This morning I came upon a site that reminded me that this year marks the 20th anniversary of one of the best Civil War movies ever made and one that motivated a lot of baby boomers to go out and buy blue or gray wool uniforms and start reenacting. That movie, of course, is “Glory” starring Denzil Washington, Morgan Freeman and Matthew Broderick. The film recounts the struggles and exploits of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first African-American infantry regiments to be raised during the Civil War. Raising a regiment of black soldiers was a controversial move at the time and was only done with the stipulation that the officers be white. This is a pretty good telling of that story.
If any of you haven’t seen the movie, pick up the DVD. It is a well-told tale with good actors and a better-than-average attention to historical detail for Hollywood, despite a few (see below) negligible miscues. I was in my first year of reenacting when I first saw the movie in the theater and I was highly impressed. If nothing else, it is a treat to see this particular cast working together (also check out Cary Elwes as Broderick’s boyhood friend and second-in-command.)
You can read the article in ‘National Parks Traveller’ by Bob Janiskee to learn about the Fort Sumter National Park’s 146th commemoration of the assault on Fort Wagner by the 54th Massachusetts. You can also learn how Hollywood moved the Atlantic Ocean! :
http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2009/07/make-glory-hollywood-moved-atlantic-ocean
Amazon has the movie:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_d?url=search-alias%3Ddvd&field-keywords=glory&x=16&y=15
You can also rent it from Netflix:
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