5:13 Just to clarify, Andre Braugher's character of Thomas was not a former house slave (or the more rude word for it) but a free Black man in Boston with a university education, working for Shaw's father in an administrative capacity. Based on how his character is portrayed, he was likely born of free parents as well. I believe slavery would have been completely illegal in New England at this point in history.
It generally was though there some exceptions for slaves before the laws against it came into effect. Many northern states instituted gradual emancipation instead of immediate emancipation. I would recommend watching Atun-Shei Films’ videos where they point out how many slaves were still in the north when the Civil war started.
Burying Colonel Shaw with his black regiment was done as an insult to him. When his Father found out how he was buried, he said that his son wouldn't have had it any other way
The linear battle tactics of the beginning of the war were left over from the1700's and the Napoleonic Wars. Smooth bore muskets could not reliably hit a man-size target at more than 50 yards, so the solution was to pack as many soldiers together and fire into the mass of opposing forces, rather than at individual soldiers. However, the introduction of Claude Minnie's new bullet design (the "minie ball") and the replacement of the flintlock firing mechanism with the fulminated mercury percussion cap mechanism allowed the mass use of rifled muskets to replace smoothbore muskets, which pushed the accuracy of fire out to 500+ yards. But battlefield tactics did not catch up until after several years of slaughter with commanders still approaching to 100 yards before firing. Photographs from 1865 look like the trenches of WW1, and it was the Europeans who didn't learn from the ACW.
The opening battle scene was the Battle of Antietam. It was, and remains to this day, the deadliest day in American history. Combined casultieis were almost 4000 dead and 16,000 wounded.
Col. Shaw was 25 when he died. And Matthew Broderick looked like him. And I think he was 25 when he acted in the film. And the confederate congress are the ones that did that declaration of slaves joining the union army. It was in response of the union army putting together black regiments.
Such a powerful movie. I was hesitant at first when I first saw Matthew Broderick was gonna play the lead. But he really did great job. The whole cast was superb. And as Nick said you can’t go wrong with Edward Zwick
In the Civil War deserters were usually executed via firing squad or hanging. Lesser punishments included hard labor, flogging up to 40 lashes, or branding. These are the punishments that even the white soldiers were held to, I see people try to make that scene into a big white vs black moment but in all honesty the flogging would have been done even if he was white and it's not the worst thing that could have happened. Thanks for being the first people to watch this and not jump to the conclusion that he was flogged just for being a former slave.
For the ultimate ACW movie, watch the true story movie "Gettysburg" (1993) with an all-star ensemble cast. Based on the book "The Killer Angels" by historian Michael Shaara. July 1st-3rd, 2024 is the 161st anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg (1863). July 1st is also the anniversary of the Battle of San Juan Heights (1898), a good occasion to watch the true story movie "Rough Riders" (1997), also with an excellent all-star cast.
I was among the thousand(+) reenactors who volunteered as extras for Gettysburg. The film was shot right near the actual battleground, and we camped as a proper ACW encampment---canvas tents, fire pits--very much a big reenactment for us all that summer. We supplied practically everything from our rifle muskets to artillery and cavalry/officer mounts. At any given point, they were able to get footage of us just doing what we do well, and it was all unrehearsed.
There does not seem to be a definitive answer to how many soldiers were in the 54th Massachusetts specifically, but the standard strength for an Infantry Regiment coming out of training at full strength would have been around 1000 men. And yes...very correct...that bronze relief is part of the memorial to Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts on the Boston Common. 💯
The closest the historical record can get us. Is that The regiment leaving Boston at approximately 600 and some souls. In addition, it's interesting to note that the 54th Massachusetts regiment was the only Regiment of the attack on Fort Wagner that were able to scale the parapets and actually enter the fort let alone forwarding inside of the structure, especially on the sea facing port side of the fort. None of the other six reinforcing brigades were able to replicate the rupture or further the incision into the fort, but showcased how Elite the 54th operated with regard to Mission. A bittersweet solemn note
@@haloboy456 That is great information...thanks for commenting...I did not know that about the 54th being the only Regiment to breach the Fort's walls, and it is good to have more accurate numbers.
@@iKvetch558 Yeah for sure. I think it's buried information inside of like one of the bonus DVDs or another documentary that's saying definitely can be verified on the wonderful world of the internet. But yeah bonus DVDs you can tell they really dug for primary resources, many of which were quoted in commentary voiceover
That final scene is so sad. Pretty much a suicide mission. I have a friend who does table top combat simulations and they ran this scenario of taking the fort 4 times with different and more modern troops (the final scenario with Gundams!) and all things being equal the fort does not fall. Great reaction to a great movie!
I'm so glad to see so many TH-cam reaction videos on this excellent and important film. The actual monument is on the north side of the Boston Common Park in Boston, Massachusetts.
I had suggested GLORY to a dozen or so reaction channels for over a year before it picked up traction. I'd like to think I had a tiny part of getting the ball rolling.
3:54 The problem they had was that they didn't feel like they could be sure which way the guns would be pointed. Racism was rife on both sides and a lot people in the North had every reason to fear what would happen if black people got their hands on guns and training. "We can't have them do unto us, what we've done to them", as it were.
@@heavycritic9554 Nope. If you are bigoted based on race you are the same as anyone who hates people. Evil, and that is what the Christian movement trying to end slavery referred to them as.
@@jcarlovitch Words evolve or are invented to provide a means to discuss and examine concepts. There is no word for a concept until it is a common enough condition to merit discussion. Even when it is becoming common, the word for the concept tends to lag behind the concept it is developed to identify. Antebellum slavers and Victorians were already working with a term coined in 1883: eugenics. Just because the term 'racism' wasn't developed until later does not mean there weren't attempts to come up with a term for a recognized condition. 'Eugenics' was just not a detailed enough term to properly describe the concept. Oh, and nearly concurrent with 'eugenics' was 'xenophobia', coined in about 1880. Seems like reactions to people 'different from [white] us' was a growing concern during that time; same period that Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, though preceded by the Chinese Immigration Act in 1855. Note that Congress passed separately the Immigration Act of 1882, used to block entry by the Irish.
When I was a little girl in 1970 Morgan Freeman was on an educational kids show called Electric Company He wore purple and red and had an afro. He helped me learn to read ☮️💓☮️
Great movie. I wouldn’t say it’s a Denzel movie, just a movie that happens to have him in it. A Denzel movie to me would be Malcom X or Training Day and The Equalizer. A really fun movie with Matthew Broderick is Biloxi Blues. Adapted from a Neil Simon play. Very good and also has Christopher Walken.
The word you were searching for is 'frieze'. The artwork behind the credits is a bronze frieze dedicated to Shaw and the 54th. There is an episode of "Who Do You Think You Are" that centered on Matthew Broderick in which he learned he had a great-great-grandfather who was a private in the Civil War and fought at Gettysburg before perishing during fighting near Atlanta, GA.
Fort Wagner could only be attacked from a single direction--along the beach. The ocean, tidal inlets, and salt marshes blocked an assault from any other direction. That is why Wagner was so inaccessible and was never taken. The assault was worth a try, if for no other reason than to determine just how strong were the fortifications and the troops in the garrison, to either permit or to prohibit further attacks to eliminate it. If the assault was to be done, there was simply no other way than a frontal assault, with troops on-line, down a single avenue of attack.
Wonderful movie and wonderful reaction as always. Everyone please subscribe and press that thumbs up! Amputations: based on the huge caliber of the rifles they used .50 caliber or larger, if you got hit in the arm or leg with a bullet and it hit the bone, there was no more bone in that part of the limb and amputation was the only way to save the poor soldier's life. In 1866 in the state of Mississippi spent 1/5th of its budget on artificial limbs. High casualties: Casualties for each side were also quite high in this war and this is mostly due to the invention of the rifled musket. The musket (the invention before) fired a round bullet out of a smooth-bore gun. The rifled musket bullets were more aerodynamic and also spun upon leaving the barrel (like a spiral pass a quarterback would throw). These combined to make the effective range of a rifled musket 500+ yards, where the effective range of a musket was 100 yards. To us modern people this seems like a "well duh" moment but technology changing a war wasn't something that happened very often up until the Civil War. So most of the Generals studied the last major battles (Napoleon) and their tactics matched. Even in WW1, many Europeans had not studied the Civil war or other more modern weapons and still used Napoleonic tactics (but this time against machine guns, long range artillery, mortars, gas, barbed wire, etc. with disastrous results. Uniforms: Blue was the standard color for northern uniforms during the war, but at the beginning of the wars the uniforms weren't quite so uniform. There were northern regiments that wore gray and confederate regiments that wore blue. There were also Zouaves on both sides of the fighting, based on the Zouaves of the French Foreign Legion that wore (most commonly) a blue jacket lined with red and red (or sometimes white) pants.
You two do great commentary and I liked your reaction for this film. I live a short walk from where that last battle took place... sometimes it feels as if not a lot has changed re people's mindsets and attitudes.
I went to fort Wagner. My parents live at the beach in NC and Charleston SC isn’t that far. The fort is all under water now. There a little memorial and museum there ❤
The fort isn't under water. It's a common misconception. What has happened is that wind and rain have weathered the fort's walls so that they are barely visible. You can see the outline of the fort on Google Maps.
Not sure if you like games but there is a version of the 54th relief / memorial, shown at the of glory in the last of us, it can be seen in front of the Capitol building which is set in Boston.. great movie
The first thing a person feels about a loved one's recruitment in the early days of a fresh new war is optimism and pride. They have not seen casualties yet. They have not yet received the 'regret to inform you' telegrams/notices yet. All they see is proud, confident young men dressed in clean, pressed uniforms and carrying gleaming weaponry marching in peppy, crisp formations. It's all very pretty at first. And, especially if there's been a generation of peace or the war is hundreds of miles or more out of sight, they have no clue about the impact of war on soldiers. The folks at home expect a quick victory, a short war; this was the belief when the Civil War began, that in a few months it would all be over. The population of the US in 1860 was about 31 million. Casualties during the Civil War (killed/wounded/captured/missing) was 1.5 million; that's one in a group of about 30. But this is not top of mind when the last war (War of 1812) happened in your grandfather's or great-grandfather's day. Both sides of the Civil War drew from proud heritage of fighting the British during the War of 1812 and the War of Independence for our nation's existence, and both sides wanted a piece of that celebrated glory. The reason veterans come back not wanting to speak of their experience is that the expectations are traumatically out of step with the realities of war. But you don't recruit using informed consent.
Two recommended reads regarding this subject/movie: Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and Where Death and Glory Meet: Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry
A platoon of men is 25 to 50 men. 4 platoons make a company. 4 company's make a battalion and 4 battalions make a regiment. You could fill up a decent stadium with that many men.
Just watching this and it got me thinking. Do you in Canada have a war movie about the "War of 1812" that is famous in Canada and how is that remembered or honoured generally over there?
If you want to see another Civil War movie, I recommend “Shenandoah” which is a 1965 American film set during the American Civil War starring James Stewart and featuring Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, Patrick Wayne, and, in their film debuts, Katharine Ross and Rosemary Forsyth. The film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
@lucy-texasgal9435. There is a reactor that goes by Irish Guy Reacts that watched & tried to post his reaction to the movie "Shenandoah" a movie I love 4 different times. Even though he had the movie heavily blurred & with his name super imposed over the movie NBC/Universal blocked it every time for copyright infringement. Check out his channel. He reacts to movies no one else does. Sunday is Silent Sunday when he reacts to the old silent movies. Wednesday is for westerns many of them overlooked forgotten gems of which his favorite one so far is The Ox-Bow Incident. That channel is a treasure trove of forgotten movies that no one else has reacted to
James Horner wrote the incredible music for this film, but he also wrote the music for Field of Dreams, which also came out in 1989. But even though he absolutely should have won an Oscar for BOTH musical scores...screw the rules, he deserved to win for both...he received no Oscar that year at all...instead the stinking Academy gave it to the score for an effing Disney cartoon!! 2nd biggest ROBBERY in Academy Awards history...IMHO...after Saving Private Ryan losing to that stupid Shakespeare movie!
I'm no expert on military warfare, but it always seemed odd to me how both the Union and Confederates engaged each other in the Civil War. It seemed to be basically, form a straight line, march forward, and see who was more successful in picking the opposition off. I know that the cavalry employed more tactics. Say what you want about Bedford Forrest, but he was a genius in the art of warfare This strategy of just marching forward into gunfire was in sharp contrast to how the revolutionaries fought the British not even 100 years earlier. They employed a more guerilla warfare style of fighting, partly because they had to, but also because it was smarter
Basically, they fought in the Napoleonic style. Ranks of musketeers; front line kneels and shoots, second rank stands and shoots, any ranks behind load their muskets; after that they switch. Then they advance to ultimately end up in melee range to save ammo. The officers were trained by conservative teachers - both sides often taught by exactly the same teachers. "It worked for Napoleon", so to speak. Part of it was also that it was seen as brave and honourable; all officers were "Gentlemen".
There was indeed a disconnect between the Napoleonic tactics that were still used in the large battles, and the new tech that was becoming available...but there was a wide range of tactics used over the course of the war. It was largely the same as in the Revolutionary War, and there were many guerilla units on both sides of the Civil War, with the more conservative Napoleonic paradigm being used sparingly. The reason we think more about guerilla warfare in the Revolution is because we LOST most of the major battles using similar tactics to the Napoleonic ones of the Civil War...so we tend to de-emphasize those battles in the teaching of the Revolutionary War. But there were also a lot of new tactics being used in the Civil War, especially sieges and trench warfare...both of them heavily influenced by things that had been done in the Crimean War in the 1850s...not to mention the way the railroads and steam power influenced how armies were moved and supplied.
It depended on the battlefield, natrual terrain like rivers, hills, and mountains made maneuvering hard , that and its hard for regiments to communicate if too far apart so thats another reason they tended to keep the men in lines and together because without radios how do you communicate? So you need to keep men together (the movie gettysburg 1993 shows how hard it was for generals to communicate and how it could get mixed up with runners going back and forth) and finally finish up you had old tactics mixing in with new technology, rifled barreled guns that could shoot straighter and further mixed with a new bullet that did more damage caused many to die. P.S. Another reason for these tactics is unlike the revolution or war of 1812 the battles their had no more 10k men fighting at a time wheres as the civil war major battle had 30k-80k men fighting with Calvary numbering thousands with hundreds of cannons so this tended to lead to stalemate formation and tactics to keep armies together
The doctor sewing him up after Antietam was Neelix from ST Voyager. You should really watch Gettysburg from 1993. All star cast. Best war film ever made. Well, at least tied with Waterloo. But seriously, 20000 reenctors and no CGGI
@@Flix2Us I would also recommend the 9 part documentary "The Civil War" by Ken Burns. Its a great general/overall view of the American Civil War from Beginning to End.
It's funny how the movie makes people invedted in the outcome of the Battle of Fort Wagner. It was all a long time ago, and regardless of the actual outcome, nothing would be different today.
The next morning and the Confederate flag is raised at Fort Wagner. As a viewer you now know that all hope was in vain. The Confederates remained in possession of the fort. War means sacrifice, that is clear and "normal", but the victory of a cause that was and is fundamentally criminal (slave ownership, etc.), Having to experience it makes me incredibly angry. Something like that shouldn't win. One consolation is knowing that other Northern soldiers could see that the dark-skinned soldiers were no less valuable than themselves. An excellent film with exceptional actors.
I'm from Missouri, which fought for both sides during the Civil War, and my patience with modern southern sympathizers is low. It's over. You lost. If it happened again, you would lose again. Get over it. One thing about this movie which continues to puzzle me, though: why did they start the assault on Fort Henry by running part of the way there, then spending the rest of the day and all that night out in the open, before closing to the assault? Was the run so long that the 54th would have been exhausted upon reaching the fort if they made the entire distance in one run?
A brigade of uncredited re-enactors -- not "extras" -- filmed from afar during some re-enactment event. You mentioned the "social" distinction between house servants, field hands, and even freedmen; be aware too of the immigrants (such as the Irish drill sergeant) who joined the Union Army being only on the next rung up from the freedmen. White soldiers who deserted were drummed out of the service, were sentenced to prison and/or hard labor, or even shot by a firing squad, depending on the degree of their violation (such as near the time of a battle, etc.). Bob Gunton, who plays the "raiding" General, has gotten several lousy roles;, such as this one as well as the crooked warden in "Shawshank Redemption."
I’d appreciate it if you can watch anything else involving Edward Burns (one of the soldiers in Saving Pvt. Ryan) My top 3 suggestions: CONFIDENCE SHE'S THE ONE SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK
13:08 while a powerful scene flogging at this point was no longer an army punishment and when it was done it was done equally to everyone. After the final battle general Strong (the man who explained the plan before the battle) was distressed and saddened by the losses his regiments suffered he volunteered to lead the next assaults himself which lead to him being mortality wounded and later dying And when asked by reporters if they would rebury Robert’s body, Shaws father said "We would not have his body removed from where it lies, surrounded by his brave and devoted soldiers. We can imagine no holier place than that in which he lies, among his brave and devoted followers, nor wish for him better company. By god what a bodyguard he has!“ I gotta say im surprised your the only reactors that caught on in the ending credits that is the statue/memorial of the 54th which is yes located in boston in front of the state house (the capital building for the state of Massachusetts) Edited P.S the letters being read throughout the movie are the actual letters written by Robert his mother kept them. So those words are the real thoughts and feelings of the man
There was more to the war than slavery alone..13th Amendment became the driving force for the North to fight the war later once the emancipation proclamation was passed and 1864 election. The south went to war over differences in economic and agricultural reason which relied heavily on slavery unfortunately. The war was complex but most today are taught nothing but the ideals of ending slavery. I'm glad that was part of it but not most of the reasons. BTW watch it calling someone a redneck..that's racist also. Like me call you a cannuck
As a lifelong student of history, Primarily American history, I can offer this to the comment section. The American Civil War was fought over more than just slavery but it was a major catalyst of it. Civil War was actually being talked about even while the American Revolution was still going on, because the States or at the time, Colonies in the south were governed much differently than those in the north. When it comes to the Solders involved in the Civil War, most southerners could couldn't care less one way or another about slaves. Most southerners couldn't even afford to feed their families let alone taking care of slaves. Only the wealthy owned Slaves. Most Confederate Soldiers were fighting because they were protecting their homes and families from what many perceived as an invading army. There were also roughly between 3000 to 10.000 black soldiers who fought for the Confederacy. The total number has been lost to history. Many of them were willing to do so because, as with white solders, their homes were under attack also. So, they deemed it necessary to fight. Many Soldiers in the north also didn't have an opinion about slavery one way or another. Most of them were fighting for the Union to keep the country together. One fact about the Civil War that many people probably won't know is that several foreign countries had sent advisors to observe both armies with the possibilities of allying themselves with them. If you watch the movie "Gettysburg" (Which I highly recommend) the famous battle in Pennsylvania, one of the characters was a British Lieutenant Colonel who was ordered by the King of England at the time to follow the Confederate Military and report back. He was trying to determine whether or not England should ally themselves with the Confederacy. There was a high possibility that England would've done just that had it not been for one thing... Slavery. Since England had already abolished slavery it would've been quite hypocritical to ally themselves with a country that still supported it. Another thing that many people might not know about the Civil War is the oddly enough, the Confederacy actually dominated the Union throughout most of the war. While there were a few minor victories by the Union, the Confederacy was winning so many battles because they, for the lack of a better term, had "Home Field Advantage." When Union troops marched into southern states they were pretty much in unfamiliar territory. And so, the Confederacy had won many major battles. Had it not been for two major Union victories, those being The Siege of Vicksburg (Mississippi) and the Battle of Gettysburg, the Confederacy may have indeed won the Civil War. In fact, the Battle of Gettysburg featured an event known as the "High watermark of the Confederacy." That refers to the incident where Confederate forces were so close to overrunning Union lines before being forced to retreat. Had they breached the lines at Gettysburg, they may have won the Civil War within a years time. Lastly, another thing that many people may not know about the Civil War... After the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, it still took weeks for the news of surrender to reach soldiers in other theaters of the war. The last official battle of the Civil War which was in Texas actually resulted in a Confederate victory. Anyway, good reaction to the movie.
As a fellow lifelong student of history (with an actual history degree from a highly respected university), I commend you on your eloquence in propagating the Lost Cause apologist mythology. Unfortunately your claims are made without any pertinent citations or documentation and thus come across mostly as opinion asserted as fact. I think you got some things correct, such as your claims about the racial attitudes of both southern and northern white soldiers. However your claim that "There were also roughly between 3000 to 10.000 black soldiers who fought for the Confederacy. The total number has been lost to history." contradicts the historical lack of evidence and logic. If you claim that "the total number has been lost to history", how do you know that the number is between 3000 to 10,000 "soldiers"? Where are you getting these numbers? Can you cite any sources? If you could provide this evidence, you would be doing the field of Civil War scholarship a great service, as one of the foremost American Civil War PhD historians explains in this video: th-cam.com/video/fYFIWlGJhjM/w-d-xo.html In addition, Confederate Genaral Howell Cobb reinforces why Black soldiers would have been anathema to the Confederate cause. jubiloemancipationcentury.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/if-slaves-will-make-good-soldiers-our-whole-theory-of-slavery-is-wrong-confederate-howell-cobb-on-black-enlistment/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIf%20slaves%20will%20make%20good,The%20Emancipation%20Century Also you assert that, "Many of them were willing to do so because, as with white solders, their homes were under attack also. So, they deemed it necessary to fight" without any evidence. Do you have any documented proof of the motivations of these "black soldiers who fought for the Confederacy" or is this just supposition and opinion? Or is this maybe just 160 year old mind reading to reinforce a preconceived narrative? I also have to point out that your depiction of "a British Lieutenant Colonel who was ordered by the King of England at the time to follow the Confederate Military and report back" isn't accurate. The British man referred to was named General Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle. However his trip to America was not ordered by the King because at the time Queen Victoria was the sovereign ruler. In fact, her husband Prince Albert died at the end of 1861, a year and a half before Fremantle's trip and she never remarried. Fremantle was not in America in any official capacity. He was essentially a "war tourist." He only became famous after the war because of the book he wrote. Sometimes movies aren't historically accurate. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Lyon_Fremantle I'll make one final point for now as this response has quickly gotten very lengthy. You claim "Another thing that many people might not know about the Civil War is the oddly enough, the Confederacy actually dominated the Union throughout most of the war." This claim is just bizarre and counter to all historians barring the Lost Cause mythologists. The Confederate generals in the east were very successful at using the terrain features of Virginia (especially the west-east flowing rivers) to fight a defensive war. However, this completely ignores the almost immediate success of the Union armies in the western theater, where the rivers generally flow north-south. New Orleans and Nashville were taken very quickly and occupied for the duration of the war. The Confederates considered themselves the natural descendants of the Revolutionary generation and thought they could win their independence from the union by fighting a defensive war and exhausting the northerners until they got tired of the war, sued for peace and allowed the South to create their own country, just as Gen Washington had done during the Revolutionary War. The two times that the eastern Confederate army launched offensive operations into Maryland and Pennsylvania they were defeated at the first major battle. The tactics, logistics and weaponry of the time tended to significantly advantage the army fighting a defensive battle on home turf. Washington was never seriously threatened and the confederacy had no strategy to conquer and occupy the North. The Confederate incursion into Kentucky lasted a bit longer and succeeded in winning a few small battles but shortly retreated back into Tennessee. Except for far western Missouri, the Confederacy never really held Union territory for a significant amount of time. Heck, the Confederacy couldn't even hold their own territory together. Western Virginia successfully seceded and eastern Tennessee (among many other locales) were in rebellion against the rebels. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Unionist
I believe Britain's interest in the Confederacy was economic in nature. Britain was dependent on the South's production of affordable cotton. The Civil War had a huge impact on the stability of US cotton sources. Eventually, Britain had to turn to India to source this commodity. For your consideration: www.english.uga.edu/sites/default/files/2009-2010_Barnett_Mays_John.pdf And, speaking as a Southerner, just how good was 'home field advantage' when there was very little in the way of excursions into the Northern states? The War was fought on the same continent, on the same coast, on both sides of the same mountain range. If the Confederacy had military superiority, why was so much fought in the South? No offence meant, just asking about the obvious evidence.
Did you guys realize today is the anniversary of the Confederate surrender???? Did you release this for this reason or is it a huge coincidence??? Pretty cool if coincidence.
Bet if Denzel "run for President" now, he might do pretty well in that race. If he won, I'm sure he'd do a better job than any of the current candidates.
Great pick! One of the movies that put him on the map. Definitely add Malcolm X to the list. IMO it's Denzel's best performance and my favorite Spike Lee movie.
27:17 I remember watching this in, I think, 1990 (I watched it on VHS). This "Give 'em hell, 54th!" still brings tears to my eyes.
5:13 Just to clarify, Andre Braugher's character of Thomas was not a former house slave (or the more rude word for it) but a free Black man in Boston with a university education, working for Shaw's father in an administrative capacity. Based on how his character is portrayed, he was likely born of free parents as well. I believe slavery would have been completely illegal in New England at this point in history.
It generally was though there some exceptions for slaves before the laws against it came into effect. Many northern states instituted gradual emancipation instead of immediate emancipation. I would recommend watching Atun-Shei Films’ videos where they point out how many slaves were still in the north when the Civil war started.
Burying Colonel Shaw with his black regiment was done as an insult to him. When his Father found out how he was buried, he said that his son wouldn't have had it any other way
The linear battle tactics of the beginning of the war were left over from the1700's and the Napoleonic Wars. Smooth bore muskets could not reliably hit a man-size target at more than 50 yards, so the solution was to pack as many soldiers together and fire into the mass of opposing forces, rather than at individual soldiers. However, the introduction of Claude Minnie's new bullet design (the "minie ball") and the replacement of the flintlock firing mechanism with the fulminated mercury percussion cap mechanism allowed the mass use of rifled muskets to replace smoothbore muskets, which pushed the accuracy of fire out to 500+ yards. But battlefield tactics did not catch up until after several years of slaughter with commanders still approaching to 100 yards before firing. Photographs from 1865 look like the trenches of WW1, and it was the Europeans who didn't learn from the ACW.
Well said,
Denzel earned EVERY BIT of that Best Supporting Actor Oscar!
And Andre goes toe-to-toe with him in every scene. In his first film role ever
@@dpw140Absolutely!!
The opening battle scene was the Battle of Antietam. It was, and remains to this day, the deadliest day in American history. Combined casultieis were almost 4000 dead and 16,000 wounded.
Col. Shaw was 25 when he died. And Matthew Broderick looked like him. And I think he was 25 when he acted in the film. And the confederate congress are the ones that did that declaration of slaves joining the union army. It was in response of the union army putting together black regiments.
There was a story that the one tear that Denzel shed when he was being flogged,won him the Oscar! lol
Yes!!! Hit the "Like" button before even watching. This is gonna be epic.
Such a powerful movie. I was hesitant at first when I first saw Matthew Broderick was gonna play the lead. But he really did great job. The whole cast was superb. And as Nick said you can’t go wrong with Edward Zwick
Matthew was fantastic ‼️
In the Civil War deserters were usually executed via firing squad or hanging. Lesser punishments included hard labor, flogging up to 40 lashes, or branding. These are the punishments that even the white soldiers were held to, I see people try to make that scene into a big white vs black moment but in all honesty the flogging would have been done even if he was white and it's not the worst thing that could have happened. Thanks for being the first people to watch this and not jump to the conclusion that he was flogged just for being a former slave.
For the ultimate ACW movie, watch the true story movie "Gettysburg" (1993) with an all-star ensemble cast. Based on the book "The Killer Angels" by historian Michael Shaara. July 1st-3rd, 2024 is the 161st anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg (1863).
July 1st is also the anniversary of the Battle of San Juan Heights (1898), a good occasion to watch the true story movie "Rough Riders" (1997), also with an excellent all-star cast.
I was among the thousand(+) reenactors who volunteered as extras for Gettysburg. The film was shot right near the actual battleground, and we camped as a proper ACW encampment---canvas tents, fire pits--very much a big reenactment for us all that summer. We supplied practically everything from our rifle muskets to artillery and cavalry/officer mounts. At any given point, they were able to get footage of us just doing what we do well, and it was all unrehearsed.
If you google Robert Gould Shaw you'll see the resemblance with Matthew Broderick.
Courage under fire is another great Denzel movie with Meg Ryan and directed by Edward Zwick
There does not seem to be a definitive answer to how many soldiers were in the 54th Massachusetts specifically, but the standard strength for an Infantry Regiment coming out of training at full strength would have been around 1000 men.
And yes...very correct...that bronze relief is part of the memorial to Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts on the Boston Common. 💯
The closest the historical record can get us. Is that The regiment leaving Boston at approximately 600 and some souls. In addition, it's interesting to note that the 54th Massachusetts regiment was the only Regiment of the attack on Fort Wagner that were able to scale the parapets and actually enter the fort let alone forwarding inside of the structure, especially on the sea facing port side of the fort. None of the other six reinforcing brigades were able to replicate the rupture or further the incision into the fort, but showcased how Elite the 54th operated with regard to Mission. A bittersweet solemn note
@@haloboy456 That is great information...thanks for commenting...I did not know that about the 54th being the only Regiment to breach the Fort's walls, and it is good to have more accurate numbers.
@@iKvetch558 Yeah for sure. I think it's buried information inside of like one of the bonus DVDs or another documentary that's saying definitely can be verified on the wonderful world of the internet. But yeah bonus DVDs you can tell they really dug for primary resources, many of which were quoted in commentary voiceover
That final scene is so sad. Pretty much a suicide mission. I have a friend who does table top combat simulations and they ran this scenario of taking the fort 4 times with different and more modern troops (the final scenario with Gundams!) and all things being equal the fort does not fall. Great reaction to a great movie!
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Give 'em hell 54th......gets me every time.
Freeman shaking the men into a firing line during the assault gets me. He didn't want the job but he was very good at it.
I'm so glad to see so many TH-cam reaction videos on this excellent and important film. The actual monument is on the north side of the Boston Common Park in Boston, Massachusetts.
I had suggested GLORY to a dozen or so reaction channels for over a year before it picked up traction. I'd like to think I had a tiny part of getting the ball rolling.
3:54 The problem they had was that they didn't feel like they could be sure which way the guns would be pointed. Racism was rife on both sides and a lot people in the North had every reason to fear what would happen if black people got their hands on guns and training.
"We can't have them do unto us, what we've done to them", as it were.
The word racism didn't exist in the 1800's. It wasn't invented until 1910.
@@jcarlovitch And that means bigotry based on race didn't exist?
Or what's your point?
@@heavycritic9554 Nope. If you are bigoted based on race you are the same as anyone who hates people. Evil, and that is what the Christian movement trying to end slavery referred to them as.
@@jcarlovitch Words evolve or are invented to provide a means to discuss and examine concepts. There is no word for a concept until it is a common enough condition to merit discussion. Even when it is becoming common, the word for the concept tends to lag behind the concept it is developed to identify.
Antebellum slavers and Victorians were already working with a term coined in 1883: eugenics. Just because the term 'racism' wasn't developed until later does not mean there weren't attempts to come up with a term for a recognized condition. 'Eugenics' was just not a detailed enough term to properly describe the concept.
Oh, and nearly concurrent with 'eugenics' was 'xenophobia', coined in about 1880. Seems like reactions to people 'different from [white] us' was a growing concern during that time; same period that Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, though preceded by the Chinese Immigration Act in 1855. Note that Congress passed separately the Immigration Act of 1882, used to block entry by the Irish.
@@chris...9497 Exactly, and well said.
Great movie 😢
If you haven’t watched it yet, The Last of the Mohicans is a great movie as well!
Why do none of these reaction channels remember that Thomas had just been shot two days earlier, and that is the reason why he almost passed out.
Word
When I was a little girl in 1970 Morgan Freeman was on an educational kids show called Electric Company He wore purple and red and had an afro. He helped me learn to read ☮️💓☮️
One of the best movies ever.
Denzel Washington won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Glory.
The monument seen over the credits is located on Boston Common, a large public park in Boston.
Great movie. I wouldn’t say it’s a Denzel movie, just a movie that happens to have him in it. A Denzel movie to me would be Malcom X or Training Day and The Equalizer. A really fun movie with Matthew Broderick is Biloxi Blues. Adapted from a Neil Simon play. Very good and also has Christopher Walken.
One of my favorite James Horner scores! 🙂
The word you were searching for is 'frieze'.
The artwork behind the credits is a bronze frieze dedicated to Shaw and the 54th.
There is an episode of "Who Do You Think You Are" that centered on Matthew Broderick in which he learned he had a great-great-grandfather who was a private in the Civil War and fought at Gettysburg before perishing during fighting near Atlanta, GA.
Edward zwick is an amazing director
Fort Wagner could only be attacked from a single direction--along the beach. The ocean, tidal inlets, and salt marshes blocked an assault from any other direction. That is why Wagner was so inaccessible and was never taken. The assault was worth a try, if for no other reason than to determine just how strong were the fortifications and the troops in the garrison, to either permit or to prohibit further attacks to eliminate it. If the assault was to be done, there was simply no other way than a frontal assault, with troops on-line, down a single avenue of attack.
Wonderful movie and wonderful reaction as always. Everyone please subscribe and press that thumbs up!
Amputations: based on the huge caliber of the rifles they used .50 caliber or larger, if you got hit in the arm or leg with a bullet and it hit the bone, there was no more bone in that part of the limb and amputation was the only way to save the poor soldier's life. In 1866 in the state of Mississippi spent 1/5th of its budget on artificial limbs.
High casualties: Casualties for each side were also quite high in this war and this is mostly due to the invention of the rifled musket. The musket (the invention before) fired a round bullet out of a smooth-bore gun. The rifled musket bullets were more aerodynamic and also spun upon leaving the barrel (like a spiral pass a quarterback would throw). These combined to make the effective range of a rifled musket 500+ yards, where the effective range of a musket was 100 yards.
To us modern people this seems like a "well duh" moment but technology changing a war wasn't something that happened very often up until the Civil War.
So most of the Generals studied the last major battles (Napoleon) and their tactics matched. Even in WW1, many Europeans had not studied the Civil war or other more modern weapons and still used Napoleonic tactics (but this time against machine guns, long range artillery, mortars, gas, barbed wire, etc. with disastrous results.
Uniforms: Blue was the standard color for northern uniforms during the war, but at the beginning of the wars the uniforms weren't quite so uniform. There were northern regiments that wore gray and confederate regiments that wore blue. There were also Zouaves on both sides of the fighting, based on the Zouaves of the French Foreign Legion that wore (most commonly) a blue jacket lined with red and red (or sometimes white) pants.
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You can tell when Denzel won the Oscar for his performance. It was just as that tear ran down his cheek.
Yes, the memorial is in Boston. This is such a powerful movie. Incredible really. Thank you for sharing this one. 🙂
You two do great commentary and I liked your reaction for this film. I live a short walk from where that last battle took place... sometimes it feels as if not a lot has changed re people's mindsets and attitudes.
I'm 74 years old and so much has changed in my lifetime. It's not always focused on..
That carving is right across the street in front of the Massachusetts state house.
I'm a big fan of Andre as well. Have you seen him in Primal Fear, with Richard Gere? It's a fantastic film!
See a young Denzel Washington in "A Soldier's Story"
Philadelphia next if you haven’t seen it.
Over 600,000 union fatalities and over 400,000 southern in the Civil War. Let that sink in.
I went to fort Wagner. My parents live at the beach in NC and Charleston SC isn’t that far. The fort is all under water now. There a little memorial and museum there ❤
The fort isn't under water. It's a common misconception. What has happened is that wind and rain have weathered the fort's walls so that they are barely visible. You can see the outline of the fort on Google Maps.
Not sure if you like games but there is a version of the 54th relief / memorial, shown at the of glory in the last of us, it can be seen in front of the Capitol building which is set in Boston.. great movie
I love this movie, it's fabulous in every way. But I never could understand how proud and anxious Gould's folks were t see him go off to war. Strange.
The first thing a person feels about a loved one's recruitment in the early days of a fresh new war is optimism and pride. They have not seen casualties yet. They have not yet received the 'regret to inform you' telegrams/notices yet. All they see is proud, confident young men dressed in clean, pressed uniforms and carrying gleaming weaponry marching in peppy, crisp formations.
It's all very pretty at first. And, especially if there's been a generation of peace or the war is hundreds of miles or more out of sight, they have no clue about the impact of war on soldiers. The folks at home expect a quick victory, a short war; this was the belief when the Civil War began, that in a few months it would all be over.
The population of the US in 1860 was about 31 million.
Casualties during the Civil War (killed/wounded/captured/missing) was 1.5 million; that's one in a group of about 30.
But this is not top of mind when the last war (War of 1812) happened in your grandfather's or great-grandfather's day.
Both sides of the Civil War drew from proud heritage of fighting the British during the War of 1812 and the War of Independence for our nation's existence, and both sides wanted a piece of that celebrated glory.
The reason veterans come back not wanting to speak of their experience is that the expectations are traumatically out of step with the realities of war. But you don't recruit using informed consent.
@@chris...9497 I totally disagree.
If your interested in watching other civil war movies you should watch Gettysburg, cold mountain and The Outlaw Josey Wales in that order if possible
Two recommended reads regarding this subject/movie: Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and Where Death and Glory Meet: Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry
Desertion is a majesty crime and always incurred flogging under arms and 'deletion' if committed under engagement.
I suggest the movie Duets if you haven’t seen it. Andre Braugher, Paul Giamatti, and Gwyneth Paltrow
Great Movie, Great Cast, Great Performances By Everyone In This Movie,Nice Reaction Guy's
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A platoon of men is 25 to 50 men. 4 platoons make a company. 4 company's make a battalion and 4 battalions make a regiment. You could fill up a decent stadium with that many men.
Just watching this and it got me thinking. Do you in Canada have a war movie about the "War of 1812" that is famous in Canada and how is that remembered or honoured generally over there?
If you want to see another Civil War movie, I recommend “Shenandoah” which is a 1965 American film set during the American Civil War starring James Stewart and featuring Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, Patrick Wayne, and, in their film debuts, Katharine Ross and Rosemary Forsyth. The film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
@lucy-texasgal9435. There is a reactor that goes by Irish Guy Reacts that watched & tried to post his reaction to the movie "Shenandoah" a movie I love 4 different times. Even though he had the movie heavily blurred & with his name super imposed over the movie NBC/Universal blocked it every time for copyright infringement.
Check out his channel. He reacts to movies no one else does. Sunday is Silent Sunday when he reacts to the old silent movies. Wednesday is for westerns many of them overlooked forgotten gems of which his favorite one so far is The Ox-Bow Incident. That channel is a treasure trove of forgotten movies that no one else has reacted to
James Horner wrote the incredible music for this film, but he also wrote the music for Field of Dreams, which also came out in 1989. But even though he absolutely should have won an Oscar for BOTH musical scores...screw the rules, he deserved to win for both...he received no Oscar that year at all...instead the stinking Academy gave it to the score for an effing Disney cartoon!!
2nd biggest ROBBERY in Academy Awards history...IMHO...after Saving Private Ryan losing to that stupid Shakespeare movie!
One of the finest modern film score composers.
Flight (2012) interesting character fur Denzel
I'm no expert on military warfare, but it always seemed odd to me how both the Union and Confederates engaged each other in the Civil War. It seemed to be basically, form a straight line, march forward, and see who was more successful in picking the opposition off. I know that the cavalry employed more tactics. Say what you want about Bedford Forrest, but he was a genius in the art of warfare
This strategy of just marching forward into gunfire was in sharp contrast to how the revolutionaries fought the British not even 100 years earlier. They employed a more guerilla warfare style of fighting, partly because they had to, but also because it was smarter
Basically, they fought in the Napoleonic style. Ranks of musketeers; front line kneels and shoots, second rank stands and shoots, any ranks behind load their muskets; after that they switch. Then they advance to ultimately end up in melee range to save ammo.
The officers were trained by conservative teachers - both sides often taught by exactly the same teachers. "It worked for Napoleon", so to speak.
Part of it was also that it was seen as brave and honourable; all officers were "Gentlemen".
@@heavycritic9554 Nice. Thanks for the info!
There was indeed a disconnect between the Napoleonic tactics that were still used in the large battles, and the new tech that was becoming available...but there was a wide range of tactics used over the course of the war. It was largely the same as in the Revolutionary War, and there were many guerilla units on both sides of the Civil War, with the more conservative Napoleonic paradigm being used sparingly. The reason we think more about guerilla warfare in the Revolution is because we LOST most of the major battles using similar tactics to the Napoleonic ones of the Civil War...so we tend to de-emphasize those battles in the teaching of the Revolutionary War.
But there were also a lot of new tactics being used in the Civil War, especially sieges and trench warfare...both of them heavily influenced by things that had been done in the Crimean War in the 1850s...not to mention the way the railroads and steam power influenced how armies were moved and supplied.
It depended on the battlefield, natrual terrain like rivers, hills, and mountains made maneuvering hard , that and its hard for regiments to communicate if too far apart so thats another reason they tended to keep the men in lines and together because without radios how do you communicate? So you need to keep men together (the movie gettysburg 1993 shows how hard it was for generals to communicate and how it could get mixed up with runners going back and forth) and finally finish up you had old tactics mixing in with new technology, rifled barreled guns that could shoot straighter and further mixed with a new bullet that did more damage caused many to die.
P.S. Another reason for these tactics is unlike the revolution or war of 1812 the battles their had no more 10k men fighting at a time wheres as the civil war major battle had 30k-80k men fighting with Calvary numbering thousands with hundreds of cannons so this tended to lead to stalemate formation and tactics to keep armies together
Funny you should mention Legends of the Fall and Last Samurai...same director as GLORY.
Desertion could be punishable by death. Flogging was considered a lesser punishment to white soldiers as well.
A regiment is typically around one thousand soldiers.
The doctor sewing him up after Antietam was Neelix from ST Voyager.
You should really watch Gettysburg from 1993. All star cast. Best war film ever made. Well, at least tied with Waterloo. But seriously, 20000 reenctors and no CGGI
Make sure to include "Unstoppable" (2010) in your Denzel Film Fest. Action-packed!
We actually saw it before we started the channel. Fantastic movie!!
@@Flix2Us I would also recommend the 9 part documentary "The Civil War" by Ken Burns. Its a great general/overall view of the American Civil War from Beginning to End.
It's funny how the movie makes people invedted in the outcome of the Battle of Fort Wagner. It was all a long time ago, and regardless of the actual outcome, nothing would be different today.
The next morning and the Confederate flag is raised at Fort Wagner. As a viewer you now know that all hope was in vain. The Confederates remained in possession of the fort. War means sacrifice, that is clear and "normal", but the victory of a cause that was and is fundamentally criminal (slave ownership, etc.),
Having to experience it makes me incredibly angry. Something like that shouldn't win. One consolation is knowing that other Northern soldiers could see that the dark-skinned soldiers were no less valuable than themselves. An excellent film with exceptional actors.
Everyone remarks on Washington's performance, and rightly so...but can I give a shout out to Morgan Freeman ‼️🇺🇸‼️🇺🇸‼️🇺🇸‼️🇺🇸‼️
I'm from Missouri, which fought for both sides during the Civil War, and my patience with modern southern sympathizers is low. It's over. You lost. If it happened again, you would lose again. Get over it.
One thing about this movie which continues to puzzle me, though: why did they start the assault on Fort Henry by running part of the way there, then spending the rest of the day and all that night out in the open, before closing to the assault? Was the run so long that the 54th would have been exhausted upon reaching the fort if they made the entire distance in one run?
A brigade of uncredited re-enactors -- not "extras" -- filmed from afar during some re-enactment event. You mentioned the
"social" distinction between house servants, field hands, and even freedmen; be aware too of the immigrants (such as the Irish drill sergeant) who joined the Union Army being only on the next rung up from the freedmen. White soldiers who deserted were drummed out of the service, were sentenced to prison and/or hard labor, or even shot by a firing squad, depending on the degree of their violation (such as near the time of a battle, etc.). Bob Gunton, who plays the "raiding" General, has gotten several lousy roles;, such as this one as well as the crooked warden in "Shawshank Redemption."
Give 'em Hell, 54th
This same director did legends of the fall which yall just did
That's what I'm talking aboot.
I’d appreciate it if you can watch anything else involving Edward Burns (one of the soldiers in Saving Pvt. Ryan)
My top 3 suggestions:
CONFIDENCE
SHE'S THE ONE
SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK
I seen that statue in Connecticut.
13:08 while a powerful scene flogging at this point was no longer an army punishment and when it was done it was done equally to everyone.
After the final battle general Strong (the man who explained the plan before the battle) was distressed and saddened by the losses his regiments suffered he volunteered to lead the next assaults himself which lead to him being mortality wounded and later dying
And when asked by reporters if they would rebury Robert’s body, Shaws father said "We would not have his body removed from where it lies, surrounded by his brave and devoted soldiers. We can imagine no holier place than that in which he lies, among his brave and devoted followers, nor wish for him better company. By god what a bodyguard he has!“
I gotta say im surprised your the only reactors that caught on in the ending credits that is the statue/memorial of the 54th which is yes located in boston in front of the state house (the capital building for the state of Massachusetts)
Edited P.S the letters being read throughout the movie are the actual letters written by Robert his mother kept them. So those words are the real thoughts and feelings of the man
All monetary values mentioned should be multipied by 30 to compare to today's values.
Check out "Devil in a blue dress " Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle.
Natural Born Killers Next?? Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downy JR and Tommy Lee Jones. Among others. I think k you 2 would appreciate it.
Please do Philadelphia! Courtroom drama starting Denzel & Tom Hanks in extraordinary roles!
It's on our channel! 😊
There was more to the war than slavery alone..13th Amendment became the driving force for the North to fight the war later once the emancipation proclamation was passed and 1864 election. The south went to war over differences in economic and agricultural reason which relied heavily on slavery unfortunately.
The war was complex but most today are taught nothing but the ideals of ending slavery. I'm glad that was part of it but not most of the reasons.
BTW watch it calling someone a redneck..that's racist also. Like me call you a cannuck
As a lifelong student of history, Primarily American history, I can offer this to the comment section.
The American Civil War was fought over more than just slavery but it was a major catalyst of it.
Civil War was actually being talked about even while the American Revolution was still going on, because the States or at the time, Colonies in the south were governed much differently than those in the north.
When it comes to the Solders involved in the Civil War, most southerners could couldn't care less one way or another about slaves. Most southerners couldn't even afford to feed their families let alone taking care of slaves. Only the wealthy owned Slaves. Most Confederate Soldiers were fighting because they were protecting their homes and families from what many perceived as an invading army.
There were also roughly between 3000 to 10.000 black soldiers who fought for the Confederacy. The total number has been lost to history. Many of them were willing to do so because, as with white solders, their homes were under attack also. So, they deemed it necessary to fight.
Many Soldiers in the north also didn't have an opinion about slavery one way or another. Most of them were fighting for the Union to keep the country together.
One fact about the Civil War that many people probably won't know is that several foreign countries had sent advisors to observe both armies with the possibilities of allying themselves with them.
If you watch the movie "Gettysburg" (Which I highly recommend) the famous battle in Pennsylvania, one of the characters was a British Lieutenant Colonel who was ordered by the King of England at the time to follow the Confederate Military and report back.
He was trying to determine whether or not England should ally themselves with the Confederacy. There was a high possibility that England would've done just that had it not been for one thing... Slavery. Since England had already abolished slavery it would've been quite hypocritical to ally themselves with a country that still supported it.
Another thing that many people might not know about the Civil War is the oddly enough, the Confederacy actually dominated the Union throughout most of the war. While there were a few minor victories by the Union, the Confederacy was winning so many battles because they, for the lack of a better term, had "Home Field Advantage." When Union troops marched into southern states they were pretty much in unfamiliar territory. And so, the Confederacy had won many major battles.
Had it not been for two major Union victories, those being The Siege of Vicksburg (Mississippi) and the Battle of Gettysburg, the Confederacy may have indeed won the Civil War. In fact, the Battle of Gettysburg featured an event known as the "High watermark of the Confederacy."
That refers to the incident where Confederate forces were so close to overrunning Union lines before being forced to retreat. Had they breached the lines at Gettysburg, they may have won the Civil War within a years time.
Lastly, another thing that many people may not know about the Civil War... After the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, it still took weeks for the news of surrender to reach soldiers in other theaters of the war. The last official battle of the Civil War which was in Texas actually resulted in a Confederate victory.
Anyway, good reaction to the movie.
Great info! 😊❤
As a fellow lifelong student of history (with an actual history degree from a highly respected university), I commend you on your eloquence in propagating the Lost Cause apologist mythology. Unfortunately your claims are made without any pertinent citations or documentation and thus come across mostly as opinion asserted as fact.
I think you got some things correct, such as your claims about the racial attitudes of both southern and northern white soldiers. However your claim that "There were also roughly between 3000 to 10.000 black soldiers who fought for the Confederacy. The total number has been lost to history." contradicts the historical lack of evidence and logic. If you claim that "the total number has been lost to history", how do you know that the number is between 3000 to 10,000 "soldiers"? Where are you getting these numbers? Can you cite any sources? If you could provide this evidence, you would be doing the field of Civil War scholarship a great service, as one of the foremost American Civil War PhD historians explains in this video: th-cam.com/video/fYFIWlGJhjM/w-d-xo.html
In addition, Confederate Genaral Howell Cobb reinforces why Black soldiers would have been anathema to the Confederate cause. jubiloemancipationcentury.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/if-slaves-will-make-good-soldiers-our-whole-theory-of-slavery-is-wrong-confederate-howell-cobb-on-black-enlistment/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIf%20slaves%20will%20make%20good,The%20Emancipation%20Century
Also you assert that, "Many of them were willing to do so because, as with white solders, their homes were under attack also. So, they deemed it necessary to fight" without any evidence. Do you have any documented proof of the motivations of these "black soldiers who fought for the Confederacy" or is this just supposition and opinion? Or is this maybe just 160 year old mind reading to reinforce a preconceived narrative?
I also have to point out that your depiction of "a British Lieutenant Colonel who was ordered by the King of England at the time to follow the Confederate Military and report back" isn't accurate. The British man referred to was named General Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle. However his trip to America was not ordered by the King because at the time Queen Victoria was the sovereign ruler. In fact, her husband Prince Albert died at the end of 1861, a year and a half before Fremantle's trip and she never remarried. Fremantle was not in America in any official capacity. He was essentially a "war tourist." He only became famous after the war because of the book he wrote. Sometimes movies aren't historically accurate. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Lyon_Fremantle
I'll make one final point for now as this response has quickly gotten very lengthy. You claim "Another thing that many people might not know about the Civil War is the oddly enough, the Confederacy actually dominated the Union throughout most of the war." This claim is just bizarre and counter to all historians barring the Lost Cause mythologists. The Confederate generals in the east were very successful at using the terrain features of Virginia (especially the west-east flowing rivers) to fight a defensive war. However, this completely ignores the almost immediate success of the Union armies in the western theater, where the rivers generally flow north-south. New Orleans and Nashville were taken very quickly and occupied for the duration of the war. The Confederates considered themselves the natural descendants of the Revolutionary generation and thought they could win their independence from the union by fighting a defensive war and exhausting the northerners until they got tired of the war, sued for peace and allowed the South to create their own country, just as Gen Washington had done during the Revolutionary War. The two times that the eastern Confederate army launched offensive operations into Maryland and Pennsylvania they were defeated at the first major battle. The tactics, logistics and weaponry of the time tended to significantly advantage the army fighting a defensive battle on home turf. Washington was never seriously threatened and the confederacy had no strategy to conquer and occupy the North. The Confederate incursion into Kentucky lasted a bit longer and succeeded in winning a few small battles but shortly retreated back into Tennessee. Except for far western Missouri, the Confederacy never really held Union territory for a significant amount of time. Heck, the Confederacy couldn't even hold their own territory together. Western Virginia successfully seceded and eastern Tennessee (among many other locales) were in rebellion against the rebels. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Unionist
I believe Britain's interest in the Confederacy was economic in nature.
Britain was dependent on the South's production of affordable cotton. The Civil War had a huge impact on the stability of US cotton sources. Eventually, Britain had to turn to India to source this commodity.
For your consideration: www.english.uga.edu/sites/default/files/2009-2010_Barnett_Mays_John.pdf
And, speaking as a Southerner, just how good was 'home field advantage' when there was very little in the way of excursions into the Northern states? The War was fought on the same continent, on the same coast, on both sides of the same mountain range. If the Confederacy had military superiority, why was so much fought in the South?
No offence meant, just asking about the obvious evidence.
With Gettysburg and Lincoln, this is the best Civil War movie. But I consider damn Yankees bad then and now ;-)
Did you guys realize today is the anniversary of the Confederate surrender???? Did you release this for this reason or is it a huge coincidence??? Pretty cool if coincidence.
Did Canada ever have its own civil war like the united states?
No.😊
Bet if Denzel "run for President" now, he might do pretty well in that race. If he won, I'm sure he'd do a better job than any of the current candidates.
Absolutely! 😊
In those days, if you were caught, you got hung..so Denzel got off easy
I know you have great knowledge with Greek Mythology lets see how good your civil war knowledge is 🤔🤔
Spoiler: it's not that great. 🤪
Great pick! One of the movies that put him on the map. Definitely add Malcolm X to the list. IMO it's Denzel's best performance and my favorite Spike Lee movie.
Also add Philadelphia with Denzel and Tom Hanks
We already did that one for the channel!
Great I have to watch it. Another great Denzel performance is the hurricane. Another true story or American Gangster also a true story