Step back to the Civil War: Battle returns to Gettysburg
In July 1995, 1,500 reenactors, the director of the film Gettysburg and the men of a modern 116th Pennsylvania Irish Brigade company refought the battle.
As printed in the Celtic Mirror, July 1995
Through the smoke of cannon fire, Confederate and Union soldiers met once again on a Gettysburg battlefield during a Civil War re-enactment.
Rustic farmland provided the setting for audiences to witness the 132-year-old real life drama that was considered the deadliest battle of America's bloodiest war.
Matt Vogel, special effects coordinator for the acclaimed epic film "Gettysburg," re-created exciting full scale battles for spectators on July 1-2, the same days the actual battle was fought in 1863.
In addition, Ronald Maxwell, the film's director, interrupted filming in France of his new movie, "Joan of Arc," and returned to Gettysburg for the weekend's recreation.
Maxwell, also a Civil War buff and historian, was visible and available to spectators throughout the two-day event, particularly spending time talking to children and explaining the battles.
Highlights of the re-creation, called "The Real Fury of Gettysburg," included more than 1,500 re-enactors and a 70-horse cavalry participating in the full scale spectacle of the battles of McPherson's Ridge and Barksdale's Epic Charge.
Soldier regiments, dressed in authentic uniforms, set up camp in nearby woods.
These Civil War enthusiasts travel all over the country recreating the original conditions, with particular details like period artillery, sabers, tents, meals, etc., and live the life of Union or Confederate soldiers.
Companies like the 21st Regiment Virginia Volunteers; the Southern Guard; Stonewall Brigade; and the 116th of Pennsylvania Fourth Company of the Irish Brigade were among the many regiments represented for the weekend's demonstration.
Many worked as extras in the Ted Turner production of Maxwell's screenplay.
Scott Mehaffey of Pittsburgh, lieutenant in the 116th Irish Brigade, secured a bit speaking part opposite Sam Elliott.
Mehaffey, a Pittsburgh printer, also lectures on the role of the Irish during the War Between the States.
In an interview, Mehaffey explained some of the history of Irish regiments.
He said that the original Brigade consisted of the three New York regiments, one Massachusetts regiment and the 116th of Pennsylvania.
According to Mehaffey: "The 116th of Pennsylvania was brought into the Army of the Potomac and fought in every major campaign.
"A lot of them were wounded and died in combat... The Irish have always proven themselves in any fight the United States has been in."
"The Real Fury of Gettysburg" demonstration included mortar contests and cavalry races, the sights and sounds of battle, Lincoln's review of the troops, a reading of the Gettysburg Address, live period music and a candlelight vigil.
Duties of the military branches and training exhibitions were recreated.
On the first day of the battle, 79 Civil War period cannons were brought together and awed spectators with simultaneous firing.
The woods were full of replica army issue tents with soldiers milling about campfires in preparation for maneuvers.
"Wandering through the camps is a wonderful experience," said one visitor. "You get to see what a soldier's daily life was like; how they ate, slept and prepared for battle."
"This was my first Civil War reenactment," said Pam Sinderbrand of Media Works, the New Jersey-based public relations firm for the presenters, Battleground, Inc. "I got caught up in it.
"The battles were life-like... soldiers, completely in character, calling out for replacements and saying things like 'We can't go on,'" she said.
"Many of them are stunt riders and experts in tactical battle maneuvers, and the field hospital was incredible. No detail was overlooked."
Sinderbrand said the hospital was put together by a Civil War surgeon group from Ohio.
Maxwell recreated a poignant rendition of the battlefield dedication by his emotional reading of quotes from the dedication speech.
Also present was Jeff Shaara, whose late father, Michael, wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning novel "The Killer Angels," upon which the "Gettysburg" film was based.
The book was brought alive in film by Maxwell's screenplay and direction of an all-star cast, including Sam Elliott as Union Major General John Buford, Jeff Daniels as Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Tom Berenger as Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet, and Martin Sheen as General Robert E. Lee.
The highly acclaimed epic film is available on video. "Our family was so pleased with the film," said Shaara in an interview. "It follows the book exactly. Maxwell did a marvelous job; I have a great respect for his genius."
The book is available in paperback by Ballantine Books.
Shaara has just completed a sequel to his father's book. It is due out next year.
According to Shaara, Maxwell is interested in the book for another screenplay.
For many re-enactors, the Civil War is a way of life.
Mike Krause, Captain of the 116th Irish Brigade, explained what compels these enthusiasts: "It's a life force and, yes, sometimes it's a curse."
Included in his company are people from all walks of life: a Canadian government worker, a Pittsburgh printer, an Ohio artist, to name a few.
"We've been doing this for 20 years," Krause said, "and we only know each other in this context. We go from year to year, place to place, time of year to time of year, and we always end up standing in the woods, in the same place, years later."
"I don't know what he looks like in a suit in his other life," said another member of the 116th. "We only know each other this way - as soldiers." Mehaffey summed up the feeling of a Civil War re-enactor: "A thousand miles, a thousand fields, a thousand hills."
After the smoke cleared
The film everyone at the 1995 encampment kept mentioning, Gettysburg, had opened on 8 October 1993. It ran 254 minutes. The National Park Service let Ronald Maxwell shoot battle scenes on the battlefield itself, including Devil's Den and Little Round Top, and thousands of reenactors volunteered as extras. It cost about $20 million and took about $12.7 million in cinemas.
Jeff Shaara's book, the one he had "just completed," arrived in 1996 as Gods and Generals. It turned out to be a prequel to his father's novel rather than a sequel; the sequel, The Last Full Measure, followed in 1998. Maxwell did film Gods and Generals. Warner Bros. released it on 21 February 2003 at 219 minutes, with Ted Turner paying for most of it. It cost $56 million, grossed $12.8 million, and got a rough ride from critics and historians. The weak returns led Turner to drop plans to film The Last Full Measure. Reenactors again filled the ranks for free, and Turner gave $500,000 to battlefield preservation in return. Shaara lives in Gettysburg. Maxwell's next feature was Copperhead, in 2013.
The Fredericksburg scenes in that film put the Irish Brigade on screen at Marye's Heights. The real 116th Pennsylvania, whose modern company Mehaffey and Krause served in, was recruited among Irish Americans in Philadelphia in the summer of 1862. It charged Marye's Heights that December, fought hand to hand in the Wheatfield on 2 July 1863, and lost 145 officers and men killed or mortally wounded over the war. St. Clair Mulholland, its first lieutenant colonel, won the Medal of Honor for Chancellorsville.
Questions readers ask
Was the movie Gettysburg filmed on the actual battlefield?
Partly. The National Park Service allowed Ronald Maxwell to film battle scenes on the Gettysburg battlefield itself, including Devil's Den and Little Round Top, while much of the rest was shot on a farm in nearby Adams County. Thousands of Civil War reenactors volunteered as extras. The film opened on 8 October 1993 and runs 254 minutes.
Is Gods and Generals a prequel to Gettysburg?
It is. Jeff Shaara's novel Gods and Generals (1996) covers the war before the battle told in his father Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels, and Ronald Maxwell's 2003 film of it serves as a prequel to his 1993 Gettysburg. The film follows Stonewall Jackson from the start of the war to his death at Chancellorsville.
What did the Irish Brigade do at Gettysburg?
On 2 July 1863 the Irish Brigade fought in the Wheatfield, where the 116th Pennsylvania, one of its regiments, fought hand to hand before the division was forced back under crossfire. The next day, during Pickett's Charge, the 116th stood in support of the 2nd Connecticut Battery but was not needed in the fighting.
Who won the Pulitzer Prize for The Killer Angels?
Michael Shaara won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Killer Angels, his 1974 novel about the Battle of Gettysburg told through commanders such as Lee, Longstreet, Chamberlain and Buford. It became the basis of the 1993 film Gettysburg. His son Jeff Shaara later wrote Gods and Generals (1996) and The Last Full Measure (1998).
