Gods and Generals

Deliberate mistake: When the two Confederate and Union soldiers meet across the river and trade coffee/tobacco, you can see the other side of the bank behind them. It looks at least 50 feet away, yet before they were able to talk to each other without shouting. Also, the Union soldier raises the pipe to his mouth in his right hand, which switches to his left in the next shot. There is also a mist present at the beginning and end of the meeting, but not in the middle. (00:37:55)

Daz

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 battle for Fredricksburg you can see streaks in the sky from jets.

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General Robert E. Lee: He's lost his left arm. I've lost my right.

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Trivia: General Robert E. Lee was shown throughout the movie as wearing the three star insignia of a Colonel, rather than the three stars surrounded by a wreath as was the proper insignia for all Confederate generals. General Lee actually wore this throughout most if not all of the war, and this is accurate.

More trivia for Gods and Generals

Question: Is there any factual basis for the story of the little girl General Jackson befriended? I can't find anything about her, or anything saying she is fictional.

Answer: Yes, she did exist. Through books.google.com, I found a book "Cemeteries of Caroline County, Virginia: Private Cemeteries" by Herbert Ridgeway Collins, that confirms Jane did live, that she and Jackson were close, and that he arranged for her burial after her death.

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