The Civil War Goes to the Movies and Television Quiz

Answer: William Shatner

Levitt's play was itself based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel "Andersonville" by MacKinlay Kantor. Both the movie and the play center on the trial of Andersonville Camp Commandant Henry Wirz. The movie would be directed by George C. Scott, who had Shatner's role in the original stage production of the play. The movie adaptation would win Emmy Awards for Outstanding Single Program - Drama or Comedy, Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama - Adaptation (Levitt's wrote the movie adaptation of his play), and Outstanding Achievement in Technical Direction and Electronic Camerawork.

At the time Shatner was the only one of these four men to be able to say they had been captain of the starship Enterprise as the original "Star Trek" TV series had ended in June of 1969. And he would command the various models of the Enterprise portrayed in the movies based around the cast of the original series. Patrick Stewart would command the various models of the Enterprise to appear in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" series and movies based on the cast of that series and again in 2023 in the series "Star Trek: Picard. Scott Bakula would command the Enterprise in the series "Star Trek: Enterprise". And Bruce Greenwood would command the Enterprise in the 2009 movie "Star Trek".

Answer: Gone with the Wind

George Reeves, who would go on to play Clark Kent/Superman in "The Adventures of Superman" TV series appears as one Tarleton twins. The film's credits list Reeves as Brent Tarleton. However, according to the American Film Institute's Catalog of Feature Films the credits for Reeves and Fred Crane are actually reversed and Crane played Brent Tarleton while Reeves played Stuart Tarleton.

Both Hattie McDaniel, who played Mammy, and Olivia de Havilland, who played Melanie Hamilton, would be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. McDaniel would beat out de Havilland for the award, making her both the first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award and the first to win an Academy Award. When criticized for appearing in the film, McDaniel supposedly responded that she'd rather make $700 a week for playing a maid than actually being one and only making $7.

Answer: The Andrews' Raid

The Andrews' Raid, also known as the Great Locomotive Chase, was a plan to destroy the vital Western and Atlantic Railroad link between Chattanooga and Georgia. Civilian scout and spy James Andrews proposed the raid to Major General Ormsby M. Mitchel as a way to cut the Confederate supply and reinforcement line.

Keaton used the raid as a basis for his movie, but only loosely. In 1926 Keaton was told of the memoir of one William Pittenger from 1889 concerning the Andrews' Raid. Entitled "The Great Locomotive Chase", Pittenger's memoir told the story of the raid from the perspective of the Federal army. This is understandable as Pittenger was one of the Andrews Raiders and would receive the Medal of Honor for his part in the raid. Keaton chose to change the perspective to a Confederate one as he felt that audiences at the time would not accept the Confederates as the villains.

When filming started Keaton sought to film the movie where the actual events occurred and to even use the actual General locomotive used in the raid. The Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway had control of the General at the time and denied its use when they learned Keaton's movie was going to be a comedy. It may have been partly because of this that filming eventually took place in Oregon where Keaton's location manager had found a railroad there along with vintage locomotives that fit the needs of the film.

"The General" had an initial budget of $400,000 dollars, but that grew to three quarters of a million dollars ($750,000) due in part to lawsuits and on set accidents. With its final budget we'd probably call the movie a box office bomb today as it only managed a domestic gross of $474,264. It largely received negative reviews by the critics at the time who would declare that it was not up to Keaton's usual standards. But over the years critics and the public alike have re-evaluated the movie, viewing it today as a classic of the silent era.

Answer: Fess Parker

Fess Parker is perhaps best known for playing Davy Crockett for Disney in the '50s and Daniel Boone for six seasons on the NBC show of the same name.

Of the three remaining actors, Jeff York also appeared in Disney's "The Great Locomotive Chase" playing William Campbell. York had previously appeared with Parker in 1955 in "Davy Crockett and the Keelboat Race" and "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" as Mike Fink (the two would be combined into the 1956 film "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates") and would later appear in an episode of "Daniel Boone" as Big Zack. Best remembered as Jed Clampett on "The Beverly Hillbillies" and the titular Barnaby Jones on "Barnaby Jones, Buddy Ebsen played Davy Crockett's best friend Georgie Russell for Disney. He and Parker may have been the only ones to appear in all five "Davy Crockett" episodes (and thus both "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier" and "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" when the five episodes were turned into the two theatrical movies). And Darby Hinton could never have appeared in "The Great Locomotive Chase". Best remembered for playing Parker's television son Israel Boone on "Daniel Boone", Hinton was born August 19, 1957, one year, two months, one week, and four days after "The Great Locomotive Chase" was released in theaters in June 1956.

Answer: The Battle of Ball's Bluff

The miniseries is principally told through the adventures of John Geyser (played by John Hammond); a Virginian who chooses not to fight for the South after his free black friend is lynched for trying to help runaway slaves escape north. But who can also not fight for the North as he can't raise arms against his family. After a chance meeting with the recently inaugurated President Lincoln, John takes Lincoln's advice and becomes a war correspondent. This way John witnesses the war without having to take part in the actual fighting for most of the miniseries.

"The Blue and the Grey" covers much of the war, beginning with First Bull Run (First Manassas), largely through the eyes of John Geyser. T events of the war are also told through the eyes of John's friend Jonas Steele (played by Stacy Keach), John's brothers and sister, and John's cousins. John is present at First Bull Run, the Peninsula Campaign, the Siege and Fall of Vicksburg, the Wilderness, and Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. Through John's sister we see within Vicksburg during the Siege of Vicksburg while one of his brothers is a part of the defenses of the city during the siege. Another brother is killed in the Battle of the Wilderness right in front of John. John's youngest brother ends up being sent to Elmira Prison. John delivers news of the Emancipation Proclamation to a group of slaves prior to traveling to Vicksburg. While John is busy in the Western Theater, Jonas takes part in the Battle of Gettysburg, losing his wife (John's cousin) at this time.

Yet the miniseries focuses more on major events or battles (and mostly those battles in the Eastern Theater of the war) rather than minor battles such as the October 1861 Battle of Ball's Bluff.

Answer: Mary Surratt

The movie is about the trial of Mary Surratt, the only woman tried in connection to John Wilkes Booth's assassination of Lincoln. Frederick A. Aiken served as Surratt's defense attorney during the trial along with his law partner John Wesley Clampitt. However, Surratt's official defense attorney was Maryland Senator Reverdy Johnson rather than either Aiken or Clampitt.

Johnson, the 21st Attorney General under Presidents Zachary Taylor and Millard Filmore, had objected to voters being required to take a loyalty oath during the 1864 presidential campaign. This act would have a number of the panel at the trial challenge his right to defend Surratt. It is also possible that his defense of General Fitz John Porter at his court-martial hearing following Second Bull Run (Manassas) may have also played a role as the leader of the tribunal for the Lincoln assassination conspirators, General David Hunter, had also been the head of Porter's court-martial as well. In any event, the objection to Johnson defending Surratt was withdrawn but it had still managed to damage or destroy any influence Johnson may have had on the trial. Because of this Johnson himself did not take a particularly active role in her defense, which he left up to Aiken and Clampitt. Neither man was truly prepared to defend Surratt and their attempts to disprove the testimony of the prosecution's principal witnesses again her only strengthened the prosecution's case.

The failure of Aiken and Clampitt to get Surratt off of the conspiracy charge caused a backlash that ultimately dissolved their practice the following year.

Answer: The Killer Angels

For me, one of the best lines of the movie comes from the character of Buster Kilrain, the only fictional character in the book. "Well, if he's an angel, all right then... But he damn well must be a killer angel." Much of the rest of Kilrain's speech following this line comes from the book's Second Day Chapter 2. The line itself clearly references the book on which the movie was based.

Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels" was first published in 1974. It would win the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and, combined with the 1993 movie, would have two major impacts on perceptions of the Civil War. For starters they caused historians to re-evaluate General Longstreet. Beginning in the 1870s proponents of the Lost Cause placed blame on Longstreet for the defeat at Gettysburg, which would ultimately ruin his reputation. With the release of the novel and then the movie historians began to reassess Longstreet not only in the context of these media but also in the context of the war itself. Many now believe him to be among the most talented tactical commanders of the war. Among the sources Michael Shaara used in writing "The Killer Angels" was Longstreet's own memoirs.

Secondly, both book and movie have increased public awareness of the 20th Maine and the regiment's actions at Gettysburg. Certain units on both sides of the war have become legendary. The Irish Brigade, the Iron Brigade, the Stonewall Brigade. Their names people associate with the war, whether they know much about them or not. Novels and movies can help bring other units more into the wider public. For instance, "Glory" may have done more to bring awareness of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry regiment to a wider audience, at least from the closing years of the 20th century on. It is credited with re-establishing the image of the combat role African-American troops in the war with the unit now being referred to as the "Glory" regiment. The same holds for the 20th Maine Infantry. Because of "The Killer Angels" and "Gettysburg", the 20th Maine's Gettysburg monument on Little Round Top has become a top destination for visitors to the battlefield. The regiment has also appeared in song since 1993. Perhaps most notable is the Maine folk band The Ghost of Paul Revere whose song "The Ballad of the 20th Maine" was declared Maine's state ballad in 2019. The indie pop band Fun includes the flag of the 20th Maine in the music video for their song "Some Nights". And the Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band's song "Dixieland" is also supposed to be about the 20th Maine.

Answer: Glory

"Glory" was based on Lincoln Kirstein's 1973 book "Lay This Laurel", Peter Burchard's 1965 book "One Gallant Rush: Robert Gould Shaw and His Brave Black Regiment", and the Civil War letters of Robert Gould Shaw. In 1992 Shaw's letters would be released as the book "Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Robert Gould Shaw". And yet they may have had even greater impact on the movie as Burchard's book was also based on Shaw's letters.

Answer: Orry Main

Based on John Jakes' "North and South" novels, at the time a duology released in 1982 ("North and South") and 1984 ("Love and War") respectively. In 1987 Jakes would publish the third book in the "North and South" trilogy, "Heaven and Hell", which would be turned into a miniseries in 1994. Swazye would appear uncredited in the third miniseries via archival footage. James Read would play George Hazard in all three mini-series.

As with the contemporary miniseries "The Blue and the Gray", the "North and South" trilogy would feature a mixture of fictional and historical characters. Among the wrong answers Berdan and Pickett were real people. George Pickett (played by Cody W Hampton) is now best remembered for the failed Confederate assault on July 3, 1863 which has come to be known as Pickett's Charge. Hiram Berdan (played by Kurtwood Smith) is now best remembered for commanding US Sharpshooter regiments during the war. In addition to Pickett and Berdan, other historical figures to appear in the trilogy included Ulysses S. Grant (played by Mark Moses in 1982, Anthony Zerbe in 1984, and Rutherford Cravens in 1994), Robert E. Lee (played by William Schallert), Abraham Lincoln (played by Hal Holbrook), Jefferson Davis (played by Lloyd Bridges) Frederick Douglass (played by Robert Guillaume), and John Brown (played by Johnny Cash). Olivia de Havilland, who appeared in "Gone with the Wind" as Melanie Hamilton Wilkes, appears in the second miniseries as Mrs. Neal.

Answer: The Hunley

"The Hunley" depicts the H.L. Hunley's final mission in which it became the submarine to successfully attack an enemy vessel. Assante plays Confederate Army First Lt. George Dixon, the Hunley's commander on her historic mission while Sutherland plays General P.G.T. Beauregard, perhaps best remembered as the commander of the Confederate forces who bombarded Fort Sumter in April 1861 and as for his role in the Battle of Shiloh.

In 1999 when the movie came out little was known about the actual submarine H.L. Hunley beyond its successful attack on USS Housatonic. It was that the Hunley had attacked the Housatonic by driving a spar torpedo (during the war mines were referred to as torpedoes in contrast to the modern self-propelled weapon we know as a torpedo today) with a barb on it to get the torpedo to stick into the side of the ship and then backed away from the larger vessel. A rope attached to the torpedo was believed to have been pulled as the sub backed off, triggering the detonation of the torpedo. The movie also depicts the crew opting to commit suicide by drowning should the submarine end up on the sea floor without being able to return to the surface.

Since the Hunley was raised August 8, 2000, more has been learned about this submarine than was known at the time the movie was made. A discovery in 2013 suggests that the Hunley's torpedo was designed to detonate on impact rather than by a rope trigger. And a 2008 discovery suggests that the submarine flooded after the crew was already dead, so it would be unlikely they committed suicide by drowning as depicted in the movie. Blast trauma specialists at Duke University have theorized that the crew of the Hunley may have actually perished in the very blast they used to sink the Housatonic. These findings would make their way into Rachel Lance's 2020 book "In the Waves: My Quest to Solve the Mystery of a Civil War Submarine". However, these findings have been disputed by the Naval History and Heritage Command's website which has found inconsistencies with the way the experiments were carried out. Among these is the thickness of the scale armor plating, which at full scale would be less than an eighth of an inch thick. Thinner the actual hull plating used on the Hunley.