130 GETTYSBURG
The Killer Angels and was inspired to make The Civil War, his mini- series for PBS that
aired in the fall of 1990 and proved to be a huge hit. Suddenly, for the first time
since Gone with the Wind in 1939, the Civil War was back in vogue. Burns arranged
for Maxwell to meet Ted Turner at a Producers Guild Awards dinner (5 March 1991).
A Civil War buff, Turner greenlit Maxwell’s Gettysburg movie as a TV mini- series,
bud geted at $13 million. Casting began in early 1992 and was completed before the
shoot began in July of that year. Robert Duvall was originally cast as Robert E.
Lee but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. He was replaced at the last
minute by Martin Sheen.Production
Gettysburg was shot over a 10- week period (20 July–30 September 1992), mostly
on set locations at Yingling Farm, three miles west of Gettysburg. Shooting on the
actual battlefield was limited to just eight days, due to National Park Ser vice restric-
tions and numerous large granite war monuments that interfered with sightlines.
The shoot involved 100 actors and as many technicians, supplemented by some
5,000 Civil War re- enactors who came from all over the country at their own
expense, equipped with their own replica firearms, uniforms, gear, and a sophisti-
cated knowledge of the battle—an indispensable ele ment that increased authentic-
ity and saved the production millions of dollars. As the film took shape Ted Turner
liked what he saw, so much so that he deci ded to release Gettysburg as a feature film
instead of a tele vi sion mini- series, one factor among several others— the cost of
70-mm prints, sound remixing, several premieres, even a block party for the towns-
people of Gettysburg— causing cost overruns in post- production that increased
expenses by another $7 million, bringing the total price tag to a hefty $20 million
(Galbraith, p.1).Plot Summary
The film begins in June 1863 with a voice- over, map, and images describing the
pro gress of the (Confederate) Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Robert E.
Lee (Martin Sheen), crossing the Potomac River and marching across Mary land
and into southern Pennsylvania as it invades the North. On 30 June, Confederate
spy Henry Thomas Harrison (Cooper Huckabee) reports to Lt. Gen. James Long-
street (Tom Berenger), First Corps commander, that the (Union) Army of the
Potomac is moving in their direction, led by Gen. George G. Meade (Richard Ander-
son). Lee commands his troops to stop near Gettysburg. Meanwhile, at the Union
encampments near Union Mills, Mary land, Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
( Jeff Daniels) of the 20th Maine is taking over the command of over 120 men from
the previously disbanded 2nd Maine. In Gettysburg, Brig. Gen. John Buford (Sam
Elliott) and his cavalry division spot ele ments of Major Gen. Henry Heth’s (War-
ren Burton) division of Third Corps commanded by Lt. Gen. A. P. Hill (Patrick
Falci) approaching the town. Buford asks I Corps (First Corps) commander Maj.
Gen. John F. Reynolds ( John Rothman) for reinforcements. Heth’s unit meets
Buford’s men the next day (1 July 1863), and Second Corps, commanded by