Ode to Gettysburg

Ode To Gettysburg

Like the first shots that were fired upon Fort Sumter that began the Civil War,
the first shots of awe-inspiring music fire from Randy Edelman's score.
A montage of old-time photos of soldiers on the screen
during the opening credits before the opening scene.

General Lee sent a letter to Washington thinking a Confederate victory was at hand.
Little did he know that the army of the Potomac would reunite this land.
This land of states, this land of historical greats:
Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee,
each side a different dream or ideology.

The First Day

The North has the high ground for the first time in this war.
They suffered a defeat at Fredericksburg-time to even the score.

Colonel Chamberlain and his men feel like they died and went to hell
as they defend Little Round Pub from the terrifying rebel yell.
The rebel hordes keep coming. Ammunition is low.
"Bayonets!" yells Chamberlain, down the hill they go.

The bayonet charge makes the rebels turn and run.
Some are killed and captured. Today, the North has won.

The Second Day

Lee waves to his troops, sitting on his gray mare.
His men wave hats and cheer, the hope of victory in the air.

"Withdraw and redeploy," advises General Longstreet.
"No, we will not surrender," orders Lee. "We will not retreat.
Aim for the center. We will strike them there,"
as the blasts of Rebel cannons fill the morning air.

Marching lines of gray cross a field of green.
The biggest slaughter of the war that any gray has seen.
The Yanks put up a scrap, they put up quite a fight
as a firestorm of bullets drop the Rebs left and right.

"General Pickett, you must look to your division!" Robert E. Lee cried.
"General Lee, I have no division," General Pickett sighed.

The two men faced each other in silence.
Neither had more words to say.
For they new the South had lost the battle
on that fateful day.

See You In Hell, Johnny Reb

Tom Berenger plays General James Longstreet.
A beaver attacked his face, or maybe it's a fake beard.
In either case, the hair on his face looks kind of weird.