Famous Battles of the Civil War

Pickett's charge

Robert E. Lee

Senator

Officer Rambo

Famous Battles of the Civil War sixth installment of the War Series with the title of the video aligning with its content. The video displays both perspectives of the war showing the thought processes behind the generals of the battles as well as the actions taken by the soldiers fighting them. The video starts at the beginning of the war with the Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), then Gettysburg to show the middle of the war, and then finally the siege of Petersbug and Appomattox Courthouse for the finishing of the war.

## Bull Run/ Manassas

Occurring July 21, 1861, The First Battle of Bull Run to Northerners or the First Battle of Manassas to Southerners, this engagement proved that the Confederates were a capable fighting force. The Union Army was so confident in their victory that senators from Washington had brought their families for a picnic in order to watch the battle. Union Army troops are shown heading into battle excitedly yet the Confederates manage to hold strong. A key point of the Battle is when General "Stonewall" Jackson managed to hold off the Union attack with him and his men holding their position "like a stone wall". The Confederates are shown repulsing the Union attackers forcing them into a full retreat. One Union commander is shown getting shot and is angered as he had just gotten his suit cleaned. He then kills his attacker and then succumbs to his wounds forcing a child to take up his command. As the fighting takes an opposite turn the civilians watching come into harms way when a retreating soldier is being chased and throws a picnic basket from a family at his pursuer before he is pushed to the ground and attacked. The Senator watching with his daughters becomes enraged that the rebel victory had allowed this to happen as he had spent 3 days making the potato salad that was in the basket. He then shoots the Confederate with his revolver as his daughters laugh allowing the Union soldier to return to his unit. The final Union attempt at an attack fails and the army then goes into a full retreat. Chaos unfurls as civilians and soldiers attempt to flee the area with two soldiers going to one of the senator's daughters giving her a hat and a rifle so she may continue the fight. The Senator is then shown walking backwards sipping his ale and firing his revolver as he decided he will continue this fight himself. The rebels then not wishing to stretch their luck chose not to pursue their enemy, and instead cheered and celebrate as the enemy began to retreat. Stonewall Jackson upon seeing his victory is relieved that his army survived, he then looks into the distance saying "God has been very good to us on this day he is".

## Gettysburg

### Little Round Top

Taking place July 1-3, 1863, The Battle of Gettysburg begins with General George Meade assuming command of the Army of the Potomac just 3 days before the battle of Gettysburg. Meade had replaced General Hooker in command of the position since President Lincoln was displeased with his results. Meade is shown disgusted with the previous plans of defense as he tells his staff they are completely ineffectual. Meade moves his army from the town into an easier defendable terrain of woods and hills that naturally work in his advantage. The video then shifts to the battle as Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain defends a hill known as little round top from 3 waves of Confederate assault. During the first wave several exchanges of fire occur before the fighting gets close and physical. In the physical fighting 6 soldiers are shown brawling with two managing to simultaneously kill each other with bayonets. Two other soldiers in the scene, who appear to be children having lied about their age, are attempting to beat each other to death while 2 other soldiers in the back do not quite understand the physical part of fist fighting. The Union troops managed to hold their ground in successfully repulsing the Confederate attack. The rebels then send another wave and begun to make a dent in the weakening Union defenses. Upon a soldier running to Chamberlain and delivering this news, the colonel makes the decision to bring out his secret weapon, Officer Rambo. Chamberlain gives Rambo the simple order to defend this line which he faithfully obeys with his M16 Assault rifle. As the Confederates attempt "Round 2" of their attack they are swiftly mowed down by Rambo allowing the Union to survive yet another wave. The Confederates were not yet finished as they push for a second wave. The Union troops now lacked ammunition as shown when a solider reports this to Chamberlain. Rambo unfortunately had timed out and was unable to continue fighting leaving Chamberlain to make the decisions to perform a bayonet charge to forcibly expel the rebels off the hill. The men comply and manage to chase the now weakened confederate forces off the hill bringing a close the fighting on the hill, but not the battle.

### Pickett's Charge

After Little Round Top, Meade is shown with his staff looking over the battle when he orders his the artillery major to cease firing. Meade explains how this tactic would draw the Confederates into a large attack as they believed that the Union forces were running low on ammunition. The focus then switches to the other side of the Battle as Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, takes the bait and orders his men to do a full frontal charge on the Union position. He has General George Pickett lead what would soon be known as the ill fated, "Pickett's charge". Pickett's men are shown ambitiously waiting the order to charge and enthusiastically run into the open field when it is given. The Confederates, unaware of the dangers that lay ahead, continued their path down the field when Union cannons began opening fire completely decimating the unit. Full regiments of men are shown running forward only to all be killed. As Pickett returns to Lee, the general asks, "Where is your battalion?". To which Pickett responds taking off his hat, "Sir, I have no battalion". This tragic news instantly brings Lee to remorse as he realizes the terrible decision he had made. Pickett tried to reassure the ever popular Lee that this was not his fault but the general knew the mistake he had made. After this one soldier is shown having made it across the field only to be swiftly captured. Every man that took part in the charge was captured, wounded, or killed, causing Lee to never again attempt an offensive for the rest of the war. After the fact 3 Union soldiers are shown celebrating their victory saying it's like Christmas in July to which they then pick up the snow surrounding them having a forced laugh. This is because the video had an unusual phenomenon of a snow covered ground during the month of July.

## Lee's Surrender

### Siege of Petersburg

In the final days of the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant now was the Commanding General of Union forces and had General Lee on the run. Occurring from June 9, 1864 to May 25, 1865, the siege of Petersburg is not one of the most famous battles of the Civil War, but it led directly to Appomattox Courthouse and the surrender of Lee. For a year Union forces under Grant and Meade had by fighting around Richmond and Petersburg Virginia wearing the Army of Northern Virginia to it's last legs. As shown in the video, Confederate forces in Petersburg are eventually ousted by Union troops as represented by the Confederate defenders at the playground are killed. Wounded and tired confederates attempted to flee the city but were surrounded by Grant making their situation bleak. Lee makes several attempts to push out of the encirclement but the attempts fail as his men are too wounded and under-equipped as shown by those pushed over by the T-Posing defense of Union soldiers.

### Appomattox Courthouse

Appomattox Courthouse was the last line of defense for Lee as he and his few remaining soldiers attempt to defend against a Union attack. Lee is shown desperately trying to rally his men by taking the belief if they push through they can link up with another stronger Confederate force led by General Joseph E. Johnston. In the video his men seem to think they cannot hold on and as Lee attempts to explain his plan to his men they are both shot dead. Lee then attempts to continue fighting himself but his gun and his sword are shot out of his hands encouraging him to surrender. Lee then meets Grant who is quite pleased to see him. During the Mexican War Lee had been a hero in the American Army with the lower ranking Grant being inspired by him. Lee had even once meet Grant and his regiment which Grant brought up during the peace talks yet Lee did not quite remember. Grant then gives Lee a peace treaty to sign with very generous terms taking none of the confederates prisoner, allowing officers to keep their sidearms and their horses for the upcoming planting season, and he even provided rations for Lee's starving army. Lee gladly signs bringing an end to the most revered Army of Northern Virginia, and not much longer an end to the war that separated the nation.

## Trivia

- While it would appear that the snow in the latter half of the video damages continuity as well as the dates said in the video, were it not for the snow the video would not have been finished for class in time. While it was hard to gather everyone to film with Jack having his dad drive the 4-wheel drive Honda Pilot to pick everyone up, it allowed the dudes to finish all remaining scenes in the video. Astoundingly against anyone's guess, the next day of school, which was the project's due date, was also cancelled due to remaining ice on the road allowing the video to be edited in time for its later due date.

- Besides the treaty signing, all scenes with Robert E. Lee were shot with just Jack and his siblings after school since Eric wouldn't come over.

- This is the first and only video to have girls in it with Jack's sisters playing the senator's daughters.

Union ChargeStanding like a stone wallRebels push backIt took 3 days to make that potato saladFailed attackUnorganized retreatSipConfederate victoryMeade redrawing plansAssault on Little Round TopClose quartersRambo holding the lineReady to rollPickett's ChargeCapturedSiege of PetersburgT-Pose lineAppomattox CourthouseLee's surrenderCast photoBts ConfedsBehind the beardsSetting up a scene