held up at Warrenton Virginia, Lee also ignored advice to attack at Warrenton,or to even pursue the Army of the Potomac to Washington after both defeats in Manassas Virginia, which would have given him an advantage. Lee was terrible about listening to those who saw what he didn't.
@@rockytoptom I could expound upon why what I said is true about Warrenton Virginia. McClellan only extended his line out to Orlean Va. If Lee has his army divide and go around to the west then surround the army by coming between his headquarters at Rectortown VA and his army in Warrenton. He at that point would have severed the command from the army. If Early then linked up with Mosby who had already destroyed the railroad at Catlett station. And it also would have cut off any chance of retreat via the Warrenton/Alexandria turnpike. Now the heart of Warrenton is an elevated position. But with no chance of breakout or resupply, the Army of the Potomac would have no choice but to either surrender or be destroyed. Instead he waited and incurred losses the following April at Brandy Station when Custer Crossed the Rappahannock river at Kelly's Ford. Allowed Burnside to move the army to Aquia creek which had a stronger and undamaged railroad. All of this is known because this was the exact advice Lee received. And in destruction of the army of the Potomac, he would have had free hand to then march on Washington almost with impunity. All of that planning wasted because Lee had made a gentlemans agreement not to fight in the winter. Anyone who has lived in Northern Virginia knows our weather patterns allowed for winter fighting East of the mountains it doesn't always get much snow and it may get a little cold it rarely gets excessively cold. So knowing what could have happened but didn't, Lee put himself into a bad spot
This Hollywood version takes up a little over four minute's worth of film. The real thing lasted for four hours, and could be heard forty miles away in Harrisburg. In the end, very nearly as many Americans died in three days of fighting at Gettysburg as did in the entirety of the ten (declared) years of Vietnam... If "it is good that war is so terrible, lest we come to love it too much" (Robert E. Lee), is true, why to we keep engaging in it?
Idk about how cannon formations work, but it definitely looks cool on screen seeing them go down one by one Also in the opening of Pickett’s Charge later, they did do a volley
@@mikeggg5671 The Battle of Trafalgar had more and heavier guns in _each_ of the three fleets engaged than both sides combined of any land battle before WW1, including Austerlitz or Borodino.
During Pickett's Charge the Federal.Troops stood behind their stone wall and chanted "Fredericksburg ! Fredericksburg ! Fredericksburg !..............." Time for payback for Marye's Heights.
Pickett's Charge was the very definition of discretion being the better part of valor. If what they say about the Lee/Longstreet dynamic of this charge is accurate, then at least on that day, that was totally lost on Robert E. Lee.
This was a lot like Hillsdale fought in Ohio 2 months and 23 days after Gettysburg Between the 2 battles 96'000 men lost their lives Add on 18'000 from Fredericksburg and literary the 3 bloodiest battles of the entire war 18'000 from Fredericksburg 51'000 from Gettysburg and 45'000 from Hillsdale
In the end the Cannonade was ineffective. Most of the Shots landed harmlessly over the Federal Troop positions and what's worst they failed to drive off the Yankee Artillery which was left on the field to do terrible work on the Confederate troops about to march a mile across an open field. Looking upon the Battlefield, one cannot help but wonder why Ewell's Artillery positioned to the North and flanking the Federal line did not fire one shot. Only Longstreet and Hill's Artillery battalions saw action? Why did not one Commander stop the Southern troops once it became clear the enemy artillery was still in place? These are questions that History has never answered.
My son: "But Dad... Surely no movie back in the day could portray the grandiose nature of a large scale battle and artillery duel without CGI"
Me: "Oh... my sweet summer's child..."
"Waterloo" is better. It had massed cavalry charges, no CGI. They paid the soviets for tens of thousands of extras who were active soviet soldiers.
When Hancock says "There are times when a corp commanders life does not count" always gives me a tear in my eye
Hancock knew that the Confederate guns were overshooting!
1:13 1:15
The clip is four and a half minutes long. The actual barrage/cannonade lasted for four-plus hours, and could be heard forty miles away in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
4 hours?!!!!
Anonymous Not sure if it was 4. But yes. Several hours long with close to around 200 cannons.
(Bzzzzzz) wrong the artillery shelling at Gettysburg could be heard in
Harrisburg Pittsburgh and Philadelphia
@@loganmccombs942 I read somewhere that it was the loudest sound heard in the United States until the Trinity detonation.
Wow I am a civil war buff and I didn't even know that the barrage/cannonade lasted several hours that's interesting to know
Director: "3/4ths of our budget is in canon....yes, we are firing every one of them as often as we can."
Never gets old
They were renactors but yes this is too accurate 😂
That’s “The Civil War” biographer Ken Burns requesting that General Hancock dismount and get down.
I knew that voice was familiar.
"Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl." Frederick II
@@donaldbarnes1144 Try the King of Prussia my friend
My Dad and I watched this movie every anniversary and we'd always turn the volume up full blast for the cannonade. I really do love this movie.
"There are times when a corps commander's life does not count"~Major General Winfield Scott Hancock.
Died soon after saying that.
Saddle nail to the groin. Fortunately he and Myra had a couple of kids by then.
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." - Major General John Sedgwick, later in the war
Gen. Hancock for that alone made himself a legendary American hero
I was doing research, and I viewed micro films of newspapers from this day.
The artillery exchange was heard all the way in philadelphia. It sounded like a distant thunder. And philly is approximately 140 miles away. amazing.
The sound of the cannon fire at the beginning (with no music) makes it all the more intense.
"General-please get down!" There are times when a corps commander's life does not count...." Good stuff.
Seek And DESTROY 16 Do you think Gettysburg movie was 100% accurate ? And do yoi think the music was overwhelming at times ?
Troop movement and battle accounts, yes. Dialogue, probably not. And yes on the soundtrack. Sometimes.
Pro Tier Tabletop - I understand. I don't either. But I love Shelby and have his Civil war series as well!
thats brian pohanka saying that
Ken Burns, actually. The guy who produced the Civil War series for PBS.
Confederates attempting the artillery only challenge (1863) (Colorized)
I knew there was going to be an artillery only comment
good one.
I feel bad for laughing
Lmfao there were no cameras back then it's based off of an eyewitness account of the Confederate artillery barrage on the third day of the battle
I see you're a gamer of culture as well..
My Great Great Great Father was there. He served in 3rd Pennsylvania cavalry Regiment. We still have his list of his Accomplishments, he was Wounded in the Hip at Gettysburg. I get so Emotional watching this movie. To even think if was killed our family would not even be here. He married After the civil war.
Probably the best re-enactment of the real artillery battle ever done!!! Definitely my favorite part of the movie!!!!
Those cannons are actually recoiling! 😆
@@roderickreilly9666 That's because they have real powder loads in them. Th re-enactors were ecstatic at getting to fire so many cannon at once. Normally you couldn't afford that much powder.
horrible, ridiculous, overacted stupid film w little relation to reality!
and a bunch of overweight, out/shape old reinactors withstupid, overacting so-called "actors." Another dumb lightweight, overacted, underfunded stupid confederate glorifying movie playing to our least educated sides. 'Lincoln' (Daniel Day lewis), 'Glory' (Denzel) are tremendous films, Cold Mt was a realistic film, not an e/z one to watch. Shenendoah (j stewart) was a solid civil war film.
@@roderickreilly9666Barely. They move very little, not impressive at all.
My father and I were extras in the movie. Awesome experience!
What parts did y’all perform?
Emperor Constantine 1.
We were Confederates. The first day of filming we practiced for the cannonade, but when we were supposed to film it in the afternoon a huge line of thunderstorms rolled up and ruined that.
My father was in the first day battle going up against Bufords Cavalry. And I was in the woods before Pickett’s Charge.
Where you there for this scene being shot? If so what was it like? Im pretty sure they are using blanks here right.
@@stevenrivers8386 no I wasn’t there for this scene, yes blank charges are being used.
@@garandguy101 Not exactly true. My father and I were also extras. We snuck in real ammo and managed to take out a few yanks. The south shall rise again! ;)
Too bad for the Confederates that their massive artillery barrage did basically zero damage...
Yeah they should have added a projectile
@@ChodaStanks lol
What will happen if that time have m1 garand and they still fight with same formation.
Syawal Hamidan well they had a gatling gun but didnt use it properly, a bayonet charge can take out a M1 Garand but I suspect they would lose a few hundred soldiers
@@ChodaStanks - neither side wanted the Gatling Gun. It was considered too expensive...
Largest artillery barrage in the western hemisphere at that time
Largest ever in the western hemisphere.
No body uses such thing as a western hemisphere except Americans classic trying to feel big when it's tiny if it was the northern or southern hemisphere people might actually care Americans always trying to seem bigger than it is
446714915461282676
That was in the eastern hemisphere
@@Dayrahl I mean there were lots of other wars that happened in the western hemisphere
@@Dayrahl + We're the center of the world, jelly.
As intimidating as it would seem to get bombarded like this, the guns really didn't do any damage, and it simply alerted the Union to the attack that would come afterward. Colonel Henry Hunt, commander of the Union artillery knew what was coming, and made sure to conserve his ammo for the inevitable charge.
He also ordered the artillery to slowly cease fire to make the illusion of the Confederates destroying the union artillery the man was a genius
@@RandomCT164 yep. You gotta apply intelligence to battle.
Wasn’t the lack of damage due to them using high quality British powder vs the weaker Southern made powder they were used to? The extra energy caused their shots to sail over the targets.
Good way to get rid of the mosquitoes on that hot day. Bugs don't like gunsmoke at all.
then why are there so many bugs in Chicago?
@@Scottie404 Too few civil war battles per day in the streets of Chicago I think?
“Here, yanks, we see them mosquitos biting ya!”
My Ancestors enlisted in the German Artillery of South Carolina and also the 21st Infantry of North Carolina.
@Doug Bevins wow you're an idiot
One of the more important battle of the Civil War. And the great victory for Union
Quite a hollow victory though, Lee managed to escape and the war lasted another 2 years.
Just a question of numbers. 5 to 1. Confederates had the better army.
@@roysimmons3549 yes ! General and Army : totally agree with you. Greetings from Italy
One of the best scenes from "Gettysburg"! - I always get chills watching this scene. It amazes me though that the actual artillery barrage lasted a reported 2 hours. That would certainly eliminate any element of surprise, or remove any doubt on where the subsequent attack was going to be made.
There was not going to be any surprise. The only chance was to knock those guns out on the ridge. Longstreet was correct.....they were never going to take that hill.
Agreed
It lasted 2 hours, not 4 hours.
@@peytonthomas4338 - Corrected, thanks!
Sadly Robert E Lee tried to use field Cannons to do a howitzer's job. So many people died so tragically and needlessly as a result
@ 4:05 - That's Ken Burns, the producer of the Civil War series for PBS telling Hancock to "please get down. We cannot spare you."
Derek Hansin That guy looked way to young to be Ken Burns.
That documentary is currently on NETFLIX. Great watch for history buffs. Was made three years before this movie!
Jim Chumley It was him! Look at the haircut haha.
If you every get to Gettyburg, take time to walk the field of Pickett's charge from the starting point of the Confederate line to the stone wall at Cemetary ridge. You will have no choice but to appreciate the bravery of the Confederates who make that trek on that day. It was unbearably hot, it was uphill and there is no cover. I did it on a relative cool day, and I still cannot describe the feeling I had in my stomach walking that mile to the stone wall.
I did it on the anniversary of the charge. The weather was exact, sans the steel rain..
I visited the site in the 1970s. It seemed suicidal to launch an attack over such a field.
Done that walk - i cant imagine how did they do that under fire - its an eternity in the open - terrifying
Bravery of the confederates??? Why would I consider that to actually be a existent thing???
@@jellyfish1333 Why do I get the impression you don't have a clue what bravery is all about? Stop using your 21st century morality to judge people who lived 160 yrs ago. Typical liberal BS.
The boys in grey definitely know how to make an entrance...
...and an exit.
oooof
God bless them boys in gray
LetsDigDirt 2 he didn’t. He blessed the boys in blue the US troops
Lol
The guy that runs up to Hancock and begs for him to get down. It is none other Ken Burns, who brought to life the powerful "Civil War Series" for PBS that inspired Turner to do this movie. Ken did a cameo in the movie.
There had been talk for years it was going to happen, but Ted had family blood spilled at the fence (the scene where Turner gets blown up is him portraying his ancestor). It's too bad Maxwell bolluxed up G&G so badly as to ensure Last Full Measure never gets made...
@@kellycochran6487 I wondered what happened. I assumed Hanoi Jane spent all of Ted's money.
@@scottishhellcat Hardly. Maxwell did such a shitty job directing and editing G&G, strayed so far off of the source material and generally screwed everything up that it tanked. Hard. So hard that no one will fund the project. And Ted was already rich before he married Jane Fonda.
The Union batteries' multiple fires were filmed by three different cameras, each at a distinct angle, then replayed three times to simulate three rounds per gun. You can tell not only b/c the shot delivered by that last gun on the right is always at the EXACT TIME INTERVAL to the next-to-last gun across the playings, but b/c the field in front of the gun line returns to clear air with each playing, when it should be filled with dense smoke had each gun really fired three times.
One of my favorite scenes. Gives me goosebumps.
My great-great grandather was the governor of Wisconsin during the Civil War. He was also postmaster general for the United States. The military camp where the training and garrison of Union troops took place later became known as Camp Randall, after his last name. Today its where the University of Wisconsin football teams stadium is. Camp Randall stadium
The sound of the cannon volley fire never fails to amp me up. What an extremely terrifying prospect, to be under fire from such a concentration of artillery.
I used to watch this movie everyday as a kid.
from what ive heard from historians and read in books this barrage was heard all the way in Washington D.C
My great-great-grandfather and his three brothers fought in the Civil War, but none of them were in this particular battle. However, my great-great-grandfather's regiment, the 4th Mississippi Infantry Regiment saw a lot of combat. Also, one of my great-great-grandfather's brothers was killed in a battle in Georgia in 1864----he was not with the 4th but with some other Mississippi regiment.
They say this was the biggest bombardment ever done on US Soil. It was so loud that the ear drums of the soldiers manning the cannons ear drums teared and blood drained from their ears. It shook the ground so much that it was said some Union Soldiers who took cover on the ground had their organs shake so much it caused internal bleeding. Crazy stuff
I was at Gettysburg yesterday. I was at Waterloo two weeks ago. Defending armies with better uphill obscured positions defeating outstanding generals that were forced to attack against their better judgement.
@Doug Bevins They both wanted quick victories against their adversaries and to win the war with one last push.
I have read that the field of Waterloo is much flatter now than in 1815 and the crest that the British sheltered behind was quite a bit higher than now, due to subsequent plowing through generations.
@@OutnBacker yes and no. The crest was removed to create the monument (lions mound) to the Prince of orange.
When Wellington visited some years later he complained "they have ruined my battlefield"
I remember the theater walls shaking during this scene.
They did a couple things right in the movie. for instance, the Union shot over their own men and the Confederates didn't because the Confederate fuses weren't very reliable. Also, the union guns were shown to be more polished than the Confederates.
The guns should've had more recoil though.
i read an statistic about the southern industry output being only 10% of that of the north.
@@@bigbaba1111 The south was defeated by logistics. The north had more industry and also built railway lines on a standard gauge throughout the war on a scale the south could not hope to match. Because of this not only were they able to produce more and better munitions they were able to transport troops and supplies to where they were needed much more quickly than the south.
@@tbruce8187 you are 100% correct. i just wonder, and now i play the "what if" game, what would happen if lee had moved his army between the Potomac army and D.C and fought a defensive battle with the same outcome like fredricksburg? would the north accept a peace offer?
T Bruce there’s a deeper reason. The war was actually rooted in contingency; it’s not like the north crushed the south, and the north actually had more men killed by the south than vice Versa. While it’s normal for the attackers to suffer more deaths, it shows how close of a conflict the war really was. The reason the north really won was the ideological conviction and greater morale that they had over the south, which was due to greater resources granted, but mainly because the confederate troops weren’t secure in their family being protected back home. As a result, there was greater desertion and lower morale.
Actually, the folks who made the movie had little if any control over the arms, equipment and uniforms used. The production company wanted to make as historically-accurate a movie as they could, so they did something only done once or twice before - instead of hiring extras and outfitting them in costume uniforms, they hired re-enactors who brought their own historically correct uniforms, weapons, and equipment. After all, who is going to be more historically accurate than a re-enactor? At the end of the CD there's a section where they showed the filming of the artillery barrage, and one of the re-enactors said that he had never enjoyed anything as much as filming that barrage because they had to do it THREE TIMES to get it right.
No CGI in this segment. Just proper filming of what's happening
An Artillery Duel. WOW!
This is the most amazing reenactment. But the actual numbers of cannons and confederates in pickets charge far surpass what have seen in this movie. I believe there was up to 3,000 to 5,000 volunteers in total for the movie. Pickets charge was 15,000 men🤯
I was in the Artillery.
Used the Rock Island Arsenal M-198 Howitzer.
This is a barrage that Napoleon would do in his battles but then again he use to be an artillery officer.
In this historic battle and at this time when Pickett's Charge failed , the back of the Confederacy was broken and Lee never tried to invade the North again. Vicksburg fell the same day as i recall and the next day was July 4 1864. God bless America
Vicksburg surrendered the 4th. The Confederacy was split. Lee couldn't invade the north again, because Grant broke the pattern and didn't retreat after Wilderness. Grant seized the initiative and chased Lee all the way to Petersburg/Richmond.
The cannon is a lot louder when there is an actual cannonball in the instead of just gunpowder on top of that the cannon goes flying backwards a few feet not slightly backed a few inches
All of that smoke at least kept the mosquitoes down.
"That man had my division slaughtered at Gettysburg." Gen. George Pickett speaking about Gen. Lee. That charge never should have happened. It was just like Fredericksburg. Napoleon himself wouldn't have dreamed of trying that. And he did some astonishing things with greater odds.
That “That old man destroyed my division.” I believe is the correct language attributed to Pickett. :)
@@thomassenbart He's quoted multiple different ways. Some accounts say "old man," some don't. Some say he had much more choice words
One of my favourite movie. 1 for 1000 people know it...
There comes a time when a corp commanders life does not count
2:08 lol the most dangerous part in this movie is if you''re a soldier , rebel or union, with a small object in front of you to a hydraulic spring device. Because if you're that guy, you will be blown into the air !
160 y this week. Along with the twin victory at Vicksburg. Distant relatives in the War of Independence and the War of the Rebellion and World Wars I and II. Uncles at Midway and first in Japan(UDT). Relatives lived at Gettysburg. Sacred ground.
Hancock so calmly and confidently pacing on his horse. Those were truly extraordinary men...on both sides of conflict.
Hancock is a brave general, it was him so saved the army of the Potomac when Stonewall Jacksons did a surprised attack. when the union troops were running he rallied them to repelled the confederates. the battle of Chancellorsville was a defeat for them but they got revenge of the confederates for Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville at Gettysburg.
And by his stupidity in doing so, allowed himself to be killed for his own vanity, rather than living and directing his men in battle and maybe saving their lives and helping shorten the war saving countless other lives.
@Alfred Neuman - It was not stupidity. It was standard behavior of generals and colonels at that time.
Perhaps it was not the most utilitarian, viewed by today's standards, but it was not stupid, nor vain.
@@onesojourner7514 And so the North missed out on the leadership and insight of a good general...
@Alfred Neuman - Agreed on that point.
"You notice how that Reb artillery always overshoots?"
Joshua Desautels were u there
@@kennethmeyer1163 it's a line from the movie
In the real battle the cannons could be heard 40 miles away
If this whole entire seen doesn't give you chills then you don't have a heart or soul
i cant deal w the fat old reinactors in perfect uniforms
Thanks to the huge smoke clouds the Confederates couldn't observe their grand barrage largely sailing over the Union center-and hitting the rear support units much the delight of Union veterans who saw the shirkers and REMF's getting a taste of it for once. General Gibbon visited General Meade earlier and told Meade he needed to eat something to keep his strength-Meade finally relented and they dined on what Gibbon said "was a rather tough old rooster." When the overshooting Confederate artillery began falling on the farmhouse Meade used as HQ (one round smashing through where he'd been standing seconds earlier) he found staff cowering behind the wooden structure and berated them for thinking the flimsy wooden structure offered any protection. He then told them that they might as well just take it out in the open.
Meade was everywhere during the battle-he wanted to personally lead a counter charge the evening of the second day, the full battle fury on him. His staff had to hold him back as he waved his hat and his men forward.
I bet even the actors didn't expect this spectacle. You can see their reactions as each cannon lets loose.
In an interview after the movie was made Jeff Daniels (Colonel Chamberlain) was only informed prior to the filming of the artillery barrage that for movie affect there will be the firing of cannon. He said he thought yeah okay that's understandable, it's a war movie so it's to be expected they have to fire a few cannons for the movie.
He didn't expect just how many cannons were going to be fired and the intensity of the sound and vibration produced by them.
In the interview he said, "When I was laying on the ground, the flinching from me that you saw was real. With each blast of cannon fire the vibration caused the ground to thrust upward into my stomach lifting me off the ground and these cannon were only using a quarter of the powder charge actually used in the battle. How unnerving, how intense it must have been for the men on the battlefield that day
During the cannon barrage , what is the distance between both army?
About two miles
@@jondickison5802 i though the distance is few hundred meters. In the movies of gettysburg its look so close.
Most historians here in Gettysburg Pennsylvania list the distance between the center of the two lines as being a mile between the line of trees behind the Virginia Monument on Seminary Ridge to the High Water Mark Monument at the Corps of Trees on Cemetery Ridge.
The Confederate Right Flank where Confederate Avenue converges with the Emmitsburg Road to the Codori Farm where General Pickett watched his division reach the Bloody Angle about a quarter mile. A P. Hood's divisions of Trimble and Pettigrew from modern Long Lane in the Colt Park Housing Development to the William Bryant Farm around 50 yards.
If Jackson had lived, he would not have allowed Lee to allow the situation to be reversed as it was at the Frederickburg
He also takes the heights on day 1 which Pettigrew did not.
Amongst these armies were Prussian officers on both sides and including this battle itself. They observed and served both on the Confederate and Union sides and they would use the knowledge that they observed from the carnage of this battle and others for effective use and defense of artillery as well as other battle tactics. This was used in the Austro-Prussian war, against the Belgians and French during the Franco-Prussian war. Not only that but things, like trench warfare and charges were carried into WW1 but quickly became outdated from updated artillery, weaponry, machinery, and technology in general.
I find it fascinating that a lot of major European wars were fought with tactics gained from two major American wars, the Civil War and the Revolutionary War. But the Civil War was by far the most influential war in terms of late 19th century and early 20th century wars fought around the world.
3:44 - now that’s a leader!!
Artillery commander: Sir the artillery is ready, how long should we fire?
General Lee: yes
The smoke would have obscured the view of the northern line.
This and Tora, Tora Tora are my two favorite war films. Pure history without being saddled with pointless romantic subplots.
This is better quality than the one on my page, though I think I may have deeper bass on mine, which is good for harassing your downstairs neighbors.
Apparently it was heard as far away as Washington d.c. one of the best scenes in the film
*ARTILLERY ONLY*
Must experience audio through VHS Tape version. The difference is night and day. DVD isn't even close.
4:00 Ken Burn's cameo as the staff officer imploring General Hancock to take cover
During the Battle of Antietam the Union Artillery shot Rebel Batteries to pieces. Yankee artillery was rifled for the most part, Confederate guns, for the most part weren’t. The Tredegar Iron Works outside of Richmond, Virginia worked night and day to replace those guns. Even by the Battle of Chancellorsville the Rebel Army of Northern Virginia had barely enough guns. After the Yankee Army of the Potomac retreated from Chancellorsville Robert E. Lee had to wait until just before he began his invasion of Pennsylvania to get the artillery he needed.
This is nothing like a full charge in a cannon. These things aren’t evening recoiling.
General please get down we cannot despair you when there is a time a core commander lives does not count
Those cannon shots needed to be fixated at the stone wall. Not sure if it was ever effective.
By breaking up the stone wall and the fencing, it would have aided Pickett's division so much more.
In reality the guns would have been spaced about 15 meters apart to reduce casualties from not only returning enemy fire but the possible explosions of nearby caissons and even the breach failures of their own cannon.
In reality at Gettysburg,the aprox.150 guns WERE stretched out 2 1/2 miles!
That's not correct. At the battle of malvern hill there were 160 cannons shoulder to shoulder on the field
Outstanding soundtrack from this movie!
That smoke must have made observation tasking for the cannon batteries impossible after the first few rounds, like smoke screen if the wind isn't blowing. How would gun commanders even know who their shells are hitting? Just keep firing, hope for the best? Runners?
It was dead still until the attack was forming, and yes it was blind shooting after the first few rounds.
Yes.That's the ways it was.Additionally,they jugded their succes by the amount of return-fire.That is why Union batteries stopped firing!Thereby fooling the rebels!
I read a book about Gettysburg (I'll have to dig it out for the specific title if you are interested) and in it is some soldiers' testimonies of the battle. I remember one saying that at one point you couldn't see more than a foot in front of you so a lot of men were crouching or even laying down to see and get better shots. The humidity those days really made the smoke stick as well.
The Confederate barrage landed primarily behind Union lines without having the intended effect.
If Stonewall Jackson was alive during the battle Gen Lee might have listen to him
very impressive
Why did they fuck up with the music score
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Didn't most of the Confederate artillery overshoot the Union line, and land to the rear?
Indeed
Lee Should've Took Longstreets Advice & Make Diversionary Attacks On Culp's Hill & The Union Center, While Longstreets Attacked With The Main Force At The Round Top's...
This Attack Would've Rolled Up The Union's Left Flank, Forceing The Union To Retreat...
Longstreet wasn't the only general to advise Lee, Pickett tried to warn Lee 3 times that a frontal assault was not going to break the line. What Longstreet and Pickett saw that Lee had not was Chamberlain's troops reinforcement of the center. Lee was adamant that Pickett charge. The result was a disaster.The other issue was the Confederate cavalry was off galavanting in Fredrick MD the first two days of. Arriving late to the party. Quite frankly the whole move to take the war north was a waste. One of Lees greatest advantages was being able to keep the Army of the Potomac pinned north of the Rappahannock river. They were held up at Warrenton Virginia, Lee also ignored advice to attack at Warrenton,or to even pursue the Army of the Potomac to Washington after both defeats in Manassas Virginia, which would have given him an advantage. Lee was terrible about listening to those who saw what he didn't.
@@stevenbaker8184 You're right, Lee was truly prideful and stubborn. And his pride destroyed his army.
@@rockytoptom I could expound upon why what I said is true about Warrenton Virginia. McClellan only extended his line out to Orlean Va. If Lee has his army divide and go around to the west then surround the army by coming between his headquarters at Rectortown VA and his army in Warrenton. He at that point would have severed the command from the army. If Early then linked up with Mosby who had already destroyed the railroad at Catlett station. And it also would have cut off any chance of retreat via the Warrenton/Alexandria turnpike. Now the heart of Warrenton is an elevated position. But with no chance of breakout or resupply, the Army of the Potomac would have no choice but to either surrender or be destroyed. Instead he waited and incurred losses the following April at Brandy Station when Custer Crossed the Rappahannock river at Kelly's Ford. Allowed Burnside to move the army to Aquia creek which had a stronger and undamaged railroad. All of this is known because this was the exact advice Lee received. And in destruction of the army of the Potomac, he would have had free hand to then march on Washington almost with impunity. All of that planning wasted because Lee had made a gentlemans agreement not to fight in the winter. Anyone who has lived in Northern Virginia knows our weather patterns allowed for winter fighting
East of the mountains it doesn't always get much snow and it may get a little cold it rarely gets excessively cold. So knowing what could have happened but didn't, Lee put himself into a bad spot
This Hollywood version takes up a little over four minute's worth of film. The real thing lasted for four hours, and could be heard forty miles away in Harrisburg. In the end, very nearly as many Americans died in three days of fighting at Gettysburg as did in the entirety of the ten (declared) years of Vietnam...
If "it is good that war is so terrible, lest we come to love it too much" (Robert E. Lee), is true, why to we keep engaging in it?
They are only using half of the powder charge in the movie as they would have used in the real world battle.
Gettysburg------------------History making
I presume in real life the cannons would fire at once and reload asap. In the film they go down a line fiting - I suspect for special effects team ?
Idk about how cannon formations work, but it definitely looks cool on screen seeing them go down one by one
Also in the opening of Pickett’s Charge later, they did do a volley
I had a family member in Picketts charge, right flank, and lived.
The cannonade at Gettysburg was the largest manmade sound ever made...... until WWI
No sir - quite a bit of Napoleon's bombardments were as heavy
@@mikeggg5671 The Battle of Trafalgar had more and heavier guns in _each_ of the three fleets engaged than both sides combined of any land battle before WW1, including Austerlitz or Borodino.
New Comment ....
did I see a flying turret ??
If the war was fought in Italy, it would have been the Battle of Spagettisburg
told you the center is not weak
During Pickett's Charge the Federal.Troops stood behind their stone wall and chanted "Fredericksburg ! Fredericksburg ! Fredericksburg !..............." Time for payback for Marye's Heights.
That's Ken Burns asking him to get down
Pickett's Charge was the very definition of discretion being the better part of valor. If what they say about the Lee/Longstreet dynamic of this charge is accurate, then at least on that day, that was totally lost on Robert E. Lee.
This was a lot like Hillsdale fought in Ohio 2 months and 23 days after Gettysburg
Between the 2 battles 96'000 men lost their lives
Add on 18'000 from Fredericksburg and literary the 3 bloodiest battles of the entire war 18'000 from Fredericksburg 51'000 from Gettysburg and 45'000 from Hillsdale
In the end the Cannonade was ineffective. Most of the Shots landed harmlessly over the Federal Troop positions and what's worst they failed to drive off the Yankee Artillery which was left on the field to do terrible work on the Confederate troops about to march a mile across an open field. Looking upon the Battlefield, one cannot help but wonder why Ewell's Artillery positioned to the North and flanking the Federal line did not fire one shot. Only Longstreet and Hill's Artillery battalions saw action? Why did not one Commander stop the Southern troops once it became clear the enemy artillery was still in place? These are questions that History has never answered.
Lee threw the game.
Add recoil and round shot please
It's a movie. They fired blanks, hence no recoil.
WISH THEY WOULD REMAKE THIS WITH IMAX AND 3D TECHNOLOGY ID WATCH IT 100 TIMES NEVER GET TIRED OF IT..🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🎩🎩🎩🎩🎩
and leave OUT the silly background music track!
Great movie.