Continuity mistake: Disc 2: When the Union soldiers cross the creek and the sergeant says 'you ain't even seen the elephant yet, lady', his troops are in a crouching position. But the next shot from the Confederate lines shows them standing up. (00:27:40)
Continuity mistake: After the Battle of Bull Run, Jonas Steele is seen surveying the aftermath. Trouble is, there are a heck of a lot more dead bodies lying around outside the house than there were when the battle was raging, including those of Union soldiers. As the scenes of the battle demonstrated, the Union never actually got as far as the house; all their casualties were incurred on the slopes approaching the house, and then they retreated. (01:53:20 - 01:59:10)
Continuity mistake: At the wedding of Jonas and Mary she is wearing a large hoop skirt, and also at their wedding reception she is wearing a hoop skirt under her dress. When they enter their carriage to leave on their honeymoon she struggles a little to get the hopped skirt into the carriage seat. When they arrive at their house to start their honeymoon she gets out of the carriage in the rain to run to the house and she is no longer wearing the hoop under her wedding dress. It is also missing when Jonas picks her up to carry her upstairs to the bedroom.
Answer: Stacy Keach, who portrayed Jonas Steele, is an imposing figure who stands just upwards of six feet tall. Julia Duffy, the actress who played Mary Hale Steele, is a diminutive five feet even - a full foot shorter than her on-screen husband. Though high heels have been around since the mid-16th century, the stiletto style heel didn't begin to come into play for fashion until the late 19th century, when they were mainly used as accessories in fetish art. They didn't become vogue for women's wear until the early to mid-20th century. It is unlikely a stiletto-style heel would have been available to, let alone be worn with a nightgown by a woman of the period.
Michael Albert