Goofs for
Gettysburg (1993) More at IMDbPro »

• Anachronisms: Wristwatch suntan lines on left wrist of Confederate soldier when he shakes hands with the mounted Gen. Lee.
  
  
• Anachronisms: "REMO" logo on the drum skins.
  
  
• Continuity: Longstreet informs Pickett of the July 3 attack in the morning, and yet the sun is in the western sky.
  
  

• Anachronisms: Obvious statue of (filming time) Governor Warren on Little Round Top.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: The battle of Little Round top takes place on the hot afternoon of July 2. Yet after the battle, as Chamberlain speaks to the wounded Sergeant Kilrain, you can see the actor's breath as "Kilrain" speaks his lines, evidence that the air was much colder than on a July afternoon. The same thing occurs later in the film when a messenger climbs Big Round Top to speak with Chamberlain. The messenger is breathing heavily, and the vapor of his breath is visible.
  
  
• Continuity: All throughout the Charge on Little Round Top, Col. Chamberlain has a pistol in his left hand but as soon as he confronts the confederate officer that wants to take him prisoner the pistol is gone from his hand
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: Near the end of the charge down Little Round Top a Union Soldier is visible on the right side of the screen with a bayonet bent at a 90 degree angle.
  
  
• Factual errors: When Tom Chamberlain is talking to the captured Confederates, one of them says he is a Tennessean from Archer's Brigade of Heth's division. He then says he was captured in the railroad cut west of Gettysburg. The Confederates in the railroad cut were actually Mississippians from Davis's brigade of the same division. The Tennesseeans would have been fighting in McPherson's Woods, half a mile away.
  
  
• Continuity: When Colonel Chamberlain is 'shot' at Little Round Top, he lets go of his sword, and it ends up between his arms but not held. The next shot shows him with the sword held in his right hand, stretched out to the side.
  
  
• Continuity: There can't be two sunsets between June 30, 1863 and July 1, 1863.
  
  
• Factual errors: On the first day, Heth's Division formed on Herr's ridge and advanced in line of battle toward Buford's troopers, not deployed 50 yards in front of Buford.
  
  
• Continuity: General Garnett's position when Longstreet introduces Pickett's men to Col. Freemantle.
  
  
• Factual errors: In Pickett's Charge, the film has General Garnett say the famous line, "Give them the cold steel, boys!" In real life, it was General Armistead who said it just before leading his men over the stone wall.
  
  
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The object in the background of the long shot of the Pickett's Charge scene is actually a flag (the so-called "Second National" or "Stainless Banner" of the Confederacy) being carried by a mounted bearer. Because it is white with a dark canton and being moved at a gallop it looks - from a distance - like the outline of a van moving at automobile speeds.
  
  
• Continuity: The length of Longstreet's cigar while conferring with his artillery officer.
  
  
• Continuity: In the scene between Major Walter H. Taylor and General Lee at midnight July 3rd, Major Taylor's rank insignia changes to two stars (Lieutenant Colonel). In earlier scenes he wore only one star (Major).
  
  
• Anachronisms: Contrail over Tom Chamberlain's head just before he interrogates Confederate prisoners.
  
  
• Factual errors: Before the July 2 fighting, Lee meets outdoors with several Confederate generals, clearing saying "good morning." One of the generals present is Heth. Heth was knocked unconscious during the afternoon fighting on July 1. He would not have been at a meeting of generals on the morning of July 2. In reality he was still unconscious at that time. (In the scene, his head is wrapped, which at least notes the wound he received).
  
  
• Factual errors: The remnants of the 2nd Maine were not transferred to the 20th Maine just before the battle of Gettysburg. This actually occurred some six weeks earlier, in mid-May 1863.
  
  
• Anachronisms: While Lee and Longstreet are walking up the path to Lee's Headquarters, in between the two buildings in the shot, the paved road is clearly visible along the ground.
  
  
• Continuity: General Longstreet's shifting beard.
  
  
• Continuity: When General Longstreet arrives at Lee's headquarters after the battle on July 2nd, General "Jeb" Stuart is seen arriving at the headquarters at the same time. Longstreet's attack did not finish until almost 6:30 p.m. Stuart arrived in Gettysburg at around noon.
  
  
• Anachronisms: When Longstreet is conferring with Hood before the Devil's Den assault, a paved road is visible behind Longstreet.
  
  
• Anachronisms: In one of the sequences in front of a farmhouse, an air conditioning unit is clearly visible.
  
  
• Anachronisms: At the end of the fight for Devil's Den, a paved road is clearly seen to the right of the frame.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: In the final scenes of Picketts Charge, the wires that pull the men who are blown backwards by the cannon are visible, as well as the harnesses they are wearing
  
  
• Audio/visual unsynchronized: During one of the early "marching" scenes prior to the beginning of the battle, a soldier is seen pounding a drum. When he pounds the drum, however, no noise is heard.
  
  
• Continuity: While Gen. Longstreet is talking to Col. Alexander Porter during the bombardment of Cemetery Ridge on July 3rd, we see over Longstreet's shoulder a Rebel gun emplacement hit and a Confederate gunner is thrown over the earthworks from the explosion. The camera turns to Col. Porter for a brief second then comes back to Longstreet. The same gun is shown intact, not yet hit, and the wounded Confederate gone from the scene.
  
  
• Anachronisms: In the scene where many confederate soldiers are cheering and shaking General Lee's hand while he is on horseback, one man clearly has a tan line from a wristwatch.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: As Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is walking past the violins on his way to go talk to confederate captives, a contrail from a jet is clearly visible in the sky above.
  
  
• Continuity: During the first sequences of shots of General John Buford (played by Sam Elliott) arriving at Gettysburg, his pipe shifts from his mouth between shots and during one shot the pipe smoke is visible well below his pipe.
  
  
• Factual errors: During the beginning of the Confederate cannonade at the outset of "Pickett's Charge", Gen. Meade's headquarters is shown as being hit by a cannonball. In a later shot, the house is still completely intact.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: When General Reynolds is hit by the rebel sharpshooter, he falls from his horse onto his back. A soldier rushes to his side and cradles Reynolds' head with his left hand. A blood pack is clearly visible in the soldier's hand. The soldier moves his hand back, and a minute later his hand is shown with blood on it.
  
  
• Factual errors: Early in the fight by Buford's cavalry the camera pans past a U.S. flag behind a group of cavalry men. This is odd, as cavalry did not normally carry a full sized U.S. flag. Further, the flag itself is the size carried by infantry, not the smaller cavalry standard.
  
  
• Factual errors: In the film, Moxley Sorrell holds the rank of major. During the war Major Sorrell was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on June 18, 1863, 13 days before the battle of Gettysburg.
  
  
• Factual errors: In the film, Harrison is said to be an actor, when in fact the real Harrison was not an actor. It is said that the mistake (not only in this film but in other works as well) comes from an incident where one of Harrison's friend bet him $50.00 that he would not walk on stage during a performance of a play in Richmond. Harrison did indeed walk across the stage interrupting the play and walked away $50.00 richer
  
  
• Factual errors: Cushing's Battery (A Battery, 4th US Artillery) in the Federal lines during Picket's Charge is shown using 12-pound Napoleons. In actuality the battery was equipped with 3-inch Ordnance Rifles. There is significant visual difference between the two types of guns.
  
  
• Factual errors: Ted Turner, aged 55, portrays a clean-shaven Col. Waller T. Patton. However, Patton was about 28 years old on July 3rd, 1863, and sported a full beard. Also, Patton is depicted as being mortally wounded by a rifleman's bullet at the climax of the charge. In fact, the only wound he received was from artillery shrapnel to his face, which eventually killed him on July 21st.
  
  
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Most of Brig. Gen. Buford's troopers are seen loading their weapons through the muzzle, but the Union cavalry was in fact equipped with Sharps and Burnside carbines, all of which were breech loaders. However, while the majority of all armed forces were equipped with up-to-date weaponry, more than 20% would enter combat with out-dated weaponry. Plenty of Union cavalry troopers were equipped with muzzle-loading carbines. In fact, the rush to equip nearly all cavalry troopers with breech-loaders did not get underway until well after Gettysburg.
  
  
• Continuity: At the start of the film and through the first day (July 1) JL Chamberlin wears the shoulder straps of a Lt. Col. (silver oak leaves). But on the second day (and until the end) he wears the shoulder straps of a full Colonel (eagles), a rank he received 5/20/63.
  
  
• Factual errors: In the opening sequence, dated "June 30, 1863", Harrison spots Federal cavalry and reports to Longstreet and Lee in daylight later that day. In fact, Harrison spotted them on June 28, and reported to Longstreet and Lee during the night of June 28-29.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: In the scene in which Longstreet arrives at Lee's headquarters on the afternoon of the first day, shadows from the stage lights can be seen on the wall of the farmhouse, cast by a light source off camera to the left. The position of the sun is to the right of the scene, however, and natural shadows can be seen, cast right to left.
  
  
• Continuity: As General Longstreet gives battle instructions to his division commanders (Pickett, Peddigrew and Trimble), General Pickett is seen holding flowers that appear and disappear throughout the scene.
  
  
• Continuity: When Reynold is first seen, he has 3 men riding with him, but when he pulls up at the seminary he has 6.
  
  
• Factual errors: On the evening of June 30th, as Buford considers his options for the next morning, Col. Devin reminds him that he had held 6 hours against Longstreet at Thoroughfare Gap. However, neither Buford nor any of the men under his command had been present at Thoroughfare Gap.
  
  
• Factual errors: After the first day of the battle General Hancock's character tells General Buford's character that he had sent the killed General Reynold's body to "his folks in Lancaster" and that Buford should write them a letter to which Buford agreed. Reynold's mother and father died in 1843 and 1853 respectively.
  
  
• Factual errors: General Kemper mentions to Col. Freemantle that Longstreet lost all three of his children to scarlet fever. He also say the youngest was ten years old. In reality Longstreet had four children, three of whom died. The youngest was one year old. His oldest son, Garland, was thirteen years old at the time but survived the illness. They died in January 1862.
  
  

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