Civil War History - The Eastern TheaterDiscuss any and all battles, movements, and events occuring in the Eastern Theater here! This includes any actions in tha area east of the Appalachian Mountains in the vicinity of the river capitals of Richmond and Washington D.C.
We haven't had a trivia question on the board for a while, so I thought I would post one.
The movie Gods and Generals covered the battle of 1st Manassas pretty much entirely from the Confederate view. I can't recall a single Union character with a line of dialogue during that battle sequence.
However, there was one Union soldier in particular who conducted himself with considerable distinction at that battle. He entered the battle as a lieutenant, freshly graduated from West Point. He was in command of a section of artillery, and continued to exercise his command function even after being severely wounded in the thigh. In recognition of his gallantry at that battle, he was subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor.
Although the movie Gods and Generals does not mention this man's role at 1st Manassas, he does appear later in the movie. Who was he?
Are you certain of the battle? I diden't think the CMH was created until 1863... Great now I'm going to have to get my research hat on.
__________________ Few take the trouble to understand or to view the American scene with perspective. And we Americans love to find ourselves guilty of something. However, it is never I who am guilty, but those other Americans, the past or present government or the other political party. Americans almost never find other countries guilty. It is always ourselves or our fancied influence in other countries. Louis L'amour
Yes, I am certain. Although the medal was not awarded to the soldier in question until 1894, it was definitely awarded as a result of his actions in that battle.
If it helps your search any, I can tell you that, although the movie referred to the battle as 1st Manassas, the citation associated with the medal calls the battle by the name by which the Union referred to it, i.e., Bull Run, rather than Manassas.
Sorry, Gunsmoke, Murphy's not the one I was thinking of.
He did indeed win the Medal of Honor for his actions at 1st Manassas/Bull Run, but he was an infantryman, and as far as I know, he does not appear (at least, not as an identifiable character) in the movie Gods and Generals.
You got it! Adelbert Ames, the man who subsequently went on to become Joshua Chamberlain's predecessor as commander of the 20th Maine infantry.
When I watched the movie, I noted that, while it did make the point that Ames was responsible for teaching Chamberlain the importance of drill, it told us very little else about Ames. I went searching on the Internet for some more information about him, and the Medal of Honor citation was one of the things I found.
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