Gods and Generals (2003) - 31 mistakes
Directed by Ronald F. Maxwell, starring Jeff Daniels, Mira Sorvino, Robert Duvall
Factual error: In one scene, General Lee and his lieutenants celebrate Christmas of 1862 with a rousing rendition of Silent Night. Unfortunately, the English lyrics, by John Freeman Young, were not yet written. Young penned the lyrics the following year, and it was still some years later before they were known well enough for such a spontaneous sing-along to occur.
Revealing: DVD Side B. Just before the cannon burst near General Lee and his officers at Fredericksburg, you can see a Confederate soldier with the sponge rammer using it to the side of the cannon bore. This cannon must have been a actual field piece since the bore in the scene was most likely blocked. The sponge rammer consisted of a sponge-head of elm or poplar and covered with wool. The number one man of an artillery crew drove the sponge to the bottom of the bore and turned it numerous times to put out any embers from the previous firing of the piece. The rammer head was made of hard wood, generally elm or beech. The number two man would place the shell inside the bore, and number one would use the rammer to shove it down the bore with a single stroke.
Continuity: In the scene where the three Confederate soldiers are about to be executed for desertion, a blindfold is placed around the deserter on the right. It is a narrow strip of cloth covering his eyes. The camera pans to the firing squad and then back to the three men. The blindfold on the deserter on the right, is now much wider.
Factual error: Toward the end of the film, General Lee is wearing his open frock with the 3 stars on the collar. However the stars in the movie have six points while the stars that the real General Lee wore in the war were five-pointed stars, as were any other star used as a Confederate rank insignia.
Factual error: The Confederate camp before the July 1861 Battle of Bull Run has shelter tents (AKA pup tents). These tents were first used by the Union army in late spring 1862. Conversely, the Union Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville in May of 1863 is using common tents - the kind replaced by the shelter tent a year earlier.
Continuity: During the changing of flags at the school, Major Jackson is being told that his country and the country they live in are one. The gentleman telling him this clasps his hands together to show unity. When he clasps his hands together he holds them at about face level but when the camera angle changes his hands are now seen below his chest.
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