Continuity mistake: When Samuel Zook's brigade crosses the pontoon bridge at Fredericksburg, the title card refers to him as 'Colonel Zook'. However, some time later General Hancock addresses him as 'General Zook' and his shoulder straps indicate that he is in fact a brigadier-general, not a colonel.
Factual error: In the scene where Colonel Jackson meets his wife at the train station, the locomotive tender is labeled V&TRR and the coach is the familiar yellow-brown of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. The V&T was a Nevada shortline connected to the Comstock gold strike that actually financed a huge amount of the Union expenses for fighting the war.
Suggested correction: The V&TRR in this case refers to the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, which served as an important supply line for the Confederacy, linking Richmond, Virginia with Chattanooga, Tennessee. Established 1852, the road was acquired by the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad in 1870 (coincidentally, the same year that the Virginia and Truckee was established). The yellow-brown livery was common for passenger equipment during the Civil War era, used by most roads nationwide.
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.
Deliberate mistake: At Fredricksburg, when the troops from the 20th Maine are retreating, Tom Chamberlain is seen firing his revolver at the Confederates, and there is no burst of smoke, nor any recoil (also, the tip of the barrel of the pistol is off-screen.) This is because he is dry-firing the gun, since that shot contains dialogue and a real shot would interfere with the microphones. This mistake occurs earlier as well, with the Irish Confederate officer firing his revolver at the Irish Union soldiers, though no bullets are visible in the chambers, and the smoke from the primer caps is missing.
Other mistake: In the scene where Gen. Jackson leaves the bedroom of his sleeping wife and child, you can see a modern light switch covered over by a piece of plastic and paint near the door frame.
Factual error: Throughout most of the movie, Lee and Jackson are riding the wrong horses. Traveller was a dapple grey horse with dark grey mane and tail, and Little Sorrel was a dark rust-colored horse with a white star on his face. In the movie, Lee is shown riding a white horse with white mane and tail. At the beginning of the movie, Jackson's horse is correctly depicted as a sorrel with a white star. Then Jackson's horse is switched to a red chestnut with white blaze and four white socks.
Factual error: In 1861, neither Stonewall Jackson nor Robert E. Lee had heavy beards. Lee grew his after his resignation, and Jackson grew his during his campaigns.
Factual error: Throughout the movie, you'll notice some soldiers who are slightly plump, and others that are just plain fat (such as the "Santa-sized" Confederate soldier receiving the rifle from what one would assume to be a gunsmith). Because of strenuous marching and poor supplies (especially in the case of the Confederate army), by the time the Battle of First Bull Run came around, it would be highly unlikely that any of the soldiers would be as fat as those in the movie.
Factual error: Near the beginning of the movie the VMI boys are surrounding a flagpole about to tear the flag off it. The flag is CGI to hide the modern American flag waving there. However, when they zoom in to crowd pulling it down, it is a modern 50 star American flag. It isn't even a brief glimpse. It is there for several seconds and clear as day-modern flag.
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.
Revealing mistake: Towards the end of the movie, as Jackson's Corps is attacking the exposed Federal right flank during the Battle of Chancellorsville, when the Confederate forces begin overrunning the Federal encampment, they sweep past two artillery pieces. Notice the second gun - it has a blocked barrel (filled with concrete). Must have been a memorial piece that was on/near the Chancellorsville battlefield.
