Upcoming film marks valor of VMI cadets

Field of Lost Shoes (Mark Wilson, Wikipedia)

A movie about the May 1864 Battle of New Market may make its debut in Richmond, Va., next year. Focused on the stories of seven Virginia Military Institute cadets, “Field of Lost Shoes” revolves around the cadets’ heroic charge. Ten cadets died of wounds suffered on the Shenandoah Valley battlefield, where many of them lost their shoes in the deep mud. The Confederate victory pushed Union forces out of the valley. • Article

Blood, sweat and special effects: The making of a Civil War visitor center film

• First of two parts

The special effects alone are frighteningly realistic.

Paintballs filled with dust fly through the air, mimicking bullets as they make contact. A shell burst brings terrors to advancing troops, who move around fake boulders put in place by the film crew.

Then there’s the artillery.

Black powder and a small charge, buried in a pot, push up sod and cork to approximate explosions.

“They don’t blow it right where you are walking. Maybe a foot away. It doesn’t hurt you,” said Travis Devine (left), 26, of Sweetwater, Tenn.

Devine, caked in fake blood and dirt, was among about 175 re-enactors taking part in a film shoot in June for a new film at the visitor center at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. Officials expect it to debut before the 150th anniversary of the failed Union assault during the 1864 Atlanta Campaign.

Devine has taken part in other films, including one that will debut in October at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.

While Devine says film shoots are fun, he realizes there’s a serious dimension to what he does, given the ghastly cost of the Civil War.

“When you are doing a historical film, you try to do your best in honor to the guys that fought,” said Devine. “You want to make it the best you can.”

The effort begins and ends with accuracy.

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield’s Chief Ranger Anthony Winegar and historian Willie Johnson traveled to Chitwood Farm in Resaca, Ga., for filming of several battle scenes, including the fighting at Cheatham Hill and Pigeon Hill.

They provided details of the Confederate earthworks at the “Dead Angle” on Cheatham Hill, scene of a fierce Union assault on June 27, 1864. Hundreds of men were killed or wounded in the dogged, but failed, attack waves.

“We knew the story of Kennesaw Mountain would be a story of earthworks,” said Winegar. “I said if we are going to do it, we need to do it right. We needed to show how substantial those lines were in 1864.”

Working from those plans, executive producer and director Chris Wheeler of Denver-based Great Divide Pictures hired a contractor to build a re-created section of the “Dead Angle.”

It took a week for the contractor, a Civil War re-enactor, to haul in dirt and build the fortifications, which includes pine logs and poles.

“We found some places where the terrain was pretty close” to the actual battlefield, Winegar told the Picket. “That’s the closest I have ever seen to textbook 1864 earthworks.”

Illinois regiments assaulted the “Dead Angle,” a relative weak spot in the Rebel line.

“There were no mutual fields of fire by the defending troops. Everywhere else the Confederate line is in a zigzag fashion to support each other,” said Winegar.

In addition to combat, the new visitor center film -- entitled “Kennesaw: One Last Mountain” -- will convey the war’s impact on Georgia civilians and two former slaves, Emma Stephenson and Austin Gilmore.

Stephenson served as a 17th Army Corps nurse. She fell ill while caring for white soldiers and later died. Gilmore enlisted in the 111th Illinois Infantry to fight for freedom. A stretcher bearer, Austin removed bodies of wounded and dead soldiers during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. He was mortally wounded while rescuing a soldier.

Wheeler and his 25-member crew also filmed in Dalton, Ga., and at Pickett’s Mill Battlefield Historic Site.

Wheeler, whose company has made many films for the National Park Service, said special effects and animated graphics give productions like the recent “Shiloh: Fiery Trial” a certain wow factor.

“(But) We’re not trying to sugar coat or minimize the battle,” he said. “If you were still alive in 1864, fighting in this war, you had to be one tough SOB.”

“I’m not sure how to get my head around the carnage. It happened in our our back yards,” Wheeler added. “We are trying to convey and touch this nerve to get people interested.”

Great Divide Pictures paid most re-enactors about $50 a day, plus expenses, including food and powder, for the Kennesaw project. “These guys don’t do it for the money. We wish we could pay them more,” said the director.

The crew has worked with the same group of “hardcore” re-enactors.

“They practice how you react after being shot and what is the reaction when you have artillery going off,” said Wheeler.

Winegar did double duty at the film shoot.

A re-enactor with a Federal hardcore unit, he “got blown up twice and shot once, much to the satisfaction of several of my employees, I’m sure.”

Winegar, historian Brad Quinlin and park historian Johnson helped ensure accuracy.

They asked some re-enactors to remove hats or leather haversacks that wouldn’t have been worn by soldiers in that war theater.

“We had some younger children that were there in support roles as musicians. There was one scene at Cheatham Hill, having a 10 or 11 year old face there, we politely moved him to another part of the scene,” said Winegar. “It’s a delicate balance. You want to keep that spirit in a young kid. At same time, you don’t want to give the American public who views the film the wrong impression.”

A few women who disguised their gender were among those filmed.

Scott MacKay, president of the Kennesaw Mountain Trail Club, which does vital trail improvements in the battlefield, witnessed filming in Resaca, some of it in rainy conditions.

“There was smoke, explosives, soldiers and shouting,” MacKay said. “There is some standing around. I have been to other shoots. You feel like you are in 1864 until shortly after they say ‘cut.’ You see the smart phones come out and them checking it.”

Wheeler said work begins a year before shooting.

“The planning of these Civil War movies are monsters,” he said. “I know in my head what we want. We have a script. That said, we’re also flexible. Sometimes things happen you don’t anticipate -- and you must take advantage.”

The principal day of shooting for the Shiloh film was a “complete disaster” brought on by severe storms.

“The whole day was shot as far as I planned. (But) There was a silver lining,” Wheeler said. “There were incredible shots of guys in the rain … the mood that was created by that.”

Like others, Travis Devine portrayed both Confederate and Union soldiers in the Kennesaw filming.

Days are long and there were moments of hurry up and wait.

“One scene we shot almost 15 times. There would be noise in the background, someone was smiling or they could not hear it,” he said.

Devine is a member of a mainstream re-enacting unit.

“I’m working on my impression to get better,” he told the Picket. “I do campaign, but I don’t have the best of uniforms yet. It’s a work in progress.”

Devine said he’s satisfied with the modest pay.

“It pays for the gas and you have fun and you are doing something for the battlefield.”

CREDITS: Photos 2, 3 and 4 courtesy of Scott MacKay. All others courtesy of Travis Devine.

COMING SOON: These aren't your grandfather's visitor center films. Parks are telling a more inclusive story about the Civil War.

Spotlight on Fort Pulaski, Savannah

Fort Pulaski's scarred brick walls are reminders of what advancements in technology can do to affect the fortunes of war.

Rifled Union cannons brought about the surrender of the Confederate-held masonry fort near Savannah, Ga., on April 11, 1862.

Beginning Tuesday, Fort Pulaski National Monument will commemorate the siege and the 150th anniversary of the fort's fall with tours, living histories and the premiere of a film about the war's implications for Savannah.

$5 boat tours explaining the naval campaign for Pulaski and the city are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. They depart Tybee Island at 11 a.m. and last about 2.5 hours. Seating is limited. Ken Johnston, executive director of the National Civil War Naval Museum, will present a free lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

A free program at 7 p.m. Wednesday focuses on life in Savannah during the conflict.

Local filmmaker Michael Jordan's film, "Savannah in the Civil War," will premiere at 7:30 p.m. Thursday on a 26-foot-wide screen in the fort's parade ground.

(Photo, Kim Michael Polote as Susie King Taylor, the only African-American woman to publish a memoir of her wartime experiences.)

Jordan told the Picket he spent about two years making the 90-minute film. He employed about 30 local residents, actors and friends. It includes historic photos of the city and the reading of diaries.

"It tells the entire story of Savannah. From parties around squares, to the battles for the forts, and the losses during the war," Jordan said. "There is plenty of Confederate heritage, but there also an unapologetic look at what it was like to be black during the Civil War."

Jordan said there is more to Savannah's story than being spared by Union Gen. William T. Sherman.

Visitors usually go to the area's forts, but they likely don't think of the war's impact on residents, he said. "It took a huge toll on Savannah."

(Photo above, Jim Dunigan portraying Lt. William Dixon of the Savannah Republican Blues, a militia unit)

Admission for the film is $5 for adults. Children 15 and under are free. DVDs of the movie will be on sale. The fort also will screen a 15-minute documentary on archaeological research at the site of the Battle of Monteith Swamp, just west of Savannah.

For $5, visitors on Friday can take in a film and presentation on the African-American soldiers of the Civil War. There will be a special program by the 54th Massachusetts Civil War Re-enactment Regiment.

The week's events conclude Saturday and Sunday at Pulaski and Battery Park on Tybee Island with living histories. The program includes a children's drill, artillery demonstrations, fort tours, musket demonstration and music. The fee is $5.

Fort Pulaski blocked upriver access to Savannah. Fortifications such as Pulaski were considered invincible, but the new technology of rifled artillery changed that.

Capt. Quincy A. Gillmore, a Federal engineer officer, began the bombardment on April 10 after Col. Charles H. Olmstead refused to surrender.

"Within hours, Gillmore’s rifled artillery had breached the southeast scarp of the fort. Some of his shells began to damage the traverse shielding the magazine in the northwest bastion," according to the National Park Service. "Realizing that if the magazine exploded the fort would be seriously damaged and the garrison would suffer severe casualties, Olmstead surrendered after 2 pm on April 11."

• Fort Pulaski 150th anniversary details

Call Fort Pulaski National Monument at 912-786-5787 for updates on the programs or for any required reservations. Images from "Savannah in the Civil War" courtesy of Cosmos Mariner Productions.

Film tells story of 1864 battle near Savannah, team's archaeological finds

Archaeologists have uncovered and analyzed bullets, canister shot, gun parts and soldiers' personal belongings that will help tell the story of a little-known action west of Savannah, Ga., during the final days of Sherman's March to the Sea.

About 350 Confederates slowed the advance of 12,000 members of the Union 20th Corps for seveal hours on Dec. 9, 1864, at the Battle of Monteith Swamp (Monteith Station). Although it was a relatively minor confrontation, it delayed the taking of a vital Southern railroad for a day.

The Federals were able to force the Rebels off the field near the Chatham and Effingham county lines, employing an effective flanking movement in the snake-infested swamp.

The LAMAR Institute team found the rusted and smashed remains of a Union soldier's Springfield rifle (below) in that portion of the battle.

"I guess someone lost the gun. It was pretty much laying in the swamp with the barrel still sticking out," said Dan Elliott, director of the non-profit archaeological group.

The group's research and the battle are detailed in a 15-minute film that will premiere April 12 at Fort Pulaski National Monument, which next week is marking the 150th anniversary of the fort's fall to Union forces.

The LAMAR Institute in 2010 received a $40,000 grant from the American Battlefield Protection Program of the National Park Service to “conduct archeology fieldwork to identify and document the battlefield as well as foster public outreach.”

The ABPP’s mission is to "safeguard and preserve significant American battlefield lands for present and future generations as symbols of individual sacrifice and national heritage."

( Previous Picket coverage of the battle )

Local historian and documentary producer Michael L. Jordan worked with Elliott and re-enactors to make the film, entitled "Stalling Sherman's Army: the Battle at Monteith Swamp."

"It was a real chokepoint," Jordan told the Picket of the Confederate artillery-supported positions.

Union forces were anxious to lay siege to Savannah.

"When they got here they were hungry, tired and running out of supplies," said Jordan, owner of Cosmos Mariner Productions. "A small number of Confederate troops forced thousands of Yankees into one spot."

The team, working in late 2010 and early 2011, found about 50 bullets, most of them Yankee, the rifle, canister rounds, an artillery friction primer, buttons and personal items, including jewelry, the latter found at the site of an encampment occupied by Federal soldiers after the battle.

"It's always fun to go where we are supposed to find something and be able to prove it," Elliott said, who expects to submit his formal report on the project during the summer.

The battle was typical of desperate Confederate efforts to stall Union advances on Savannah.

The small force felled trees and built an abatis and trench lines for its flanks. The Rebels used a long line of swamp to its advantage against an overwhelming force.

On Dec.9, 1864, the entire 20th Corps (12,000 regulars) under Brig. Gen. Alpheus S. Williams advanced down Monteith Road from Zion Church. Around noon they hit Confederate positions.

“The sounds of fighting could be heard for miles, as units of the Twentieth Corps began to stack up like an accordion along the narrow road,” historian Barry Sheehy writes.

A flanking movement became bogged down in marsh and reinforcements flooded in to assist the 61st Ohio, the 31st Wisconsin and the 82nd Ohio. The going was slow.

Eventually, a flanking attack on the Rebel right bought some high ground and sent the Confederates out of their entrenchments, across Monteith Road and to Harrison’s Place, where they fought some more.

By late afternoon, the defenders were gone, leaving knapsacks and camp equipment but taking their colors and four guns with them. The Confederates had about 14 killed and four captured in the six-hour battle. Union losses were one or two dead and six wounded.

"We have a pretty good understanding of where the battle is, based on the distribution of bullets," said Elliott.

Elliott is heartened by the fact that a local resident whose family has owned much of the battlefield since the 1870s is committed to its preservation.

That family has a trove of artifacts picked up over the years. Most of what was documented and analyzed by the LAMAR Institute was on their property.

But that doesn't mean parts of the battlefield in private hands aren't at risk.

Elliott cites the construction of a couple retail establishments and the anticipated rebirth of housing developments in the area.

He hopes the film and project will be the first step in drawing attention to threats to Savannah's wartime defenses. He'd like to see the movie shown on public television.

"Very little is done to preserve the area," Elliott said.

The archaeologist will attend the premiere of the film, made in conjunction with his research. Fort Pulaski that same evening will premiere another film by Jordan called "Savannah in the Civil War."

Observations of the war's 150th anniversary are "a good opportunity to tell the stories of the Civil War," Elliott said. "These are the resources we need to protect."

Images from the film courtesy of LAMAR Institute and Cosmos Mariner Productions. Fort Pulaski National Monument will air the two movies beginning at 7:30 p.m., April 12, on a wide screen in the parade ground. Admission for the screenings is $5 for adults. Children 15 and under are free.

• Fort Pulaski 150th anniversary events

Lost movie on Lincoln found in barn

A contractor cleaning out an old New Hampshire barn he was about to demolish found the only known copy of a 1913 silent film about Abraham Lincoln. "When Lincoln Paid" was directed by and starred Francis Ford, the older brother of famed director John Ford ("The Grapes of Wrath," "The Quiet Man"). In addition to battle scenes between Union and Confederate forces, the film's plot includes the mother of a dead Union soldier requesting that Lincoln pardon a Confederate soldier whom she had initially turned in. • Article