"Lots of blue pants" Topic

So I re watched Gettysburg, it's been a long time now. And it looks and sounds Great on Bluray.

But I noticed just how many blue pants the rebs have in that movie. In some scenes at least 50% must have had blue pants

OK, I wanted to leave this alone,but I can't. I was a reenactor in the Stonewall Brigade at the time. We had over 100 members. We were going to boycott the movie because Terry Daily was running the reenactors. Ted Turner fired him and hired Brian Pohanka a very respected person in the hobby. I met him he went on to do Cold Mt. I know almost everyone in the scene of soldiers before Pickets charge. I couldn't drop everything and commit to at least a week of filming. As a reenactors I was appalled by how awful it was. In the end I was glad I wasn't in this turkey. When I was in the Brigade none of us wore blue Yankee pants. I really don't want to say anymore. It is awful.

One correction in my anger I said Terry Daily. Terry was commander of the first national reg. a good guy. I can't remember the first name of the other Daily.

Good of you to come back and make the correction. Best to use the edit function though, when possible. Once something's in print,it's imprinted,so to speak. "Edit" is available for one hour after posting. I've used it. Many times. : )

I know I'm an amateur when it come to the ACW compared to re-enactors but didn't the Confederates often wear blue pants they'd captured from Union supplies?

My question too, when the "official" Confederate uniform had the infantry wearing medium blue trousers.

The Rebs did wear captured pants but not as often as one would suspect

By 1863 their logistical chain was a lot better than 1862 – and I an mot sure any Confederate troops were issues with the whole official uniform

Want the REAL story behind the 'too many blues pants'? The Reb reenactors were not very good at wheeling and oblique marching. During the rehearsals the Rebs just could not do this well enough to suit the producers. They used the National regiment (US reenactors who are the best drilled out of any ACW unit) to step in and portray the Rebs. The costume department supplied the coats and the trousers were from the normal Union individual's Union uniform, Sky blue. The National Regiment performed the maneuver correctly the first time. Done!

I have a numbers of letters from my Great Grandfather who was in the 20th Tennessee. In one he states that he and his company received some "liberated" Union trousers, and promptly bleached them out and re dyed them a "brownish" color.

Probably a good idea. On a battlefield, smoke tends to collect about two feet off the ground. If you see a mass of blue legs moving beneath the smoke, the troops are probably Federals. A unit of Confederates wearing blue trousers could easily be the recipient of friendly fire.

IIRC, Confederate troops were discouraged from wearing capture Union uniforms (pants, etc) to prevent 'blue on blue' events. Occasionally, if in dire circumstance, you might see pants worn. But that became much rarer after 1862.

As for "Gettysburg" the movie: Its…. Ok… Some decent parts but a whole lot wooden acting and abysmal directing. And too many bad (and I mean BAD) crepe beards (or as a friend called it "The Attack of the Crepe Beard"). As for the other 2 Turner ACW vanity films ("Ironclads" and "Gods and Generals"), the less said, the better….

Ironicon – I rather enjoyed this movie. However I'm not a reenactor, please enlighten me as to why it is so awful? Seriously, I'm curious.

I would say "turkey" was more than harsh where this film was concerned.

There may be things history and/or reenactment folks disagree with – we are all aware of the shots of the 250 pound Confederate, for example but overall it was and still is the best portrayal of a Civil War battle there has ever been.

You may not like the script, mega movies seldom have a decent script and I find the music annoying after a while but as an overall spectacle it stands alone.

Thanks for all the Inside info people! good ground, very good ground, I mean good stuff, very good stuff.

Hmmm, I'm a bit dubious of some of the information being posted here. As I recall the 'reenactor wrangler' for Gettysburg was a fellow named Dale Fetzer. Brian Pohanka (a great gentleman and historian who tragically died in 2005) played General Webb in the Pickett's Charge scenes, but I don't think he took over control of the reenactors.

Also, while the National Regiment is a fine group of fellows EVERYONE knows that the Mifflin Guard is the best drilled unit in reenacting (or at least is was back then). :)

In any case, as far as blue pants go, there were about 3,000 reenactors used to portray Pickett's Charge in the movie and the National Regiment could not have fielded more that 3-400 men, so the vast majority were 'real' Confederate reenactors.

As I understand it, Lee's army was mostly clothed in uniforms either made in Britain or made of British cloth, with dark blue-gray jackets and light-medium blue trousers.
Not so?

Whilst none of my Confederates have blue trousers ,it is most confusing for newbies like me when reputable books like the Osprey Union Infantry man V Confederate Infantry depicts the Confederate soldier wearing blue trousers.Other books particularly olde titles also depict soldiers from the south wearing blue trousers.
As a former 're enactor I did wear blue trousers as I had to switch sides during the battle as I was one of the pyrotechnics team .

The amount of blue pants were ridiculous, but it's part of the nostalgia now. Gods and Generals were more accurate when it came to uniforms but much worse as a film…

In the archives of the Authentic Campaigner is a thread that deals in length with this issue. It is well worth the read.
link

Not to correct Scott or d effinger, but the USV were the best drill troops.
As I understand what I happened was the CSA folks were unhappy with the way they were being treated and many quit the project. The Federals were then called on to fill out the numbers.
BTW – I too was there for most of the filming. I'm the guy with the green flag.

Now you know why you can't always trust first person accounts.