Jeff Daniels' performance in this movie is his masterwork. His portrayal of this authentic American hero is flawless. If you're not familiar with the action portrayed in these scenes, get a good history of the battle and read up on it, you won't be sorry. The Southern troops' galantry in attacking this position (and attacking and attacking ...) may be equaled in history but never excelled. Have no doubt, those boys were veterans and knew what they were up against.

Col Chamberlain took a Sabbatical from Bowdoin College because the Board wouldn't allow him to take leave to enlist. He eventually rose to the rank of Major General in the Union army and was present at Appomattox Court house. When Gen Lee arrived to formally surrender, Gen. Chamberlain ordered his troops to come to attention in honor of Gen. Lee, a very noble gesture.

I was in Gettysburg around a month ago and as I was walking towards the 20th Maine memorial a man mentioned to me that if you walked down a small trail off the right of the memorial (if you were facing it) about 100 yds you'd find the small wall erected by B Co of the 20th Maine who were out guarding their extreme flank, there is a small memorial there mentioning their holding of that position, it's a curious spot that 99% of Gettysburg tourists will never see or know about, but now YOU do!

"Tom! Another one a bit closer, could be a hard day for Mother..."

I watched this movie all the time when i was a kid. Me and my friend used to yell "Bayonets!!!" all the time for no reason. Good times.

Pro-North, pro-South- can we at least agree that Chamberlain was a badass?

Strong Vincent was another one of those lesser known heroes of the battle whose decision-making at crucial times helped save the Union position. When Warren sent a courrier looking for Gen. Sykes (V Corp head) to ask him for assistance, Vincent intercepted the man. "What are your orders?" He asked. Then he took it upon his own authority to send his brigade up the hill...saving precious time otherwise lost in following proper chain of command. Too bad he was killed on that same hill that day.

Chamberlain was but a mild mannered teacher but changed the course of the civil war in this battle of the hill! American Civil war is absolutely fascinating and thought provoking..how sons of the same soil wanted their own visions triumph.. Land of the free Home of the Brave alright!.

God bless my great great great uncle Joshua Chamberlain.

The thing i love about most civil war movies such as that they don't glorify just one side it show both sides because the civil war has two stories not one.

My distant relative, 1st Lt Charles E Hazlett is briefly mentioned around this scene. He was killed at Devil's Den I believe. I am British but if I ever go to the States again, I would like to trace his grave in Zanesville, Ohio. I visited Gettysburg back in 1999

"We are going to have to be stubborn today". Subtle, but it conveys the urgency of their mission and their duty.

I think I would have liked Col. Vincent. Guy looked to have some swagger :D

I always feel bad for poor Tom when he's sent to the back to "watch for stragglers" it's almost as if that look is saying "but Lawrence, I wanna say with you!" Also, it always amazes me how Jeff Daniels can go so long without even blinking as Col. Vincent is reiterating they're the end of the line. lol.

I remember visiting Little Round Top. When I saw how steep, rocky and uneven the ground was, I immediately felt sorry for anyone trying to charge up it when getting shot at.

What a same that Col. Strong Vincent was killed shortly after he gave Chamberlain his famous order. Strong Vincent from Erie County, PA. They have a High School named after him.

By this time in the war, there was virtually nothing but respect between the soldiers of the two sides.

the colonel at the begining who directs Chamberlain is Col.Strong Vincent who is every bit the hero of the day as Chamberlain was, he died inspiring the troops that would hold the 20th Main's right flank.

This scene just gets to me every time

Big credits to Maj General Sickles for recognizing the importance of Little Round Top and how it needed to be defended. Without this, There would be no Colonel vincent and Chamberlain Big Kudos to all these brave men!

Chamberlain was but a mild mannered teacher but changed the course of the civil war in this battle of the hill! American Civil war is absolutely fascinating and thought provoking..how sons of the same soil wanted their own visions of a free country to triumph.. Land of the free Home of the Brave alright!.

Chamberlain bad ass enough to have beer made in his honor: Shipyard Chamberlain Pale Ale. Great stuff I'll have to pick it up again someday.

"Hey fellas? Notice how that reb artillery always overshoots?" -shot lands right in front of them- Once again I am provided ample evidence that I don't have what it takes to be any kind of soldier in any time, ancient, victorian, recent, or modern. If that kind of shit was coming down so close to me I'd want to just run and never look back, even with everything on the line. Always mad respect.

THanks for putting this up. Chamberlain was the MAN! I love this movie

"Gentlemen, we are the flank."

There's never been enough written about the bravery and courage of j c when you stand on the boulders at little round top you can almost hear him shout bayonets charge

2:50, my favorite part in the enitre movie, I love it when Sam's men overrun the union line, i cant believe that the union was positioned in front of that wall instead of behind it.

@AUG351 I never knew any of that about W. Barksdale. What a true patriot. Thanks for the information.

The benefit of a classical education Chamberlain used the strategies he learned from the Greeks

When asked why his attack on July 3 failed, George Pickett had this to say: "I think the Union army had something to do with it." Even AP Hill, the king of bravado flourish, admitted to Fremantle at the end of July 1 that the Yankees fought well. Davis was only a dictator to the three million enslaved people whom the government he headed kept in chains. Other than that he was a great guy.

If you wish to discuss an army on the verge of crumbling, then we can talk about the center of Lee's line at Antietam. It was broken by the spirited union assaults (especially those led by Richardson). It was so desperate that DH Hill led a small counter charge with rifle n hand, Longstreet minded his staff's horses so they could serve an artillery piece whose gunners were dead. EP Alexander wrote: "Lee's army was ruined and the end of the Confederacy was in sight." They were saved by McClellan.

The soundtrack is beautiful.

Maxwell Caulfield did a great job playing the excellent but ill fated Strong Vincent.

I love the movie and have studied the battle ghettysburgh battle .,what's always amazed me is the fact of the actors who portrayed the men how similar they all looked so much like the real men ..never been there maybe one day I'll get to visit .

Gettysburg, Franklin, Atlanta, March to the Sea, Nashville, Lookout Mountain, Siege of Petersburg, Five Forks, Sailor or Sayler's Creek, , and ultimately Appomattox. I will give you McCellean, Pope, McDowell, Burnside, Siclkes, Slocum, Howard. Offensive warfare is more costly then defensive war. It's been fun. Thanks for the debate!

yeah real nice to not let him die of thirst what a saint!

That line take some fine cheese spring and dust blowing.Mr.Lincoln promised he would not disturb slavery where it already existed-and pointed out that the decision for or against war lay with th south. The south fired on union troops in a union fortification. Lincoln was bound by his oath of office to enforce the laws equally throughout the union. He called for northern volunteers to do that.The Sesesh brought down the iron rain on their heads.

This is the BEST part of the movie, I LOVE THE 20th MAINE!!!!

Hold to the last, indeed!! The fight that saved the battle that saved the civil war that saved the Union!

It was close to an even match on Little Round top. There were about 3,000 Union troops and about 12,000 more to the rear in reserve that would have eventually been engaged if Chamberlain didn't halt the 4,000 Confederates that were attacking. The Confederates troops were in the open and exposed to constant sharpshooter fire from the 2nd regiment Sharpshooters. They were also exhausted from crossing nearly a mile of open ground. War is a terrible thing.

Stonewall was interesting, but narrow minded. I remember reading somewhere that he ordered pikes for his men, and in general wasn't an ideal leader. What he could do was move fast and decisively, something the Union leaders definitely lacked. So yes, the war would have been different. At Gettysburg, his successor Early declined to attack, including once when the battle could have been carried. I don't know how many men would have died, but you can bet Stonewall would have charged then and there.

Civil War reenactor here. Meanwhile, the regiment that I reenact, the 4th US Infantry [along with the rest of Sykes' Regulars], were buying the 20th ME the 20 minutes they needed to get to the top of LRT with their lives in a muddy piece of almost-swamp at the base of the Round Tops called Plum Run. Maj. Gen. Romeyn Ayres had command of the Regulars Division [2nd of 5th Corps] at Gettysburg and he was asked if any 'old regulars' have reunions like the volunteer regiments did in the years after the War. He is quoted as saying: "I had a division of Regulars during the War. I buried half of them at Gettysburg and half of them in the Wilderness. There are not any 'old regulars' any more."

Bring it on, ace!

i love that quote

First off, it's DONELSON! Second, approxiamately 4,000 troops escaped with then Lt. Col. Bedford. Third, the fall of Vicksburg, although significant, as it cut off the Mississippi River, was unimportant casualty wise. 32,000 troops were captured, but nearly all were paroled because the Union didn't have room for 32,000 soldiers in POW camps. These 32,000 later appeared in the Atlanta Campaign and were a pain in Sherman's buttocks.

Well I AM glad you guys do what you do. Don't get me wrong. Just try to remember that only the men who were there can even begin to comprehend it. Some of your fellow actors (not you) seem to forget that, Keep it up. It is a fascinating subject. (Hard to tell I come from a military family eh. Guys who were REALLY shot in combat and still carry the wounds.)

amazing

Please, gentlemen, gentlemen. Let us observe some decorum here.

In the early part of the war, the South did outfight the North. Jefferson Davis was without a doubt one of the reasons we lost the war. Jonathan Engel is correct in what he posted.The average Southern had no use for slavery it was only the large plantation owners and business men who wanted it to continue. Had the South abolished slavery Great Britain would have recognized us and there would be the U.S.A and the C.S.A. Today. God bless the South and Genl. Bobby Lee.

Ifyou notice, Tom doesn't have a sidearm, other than his sword, at the beginning of this clip. But during the battle, he has a revolver and a holster. Where did he get it?

As amazing as this is I can't help it:

thats intimidating ;-)

what battles did clay moseby fight in? from lonesome dove

"Hold to the last...to the last what? Excercise in rederick...last shell, last man, last foot of ground....last muttonchop, last walrus moustache"

I must say I agree with you. Unicorns are an integral part of our ecosystem.

@zacher456 The officer shown is Colonel Augustus Van Horn Ellis, commander of the 124th New York Volunteer Infantry, who was killed at Devil's Den.

Hard to believe that the same amount of Americans were killed and wounded in three days, and in the Vietnam war it took 10 years for that many KIA.

your correct in that. had mcclellan pressed the advantage, he could have trapped lee against the potomac

i find it unlikely that they would have been firing explosive shells. Most of the time it would have been round shells that bounce and can take out tons and tons of men. I know why they didn't depict that though, kind of hard to do and there are laws against firing real artillery.

that officer was in the 124th NY, in the triangular field by Devil's Den. Col Augustus van Horne Ellis, not in the Wheatfield. My family fought with the 110th PA (one died there, one lived) in the Rose Farm/Wheatfield area. While the Wheatfield is not far away, fighting in the Wheatfield is not even part of this movie.

I had a friend who was a Civil War buff from NJ and joined a local "regiment" in the state. He quit soon after. The reason: a lot of these buffoons (not you) acted as if this was a real unit with real ranks and, basically, acted is if the war was still going on. They seemed to blur the line between a hobby and reality. Many grew the long beards (which are the silliest of styles and quite filthy wore becasue shaving in the field was tough) and just seemed lost in the modern world.

Too bad we never got to see the charge of Colonel Paddy O'Rorke and the 140th New York in the movie.

The War of Northern Aggression.

are many of the lines. Words from "the killer angels"? Sounds familiar

Now we'll see how professors fight....

I'll look into them

@zacher456 He was in the 20Maine regiment,and noo he didnt go hellp at Pickets charge. He took part in Chamberlain's bayonet charge and got himselff some confederartes.He stayed their after the battle and then folowed his regiment..So he didnt go aid the 2nd corps.

this could have been a great movie... but, looks like a made for TV movie

hello Thomas Chamberlain

Chamberlain would have gotten in trouble in today's army for saying, "God go with you." Take God out of the picture and what's left?

@zacher456 Was he a confederate or union?And my great great great grandfather also was in the civil war,He was a union PVT he took place in the battle of little round top and i think he went off the picketts charge to help kill em off but im not sure,anyway e survived the war i never meet him but my dads grandfathers father did and he told him some great stuff and wrote a story that was never publishes but from what i heard he was vey intersting!

2:29 Here, we see Jaime Hyneman, filling in for Joshua Chamberlain, who was busy narrating at the time.

ur pretty funny

To each his own. It just seems pretty odd behavior to me. I am as much a lover of the Civil War as a subject as anyone--I even lectured on it college. But when I see these re-enactments, as much as I appreciate the sincere guy who wants to do it as an homage to those who were there, I just shake my head and know that they can never capture a real battle. A CW battlefield was a gruesome horrible and tragic arena filled with pain and suffering and the stench of death. Nothing like what you do.

GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GRANDPY CHAMBERLAIN!

See, I cannot stand when re-enactors get so into it they start talking about "our unit" and act as if whatever bond they have formed which is from a common HOBBY can in any way shape or form even be in the same universe as the bond of real soldiers forged by being in combat along side one another. I DO appreciate that you try to keep knowledge of the war alive. But be honest, you really do it because deep down you wish you were there. Well only a man who's never seen war can want to be in one.

I read an interesting piece recently about how the union did not win the war because the confederacy lost it. I don't want to get into a debate, but the South lost territory from 1862 onward. "The Union turned Washington D.C. into the most fortified city in the world, while the south couldn't get a flag together"

If anyone wants to see the quote in question, check out "Champce....(etc)" profile and his posted comments in question!

To be fair...every union unit got whipped at Fredricksburg. But the 20th ME whipped two AL regiments at Little round top. Yes they had the high ground but the unit held during a crucial time in the battle.

No, they didn't have to. If the south had stayed on the defensive, there would be no possible way that the Union could have won. The Confederate troops didn't take the war to the North to "make them feel it", they did it to gain the support of Great Britain and France, which never happened after the battle of Antietam and Gettysburg.

'You are the end of the line. Is that understood?' Understood. 'You will notice that there is nobody to your left. You are the extreme end of the entire union army. Is that understood?' Yes sir, understood. 'Josh...Can I call you Josh? I'm not crapping your britches here Josh, from this spot to the Atlantic Ocean, we've got nobody. NOBODY, Josh. Is that understood Josh?!?' Understood yes sir. 'No pressure buddy good luck.'

Exactly what I said... The North lost more, but they had alot more to lose, so they eventually won.

Can somebody tell me exactly what Chamberlains thoughts were at 2:23

The opening sequence is very unrealistic. They have cannon balls exploding 30 feet from the men and nobody is injured, they don't even flinch.

@KamakazeeFatty Good men Maine men. I'm honored to be a Native of the state of Maine.

You honestly think that the british would have landed troops on american soil, the main populace of britain was more in favor of the north anyway, remember that the brits never just gave away free munitions to the south, they traded with them on a limited basis and while a private shipyard built two warships for the south, and britain never depended on the south for cotton, grain which came from the north was more vital

"The rest escaped"? How many was that? You still can't deny the fall of Vicksburg, New Orleans or Shiloh. I will give you I don't know much about the ft. Henry and Donaldson battles. I do know it was a major Union victory. Shiloh the counterattack on the second day drove Beauregard from the field.

Furthermore the Union troops were out-numbered. West of town Heth and Pender had 4 brigades each, while three I Corps divisions only had 2 brigades each, 4:3 advantage. Rodes' and Earley's divisions to the north had 5 and 4 brigades while XI Coprs fielded three divisions of 2 brigades each out in the open. And with Von Steinwehr brigade in reserve the rebs had a 9:4 advantage. I Corps lost 5600 that day, XI Corps 3000. The rebs lost 6,300 as they outnumbers and outflanked their opponents.

Vincent saved the Union!!!!!

good luck professor Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain 🍀☘️🍀☘️☘️🍀🍀

Did you take a class that explained why it was "stupid" for the troops of Fredericksburg to march exposed into a wall of rifles and artillery, but somehow was brave" and a sign of "outfighting" when troops march exposed into a wall of rifles and artillery at Malvern Hill and then (even after seeing the "stupidity" of Fredericksburg) march exposed into a wall of rifles and artillery on Cemetery Ridge? I'm curious how that discussion about biased double-standard disguised as history turned out.

Not to belabor the point but you may be suffering from the same conceit that was Lee's own undoing in Pennsylvania (and almost Maryland the previous summer.) He confused facing poor union generals with facing inferior union troops. He seemed blinded by: a) the horrific casualties the yankees inflicted on his own men--even at Chancellorsville which was a bloodbath for him; b) his men were fighting on their own soil which often added some desperation confused for 'bravery.'

Not at all in a few months! Manpower and supplies only majorly affected the South after Gettysburg. But if they had the men and supplies the North had, it wouldn't have been such a crushing defeat, and they would have kept beating the North until they came to terms or Europe intervened or the North surrendered.

hello Govnor Warren

Furthermore though the confederate did win battles,they had neither supplies nor manpower the north could produce, general grant especially took advantage of this and threw soldiers at the confederates at most if not all battles with grant in charge

This from an Australian, -me. Bloody Armchair Experts. (AE) Usually, the Éxpert' has little, if any military service, if so, it's short, and frequently, less than the best service by that individual.but, by Christ, they know all the facts. The best AE's march with Real Vets, the AE's wearing their AWARDED Service Medals, but frequently with added falsely awarded medals and insignia. That shits me. Unlike the USA, Australia is too lenient to those that do this. Really shits me. ,

Wanna know why they won their fantastic and amazing facial hair.

Bursides' troops at Fredericksburg had no more say in whether or not they could opt out of their suicidal charge than did Lee's men at Gettysburg on July 3. In both cases the order was indeed stupid, but the execution was heroism defined.

What movie is this?

First off, it's Donelson, so that proves to me right there you know little on the subject. Second, at Ft. Donelson, he captured 15,000 soldier (the rest escaped). That hardly constitutes an army. The Battle of Shiloh - The Union had no picket lines out and was utterly surprised by the Confederate's attack. The Confederacy had far more casualties than the Union.