Greatest Civil War films
Or more precisely as many films (and TV shows) as I can find (excluding documentaries) about, set or with characters shaped by the civil war. Despite the title of this list it contains not only the good films, but the bad and several downright ugly ones as well!
1-72 Films seen which are set wholly or mostly during the civil war and where it plays an important part in the story being told.
73-142 Films seen which are completely set within the civil war era. These may be partially or completely set during the civil war itself but where the war is not really an important part of the story. Other films set in the post-war period include solid references to the war or have major characters who are veterans of the war.
143-156 Films seen which have flashback scenes set during the war or important references to it, but where the film as a whole is not actually set during the civil war era.
157+ Films not yet seen or which I don't recall seeing but otherwise match one of the three categories above. My intention, if possible, is to watch all of these as well.
Within each of the first three categories, the films are loosely ordered with my favourites first. The final category is ordered by year with the most recent films first.
1-72 Films seen which are set wholly or mostly during the civil war and where it plays an important part in the story being told.
73-142 Films seen which are completely set within the civil war era. These may be partially or completely set during the civil war itself but where the war is not really an important part of the story. Other films set in the post-war period include solid references to the war or have major characters who are veterans of the war.
143-156 Films seen which have flashback scenes set during the war or important references to it, but where the film as a whole is not actually set during the civil war era.
157+ Films not yet seen or which I don't recall seeing but otherwise match one of the three categories above. My intention, if possible, is to watch all of these as well.
Within each of the first three categories, the films are loosely ordered with my favourites first. The final category is ordered by year with the most recent films first.
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- DirectorVictor FlemingGeorge CukorSam WoodStarsClark GableVivien LeighThomas MitchellA sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.An absolute classic. The scene with Scarlett moving through the rows of wounded soldiers at the railway marshalling yard in Atlanta whilst the camera slowly pans out to show more and more wounded men and then finally the tattered Battle Flag always brings a lump to my throat.
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsMatthew BroderickDenzel WashingtonCary ElwesRobert Gould Shaw leads the U.S. Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices from both his own Union Army, and the Confederates.The story of the 54th Massachusetts Coloured Infantry. The battle scenes are excellent and both Morgan Freeman and Denzil Washington, in particular, are superb.
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodEli WallachLee Van CleefA bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.Without doubt the greatest spaghetti western ever made. Clint, Lee and Eli searching for Confederate gold with the civil war ever present in the background. Great film with an excellent musical score. Superb.
- DirectorRon MaxwellStarsTom BerengerMartin SheenStephen LangIn 1863, the Northern and Southern forces fight at Gettysburg in the decisive battle of the American Civil War.The dialogue is a bit painful and much of the facial hair is awful, but the set pieces are incredible. This is the first civil war film I ever saw on the big screen and well worth it it was too.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodSondra LockeChief Dan GeorgeMissouri farmer Josey Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and winds up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his family.Excellent post-war western with Clint Eastwood,a veteran of Bloody Bill Anderson's Missouri raiders refusing to surrender and then pursued by Bill McKinney's Kansas red-legs through Indian Territory and into Texas.
- DirectorClyde BruckmanBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonMarion MackGlen CavenderAfter being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.Wonderful silent movie with Buster Keaton attempting to save his girl and his train from Yankee spies.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneWilliam HoldenConstance TowersIn 1863, a Union outfit is sent behind Confederate lines in Mississippi to destroy enemy railroads but a captive southern belle and the unit's doctor cause frictions within ranks.I grew up watching John Wayne and cavalry films so this is one of my favourites. Haven't seen it for a while, but excellent scenes which spring to mind are the Confederate attack from the train and the 'battle' with the the cadets.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsTobey MaguireSkeet UlrichJewelDuring the American Civil War, two friends join the Bushwhackers, a militant group loyal to the Confederacy.Hugely underated film about the Missouri/Kansas border conflicts during the war.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsAudie MurphyBill MauldinDouglas DickTruncated adaptation of Stephen Crane's novel about a Civil War Union soldier who stuggles to find the courage to fight in the heat of battle.Much maligned, but I don't really know why. Audie Murphy is perfect and the battle scenes very well done.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDaniel Day-LewisSally FieldDavid StrathairnAs the Civil War rages on, U.S President Abraham Lincoln struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on his decision to emancipate the slaves.Slightly overlong, but nevertheless fascinating story of how the 13th Amendment was passed by the House of Representatives. Daniel Day-Lewis is superb as Lincoln.
- DirectorAnthony MinghellaStarsJude LawNicole KidmanRenée ZellwegerIn the waning days of the American Civil War, a wounded soldier embarks on a perilous journey back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina to reunite with his sweetheart.Pretty good adaptation of a very good book. Jude Law deserts from the Army of Northern Virginia and tries to get back home to Cold Mountain where Nicole Kidman is waiting for him. The scenes of the Battle of the Crater at the beginning of the film are spectacular.
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsCharlton HestonRichard HarrisJim HuttonIn 1864, due to frequent Apache raids from Mexico into the U.S., a Union officer decides to illegally cross the border and destroy the Apache, using a mixed army of Union troops, Confederate POWs, civilian mercenaries, and scouts.Set in the last six months of the civil war, prison camp commandant Charlton Heston, against orders, leads a motley unit of prison guards, Confederate prisoners, coloured troops and criminals across the border into Mexico in pursuit of an Apache raiding party. Richard Harris is very good as the Confederate captain who promises to serve only 'until the Apache is taken or dead'. Charlton Heston plays himself as usual and there's an excellent supporting cast with many well known names and faces. Overall, one of the better Galvanized Yankee films.
- DirectorHugo FregoneseStarsVan HeflinAnne BancroftRichard BooneA group of Confederate prisoners escape to Canada and plan to rob the banks and set fire to the small town of Saint Albans, Vermont. To get the lay of the land, their leader spends a few days in the town and finds he is getting drawn into its life--especially into that of an attractive widow and her son.Very good account of the raid on St. Albans, Vermont by escaped confederate prisoners in late 1864. There's not a great deal of action but the film benefits from an excellent cast led by Van Heflin, Richard Boone and Anne Bancroft.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioCameron DiazDaniel Day-LewisIn 1862, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father's killer.Very good story about gang warfare and revenge culminating in the New York draft riots of 1863.
- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsJames StewartDoug McClureGlenn CorbettA Virginia farmer who has vowed to remain neutral during the Civil War is spurred into action when his youngest son is taken by Union soldiers.Excellent anti-war film with James Stewart trying to hold his family together whilst the war rages around his Virginia farm.
- DirectorElliot SilversteinStarsJames GregoryJoanne LinvilleRex HolmanWhile headed home, a Confederate soldier meets an anguished woman at the end of the Civil War.Nice little Twilight Zone episode with an endless stream of weary soldiers walking down a dusty road beside a derelict mansion. But where does the road lead to?
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishMae MarshHenry B. WalthallThe Stoneman family finds its friendship with the Camerons affected by the Civil War, both fighting in opposite armies. The development of the war in their lives plays through to Lincoln's assassination and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan.D.W.Griffiths 1915 masterpiece set before, during and immediately after the Civil War. Clearly racist but still a remarkable piece of film making for the time.
- DirectorSean McNamaraStarsMichael KrebsJake LawsonSean MarquetteA group of teenage cadets sheltered from war at the Virginia Military Institute must confront the horrors of an adult world when they are called upon to defend the Shenandoah Valley.An over sentimental, but well made fictionalized account of the VMI's involvement at the Battle of Newmarket in 1864. The story is based around a group of cadets, three of whom are killed in the thick of the fighting. I rather enjoyed this one.
- StarsPaul Andre GibbonsJarrod EmickFrederic ForrestThe story of the most notorious Confederate prisoner of war camp in the American Civil War.Interesting depiction of the prison life of a group of Massachusetts soldiers interned at Andersonville after being captured at Cold Harbor.
- CreatorJohn LeekleyStarsStacy KeachJohn HammondJulia DuffyAmerica just before and during the Civil War, as seen through the eyes of an artist correspondent.Haven't seen this for nearly 30 years and don't remember too much about it other than that it was pretty good.
- CreatorDouglas HeyesStarsKirstie AlleyDavid CarradinePhilip CasnoffThe story of two friends and their families on opposite sides of the American Civil War.Haven't seen this for nearly 25 years, again pretty good on the whole.
- DirectorWilliam Cameron MenziesStarsJames CraigBarbara PaytonGuy MadisonTwo old friends find themselves on opposite sides during the Civil War in a desperate battle atop an impregnable mountain.Two old friends from West Point find themselves on either side of an artillery dual fighting over a Georgia mountain which dominates Sherman's supply lines. Nicely done, with Barbara Payton playing the love interest.
- DirectorLewis R. FosterStarsRonald ReaganRhonda FlemingBruce BennettDespite their fighting on opposite sides during the Civil War, brothers Vance and Jeb Britton have to set their differences aside in order to survive an Indian attack.Confederate Cavalry captain Ronald Reagan leads his troop against apaches besieging a town in Texas defended by his brother, a Union colonel. Bruce Bennet plays his brother and Rhonda Fleming his love interest. A rather nice little civil war western.
- DirectorGary RossStarsMatthew McConaugheyGugu Mbatha-RawMahershala AliA disillusioned Confederate army deserter returns to Mississippi and leads a militia of fellow deserters and women in an uprising against the corrupt local Confederate government.I really wanted to enjoy Free State of Jones, but unfortunately, that is not the case. The story, apparantly based on a true incident, of farmers, deserters and runaway slaves declaring a free state in part of South-Eastern Mississippi is certainly interesting and I will admit completely new to me. However, whilst the film starts off promisingly with some impressive scenes, by the time it had finished I had the impression that I'd been watching an overlong documentary rather than a feature film which, alas, is not what I was after.
- DirectorDon SiegelStarsClint EastwoodGeraldine PageElizabeth HartmanWhile recuperating in a Confederate girls' boarding school, a Union soldier cons his way into each of the lonely women's hearts, causing them to turn on each other, and eventually, on him.More of a psychological thriller than a war film. Clint Eastwood's wounded Yankee corporal spreads jealousy and distrust amongst the staff and pupils of the Southern girls boarding school where he is recuperating from his wounds.
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsNicole KidmanKirsten DunstElle FanningThe unexpected arrival of a wounded Union soldier at a girls school in Virginia during the American Civil War leads to jealousy and betrayal.Remake of the 1971 film of the same name with Colin Farrell in the Clint Eastwood role. It's very much a trimmed down version of the original, but unfortunately, not as good.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsWilliam HoldenRichard WidmarkJanice RuleDuring the Civil War, Mexican cattleman Alvarez Kelly supplies the Union with cattle until Confederate Colonel Tom Rossiter's hungry men force Kelly to change his customers.Interesting twist on a civil war film with William Holden and Richard Widmark attempting to drive a heard of cattle through Grant's lines to feed Richmond.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsGlenn FordStella StevensMelvyn DouglasWhen A Union Army outfit of misfits and rejects is sent to the Western territory, Southern spies try to figure out what they're doing there.A real rarity - a civil war comedy. A company of Union army misfits is tasked with saving a shipment of gold from Confederate partisans and a beautiful spy.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsClark GableYvonne De CarloSidney PoitierAmantha Starr grows up as a privileged Southern belle in the ante-bellum South, but after her father dies broke, her world is destroyed when she discovers that her mother was Black.Yvonne de Carlo plays a southern belle sold into slavery after the death of her father when she learns that her mother was his black mistress. Clark Cable is the Louisiana plantation owner who buys her. She becomes his mistress until she learns about his dark past. Sidney Poitier is the privilaged slave who joins the Union army when New Orleans falls to Benjamin Butler.
- DirectorBernard L. KowalskiStarsDavid JanssenJean SebergLee J. CobbMacho Callahan breaks out of a Confederate military prison, intent on revenge against the man who conscripted him into the army. Before he gets started, he kills another man in a petty dispute and is in turn pursued by the vengeful widow.A rather strange film which I suspect would never get made today. David Janssen, the apparant hero of the story is an army deserter who breaks out of a Confederate POW camp leaving dozens of Union prisoners to die, murders a crippled Confederate officer over a bottle of champagne, hangs the man who tricked him into enlisting, rapes the widow of the crippled officer and then falls in love with her, a love which is then reciprocated. Very odd indeed.
- 1954–19971hUnrated8.3 (19)TV EpisodeDirectorMichael O'HerlihyStarsJames MacArthurNick AdamsJack GingA lonely Confederate guard, Willie Prentiss, befriends his Union counterpart, Henry Jenkins, across the river and their friendship lasts through many incidents.Reasonable Disney adaptation of the story of Private Willy Prentiss (a very young Kurt Russell) who deserts the 1st Virginia after accidently shooting a Confederate Lieutenant. Part 1.
- 1954–19972h 12mUnrated7.6 (70)TV EpisodeDirectorMichael O'HerlihyStarsJames MacArthurNick AdamsJack GingWillie, a fifteen year old soldier, accidentally shoots an officer and runs off. After several adventures he ends up as a scout for the Conderate Mosby's Raiders.Continuation of Willie Prentiss's story where he is forced to enlist into Mosby's Maurauders after being picked up by one of Mosby's men and then finding that the Lieutenant he shot was Mosby himself. Part 2.
- 1954–19971hUnratedTV EpisodeJenkins is arrested as a spy. When he escapes, he is captured, and falls for Willie's cousin, Oralee.Third and final part of Willie's story where he helps to save the Maurauders from a yankee ambush at the wedding of his cousin with his best friend Henry Price, a yankee corporal.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJoseph CottenLinda DarnellJeff ChandlerForced by circumstances,Confederate POWs and Union soldiers join forces against Indians but old animosities resurface during their fragile alliance.POW Joseph Cotton and the remnants of his Georgia cavalry regiment sign up to fight as galvanized Yankees on the Western frontier.
At Fort Thorn he has conflicting loyalties to both the South and his new command.
Jeff Chandler, the commander of the fort, distrusts Cotton and wishes he was back east fighting the rebels. - DirectorWhitney HamiltonStarsVirginia NewcombMarcelle LeBlancCece KellyA woman disguises herself as her dead brother, Henry, in order to survive in the Confederate ranks during the Civil War. He marries a widow to rescue her from an arranged marriage. They keep each other's secrets and find true love.A women serving in Mosby's Rangers, disguised as a man, tries to return to the women she loves after being wounded and captured by Union forces. There are a lot of flashbacks and the story is sometimes hard to follow until you realize that this is a sequel to the 2005 film My Brother's War, which I haven't seen, but having read the synopsis clears up many questions.
It's by no means the greatest Civil War film, but at the end of the day , it has a nice story. I don't really see how anyone could possibly be fooled by our heroine/hero's gender and you need to ignore several obvious historical inaccuracies, but it's well worth a watch. - DirectorJames SheldonStarsGary MerrillVaughn TaylorMark TapscottIn June 1863, Confederate soldiers come across a warlock who can help bring victory to the Southern cause.A witch offers hope to the Confederacy towards the end of the civil war courtesy of the Twilight Zone.
- DirectorDavid Orrick McDearmonStarsRussell JohnsonPaul HartmanBartlett RobinsonAt a prominent club in Washington, D.C., a socialite argues about whether it would be possible to change history by traveling back in time. When he leaves the club he finds himself in 1865, on the night that President Lincoln will be shot.A socialite travels back in time to the night Lincoln is assassinated. But can he change the past?
- DirectorWilliam HaleStarsJames CaanMichael SarrazinBrenda ScottAt the beginning of the Civil War, seven friends embark on a cross-country journey in order to join the Confederate army.A group of seven texans leave their homes in West Texas to enlist in Hood's Texas Brigade in Virginia. They never make it that far but instead join Braxton Bragg's division as it heads for Shiloh. This is a pretty good civil war film, perhaps best remembered for its catchy theme tune and a cast including a very young James Caan and Harrison Ford.
- DirectorDaniel BarberStarsBrit MarlingHailee SteinfeldSam WorthingtonLeft without men in the dying days of the American Civil War, three women must fight to defend their home and themselves from two rogue soldiers who have broken off from the fast-approaching Union Army.With all of the men away in the war, three women, two sisters and a slave, try to defend themselves from a pair of Sherman's Bummers. It's an unusual film, but nicely done and well worth a watch.
- DirectorDavid PerraultStarsAlice IsaazKevin JanssensDéborah FrançoisWhen the American Civil War breaks out, a family of french settlers must abandon their Missouri home to flee and go back to Paris. They're escorted by a former mercenary whose troubled past soon catches up with him.A family of neutral French Settlers flee their Missouri home ahead of invading Union forces. L'état sauvage is an interesting but rather strange feminist western.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsHenry B. WalthallDorothy WestGrace HendersonA Confederate soldier shames his mother and sister by going AWOL during battle. His sister takes his place, with tragic results, leaving him to live out his life in shame, hiding to protect his family name.Early D.W. Griffith short about a young man who enlists in the confederate army, only to run back home when encountered by union cavalry. His sister, ashamed at her brothers actions, takes his place in the army whilst he hides at home behind closed shutters.
- DirectorFriz FrelengStarsMel BlancIn the American Civil War, Tweety is determined to get a message to General Lee, but Sylvester has been deployed to stop him.The civil war starring Looney Tunes Sylvester and Tweety Pie. Union army cat Sylvester attempts to stop confederate messenger bird Tweety Pie from delivering a vital message to General Lee.
- DirectorRon MaxwellStarsStephen LangRobert DuvallJeff DanielsThe rise and fall of confederate general Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, as he meets with military success against the Union from 1861 to 1863, when he is accidentally killed by his own soldiers.Prequel to Gettsyburg. Overly ambitious history of Stonewall Jackson from the outbreak of the Civil war until his death after Chancellorsville in 1863. Battle scenes are nowhere near as good as Gettysburg, Even at three and a half hours long it appears to be rushed and disjointed. Would have been better as a much longer mini-series or a shorter film covering a smaller period of time. Also with the exception of Jackson himself pretty much every other character was underdeveloped. In particular there were far too many Confederate Generals seen in a single scene only with barely a line of dialogue between them. This one is, alas, not recommended.
- DirectorAndré De TothStarsGary CooperPhyllis ThaxterDavid BrianMajor Lex Kearney becomes the North's first counterespionage agent as he tries to discover who's behind the theft of Union cavalry horses in Colorado during the Civil War.Reasonable B-Movie with Gary Cooper on a counter-espionage mission trying to track down a Union traitor.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsWilliam HoldenEleanor ParkerJohn ForsytheDuring the Civil War, a group of Confederates escapes from the Union POW camp at Fort Bravo but has to contend with the desert, the Mescalero Apaches and the pursuing Union troops.A small group of Confederate soldiers led by John Forsyth break out of a prisoner of war camp somewhere in the West. The escapees are tracked down by Union captain William Holden and then need to join forces to beat off an attack by hostile indians.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsClaire TrevorJohn WayneWalter PidgeonIn Kansas during the Civil War, opposing pro-Union and pro-Confederate camps clash and visiting Texan Bob Seton runs afoul of William Cantrell's Raiders.Variation of the Kansas/Missouri border war with John Wayne defending Lawrence, Kansas and his girl from Walter Pidgeon's Will 'Cantrilll'.
- DirectorDelbert MannStarsVirginia MadsenAlex Hyde-WhiteReed DiamondA naval battle between two large ships: the "Monitor" and the "Merrimack".TV movie about the Battle of Hampton Roads between the Monitor and the Merrimac. Can't remember a great deal about it but seem to recall that it was ok.
- 1954–19971hUnrated7.4 (146)TV EpisodeDirectorJames NeilsonStarsBrian KeithKevin CorcoranDarryl HickmanBased on real life "boy solider" Johnny Clem, a young boy joins the Union Army against the wishes of his father and fellow soldiers.Reasonable Disney adaptation of the story of John Lincoln Clem, the Drummer Boy of Shiloh. Part 1.
- 1954–19971hUnrated7.8 (60)TV EpisodeDirectorJames NeilsonStarsBrian KeithKevin CorcoranDarryl HickmanBased on real life "boy solider" Johnny Clem, a young boy is promoted to sergeant and encounters trouble while on a mission.Reasonable Disney adaptation of the story of John Lincoln Clem, the Drummer Boy of Shiloh. Part 2
- DirectorDenis SandersStarsBarry AtwaterRobert SherryCorey AllenA dramatic incident from the American Civil War when two Union soldiers and one Confederate soldier, facing each other at a battle front, agree on an hour's truce.Union and Rebel pickets hold a truce across a riverbank.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRobert YoungRandolph ScottDean JaggerWhen Edward Creighton leads the construction of the Western Union to unite East with West, he hires a Western reformed outlaw and a tenderfoot Eastern surveyor.Set in 1861 as the telegraph is laid across the West, Randolph Scott is torn between his job with Western Union and not betraying his brother, suposedly a confederate raider intent on destroying the telegraph and making himself rich at the same time.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsCharles WestBlanche SweetCharles Hill MailesUnion soldiers march off to battle amid cheering crowds. After the battle turns against the Union Army, one soldier runs away, hiding in his girlfriend's house. Ashamed of his cowardice, he finds his courage and crosses enemy lines to bring help to his trapped comrades.Early D.W. Griffith short about a young lieutenant who overcomes his initial fears to save the union army in his first battle. Pretty good little film with some impressive battle scenes.
- DirectorCy EndfieldStarsMichael CraigJoan GreenwoodMichael CallanDuring the Civil War a group of Union soldiers, a Confederate and a civilian escape the stockade using a hot-air balloon and end up on a strange Pacific island.Okay adaptation of Jules Verne's classic story. In the closing days of the civil war, three union soldiers and a war reporter break out of Libby prison in Richmond and escape in a confederate observation balloon taking with them a captured rebel sergeant. After losing control of the balloon, strong westerly winds blow them across the American continent and eventually deposits them on a mysterious island somewhere in the Pacific ocean.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsCharles WestCharles ArlingOwen MooreDuring the Civil War, a father living in a border state leaves to join the Union Army. After he leaves, Confederate troops forage on his property, where a soldier encounters one of his daughters. The father himself is wounded on a hazardous mission and must run for his life, pursued by Confederate soldiers.Early D.W. Griffith short about a young girl who saves a confederate soldier and her own father, a corporal in the union army. Very low budget, but a nice little film nevertheless.
- DirectorRudolph MatéStarsVan JohnsonJoanne DruRichard BooneCavalry Captain Farraday attempts to prevent the delivery of Gatling Guns into the hands of hostile Indians.Formulaic western set during the last few months of the war. Confederate spies steal a gattling gun and try to smuggle it through Union lines. Joanne Dru provides the love interest without her yellow ribbon.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsVictor MatureGuy MadisonRobert PrestonA trapper and his two partners work as scouts for a remote army fort where they witness an incompetent colonel's decision to throw his small unprepared garrison against Red Cloud's sizable Sioux force.Entertaining 'B' movie set in the far west during the Civil War. Victor Mature plays a backwoods tracker who becomes a scout for a remote army fort. Robert Preston is an incompetent colonel who takes over command of the fort after losing his own fort to the Sioux, having previously been sent west after losing a brigade at Shiloh. Anne Bancroft plays the colonel's wife and Victor Mature's love interest.
- DirectorBudd BoetticherStarsRandolph ScottVirginia MayoKaren SteeleIn 1864 Capt. John Hayes goes to Colorado to take over the stagecoach line and keep the flow of Western gold flowing and help the North win the Civil War.B-Movie western with Randolph Scott protecting a stagecoach line carrying Union gold shipments from southern sympathizers.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsAudie MurphyKathryn GrantHope EmersonUnion Army deserter, Lt. Hewitt, trains a rag tag band of all-female homesteaders to defend themselves against a Comanche tribe on the warpath.Audie Murphy serving in a union cavalry regiment at the end of the civil war deserts his post to return to his native Texas to warn a group of female homesteaders whose husbands are away fighting in the confederate army that a band of renegade indians is on the warpath. Initially mistrusted and considered a traitor by all he eventually wins the ladies over, trains them to fight the indians and saves the day. An entertaining if fairly average B western.
- DirectorWilliam BerkeStarsAnn SavageAlan CurtisEdward BrophyAnn Shelby, whose family is allied with the notorious William Quantrill, turns outlaw to revenge herself on a renegade Indian who killed her brother.Pleasant enough western with Ann Savage playing a pro-southern Missouri girl who despite being pursued by Union cavalry for passing information onto Quantrill's raiders, then falls in love with a Yankee captain.
- DirectorLew AyresStarsJames DunnMae ClarkeDavid MannersBest friends Kenneth Reynolds and Raymond Jordan are U.S. Navy officers, and Kenneth is engaged to Raymond's sister. But the eruption of the Civil War divides them.Story of the Monitor and the Merrimac told through the eyes of childhood friends, one serving on each side of the conflict.
- DirectorRoy RowlandStarsJoel McCreaArlene DahlBarry SullivanIn 1865, three escaped Confederate POWs are coerced into joining an offshoot of Quantrill's raiders who are planning to rob a Union gold shipment concealed in a civilian wagon train going from Santa Fe to St. Louis.Average western. Three escapees from a Union prisoner of war camp in Missouri attempt to lead a civilian wagon tree containing hidden Union gold into a Confederate ambush. Joel McCrea plays the rebel with a conscience who falls in love with the rather nice Arlene Dahl .
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsJeff BridgesBarry BrownJim DavisA God-fearing Ohio boy dodging the Civil War draft arrives in St. Joseph, MO where he joins up with a hardscrabble group of like runaways heading westSet in the last few months of 1863 and shortly after his brother is killed at Chickamauga, an Ohio boy from a good family attempts to avoid being conscripted into the Union army. At Jefferson City, Missouri he runs into "Bad Company" in the shape of a young Jeff Bridges and together with a motley band of companions, including some more draft dodgers, they head west. The story is okay but a little slow.
- DirectorEwa PetelskaCzeslaw PetelskiStarsAndrzej LapickiWieslaw GolasZdzislaw MaklakiewiczPolish short in which a confederate spy is captured whilst attempting to pass a union detachment at a remote mountain pass. The union company captain recognizes him as a rebel cavalryman captured earlier in the war. The captain then reluctantly does his duty and sentences the spy to be shot by firing squad despite finding out that at their previous meeting this man could have killed him after he'd fallen asleep whilst guarding his prisoner. I think that's what happened, but to be fair, I watched this in Polish without sub-titles and didn't understand a word of the dialogue.
- DirectorTonino ValeriiStarsJames CoburnBud SpencerTelly SavalasBranded a coward for surrendering his New Mexico fort to the Confederates without firing a shot, a Union colonel attempts to redeem himself by leading a band of condemned prisoners on a suicide mission to recapture it.Disgraced Union Colonel James Coburn leads a band of condemned men to capture a Confederate Fort in New Mexico territory. A Civil war version of the Dirty Dozen, with none of the charm.
- DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsMickey RourkeDermot MulroneyTed LevineLeft for dead by his bank robbing gang, a marauder joins a posse to seek revenge.An outlaw band mostly consisting of Confederate veterans are tracked by a possé led by their former leader.
- DirectorRay EnrightStarsJoel McCreaAlexis SmithZachary ScottThe friendship of three Texas ranchers whose ranch is destroyed by Cottrell, of the Union army, and his band of outlaw raiders. The working title was "Distant Drums", and south of St. Louis was a term used to describe Civil War deserters.Average B-movie about three partners whose friendship is put to the test after their ranch is burned by a guerilla band loyal to the Union.
- DirectorEdward BerndsStarsSteve CochranDiane BrewsterLeo GordonA Civil War guerilla gang plans an attack on a Kansas arsenal.Mediocre retelling of Quantrill's raid on Lawrence. Rather bizarrely this film rewrites history completely with the raid being a total failure resulting in the death of Quantrill himself.
- DirectorBruno MatteiStarsVassili KarisMapi GalánAlberto FarneseThe commander of a Texan fort in the Civil War refuses to surrender to the Northerners, and tries to buy the local Indian tribe chief's daughter. The sage man refuses, and the Southerners massacre the tribe and abduct the young squaw anyway. The noble squaw manages to escape, and hides out with a rough rancher, who dislikes Indians, but hates the Southerners more. The odd couple joins forces, and tactics, to exert ultimate vengeance on the men at the fort.Mediocre spaghetti western with the colonel of a confederate fort in the far west lusting after a local indian chiefs daughter.
- DirectorR. John HughStarsLin McCarthyStephen CourtleighBerry Kroeger5 Confederate soldiers desert, make their way through the Everglades and try to make it to Cuba.Seriously bad story about five confederate deserters attempting to cross the everglades to reach a British blocade runner.
- DirectorGeorge HickenlooperStarsCorbin BernsenAdrian PasdarRay WiseSlave traders bring back an evil voodoo entity that is accidentally freed by the Confederate army during the Civil War. The entity possesses the bodies of the dead soldiers to create an army of its own bent on conquest, using the corpses of both the North and South.Mediocre horror where union and confederate troops fight against a voodood/zombified confederate regiment. I think that's what it was about anyway, I confess to falling asleep during a large part of it and have no burning desire to watch it again.
- DirectorChristopher ForbesStarsWilliam AdamsJezibell AnatKimberly Campbell"American Confederate" follows a group of Confederate cavalry, and a group of Union (Federal) cavalry, from late 1862 until the end of the Civil War in 1865.A ninety minute long film, supposedly following the story of both a Confederate and a Union cavalry officer during the last two and a half years of the civil war.
In reality we have a jumbled hotchpotch, following several characters : the Confederate officer, a Confederate nurse, a Union Quaker Quartermaster Colonel, another Union Colonel and the Union cavalry officer. Often with no coherence from one scene to another. Mixed in with everything else is stock reenactor footage.
The idea of this film is reasonably ambitious, but it's lacking an actual story. - DirectorEnzo G. CastellariStarsChuck ConnorsFrank WolffFranco CittiA mercenary and his five-man team of oddball cutthroats are tasked by a treacherous Confederate spy with infiltrating a Union Army fortress and stealing $1 million in gold.Chuck Connors leads a band of mercenaries to steal some Union gold. Dreadful spaghetti western with very few, if any, redeeming points.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJoanne DruJohn AgarCaptain Nathan Brittles, on the eve of retirement, takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack. Encumbered by women who must be evacuated, Brittles finds his mission imperiled.My favourite film in John Ford's cavalry trilogy. Set in 1876 shortly after Custer's defeat at the Little Big Horn. Contains numerous references to the war with Nathan Brittle's C troop including veterans of both the Union and Confederate cavalry.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneMaureen O'HaraBen JohnsonA cavalry officer posted on the Rio Grande is confronted with murderous raiding Apaches, a son who's a risk-taking recruit and his wife from whom he has been separated for many years.Excellent post war western set in 1879. John Wayne's Colonel Kirby Yorke commands a cavalry regiment on the Mexican frontier. When a group of new recruits arrive he is surprised to find his son amongst them. It is the first time he has seen him since his marriage collapsed after he was ordered to burn his wife's mansion during Sheridan's Shenandoah campaign in 1864. Shortly afterwards his wife Kathleen, played by the gorgeous Maureen O'Hara, arrives.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJeffrey HunterVera MilesAn American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.Excellent post war western with John Wayne's Confederate veteran returning home to find Commanches have raided his brothers farm and captured his niece, played by a young Natalie Wood. Big John, aided by Jeffrey Hunter, then spends years searching for her.
- DirectorJohn FordHenry HathawayGeorge MarshallStarsJames StewartJohn WayneGregory PeckA family saga covering several decades of Westward expansion in the 19th century, including the Gold Rush, the Civil War, and the building of the railroads.Another excellent western spanning many years before, during and after the Civil War. George Peppard saves General Grant's life at the battle of Shiloh.
- CreatorDavid MilchStarsTimothy OlyphantIan McShaneMolly ParkerA show set in the late 1800s, revolving around the characters of Deadwood, South Dakota; a town of deep corruption and crime.Excellent story of Deadwood camp in Dakota territory, starting in 1878. Several of the characters mention their war service.
Doc Cochran is traumatized by his experiences as a regimental surgeon. The Reverend Smith first heard god whilst serving in an infantry regiment and some of George Hearst's men served in the 69th New York. - CreatorChad FeehanStarsDavid OyelowoLauren E. BanksDemi SingletonAbout the legendary lawman Bass Reeves, one of the greatest frontier heroes and one of the first Black deputy U.S. marshals west of the Mississippi River.Pretty good series tracing the story of Bass Reeves who started off life as a slave and eventually becomes a US Marshall. Most of the story is post war, but it starts at the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas in 1862 where Bass is forced to fight alongside his master, a confederate major.
Barry Pepper plays a psychotic major in charge of a regiment of Indian irregulars. Post war, as a Texas Ranger he runs into Bass again. - StarsLeVar BurtonRobert ReedJohn AmosA dramatization of author Alex Haley's family line from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendants' liberation.Excellent series tracing the life of Kunta Kinte from his capture into slavery. Haven't seen this in a very long time but I'm pretty sure there must be a civil war sequence in there somewhere.
- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsJohn WayneRock HudsonAntonio AguilarAfter the Civil War, ex-Confederate soldiers heading for a new life in Mexico run into ex-Union cavalrymen selling horses to the Mexican government but they must join forces to fight off Mexican bandits and revolutionaries.Nice little post war western with Rock Hudson's unrepentant Confederates joining with John Wayne's Union veterans in Mexico.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneHenry FondaShirley TempleAt Fort Apache, an honorable and veteran war captain finds conflict when his regime is placed under the command of a young, glory hungry lieutenant colonel with no respect for the local Indian tribe.My least favourite of John Ford's cavalry trilogy, but still a very good film. Civil War General Henry Fonda, now reverted back to Lt-Colonel leads his regiment in a campaign against the Apaches.
- DirectorScott CooperStarsScott ShepherdRosamund PikeAva CooperIn 1892, a legendary Army Captain reluctantly agrees to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory.Very good post war western. Set in 1892 and on the eve of his retirement, Cavalry Captain Christian Bale reluctantly leads a small detachment of men accompanying a dying Commanche chief back to his former tribal grounds. The movie is essentially a road (or should that be prairie) trip with both Bale and Chief Wes Studi gaining a grudging respect for their former enemies. The one fleeting Civil war reference is when the grizzled and worn out Sergeant Major admits to a young lieutenant that he killed his first man at 14 years of age whilst fighting for the Grays.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJohn WayneJorge RiveroJennifer O'NeillAfter the Civil War, Cord McNally searches for the two traitors whose treachery caused the defeat of McNally's unit and the loss of a close friend.Starts with an impressive Confederate raid on a Union train carrying gold. With the war over John Wayne's Union colonel joins forces with the Confederate captain to track down a Union traitor.
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsTom CruiseKen WatanabeBilly ConnollyNathan Algren, a US army veteran, is hired by the Japanese emperor to train his army in the modern warfare techniques. Nathan finds himself trapped in a struggle between two eras and two worlds.Tom Cruise plays a traumatized Union veteran who goes to Japan to help train their army in modern tactics.
- DirectorRobert RedfordStarsRobin WrightJames McAvoyTom WilkinsonMary Surratt is the lone female charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination trial of Abraham Lincoln. As the whole nation turns against her, she is forced to rely on her reluctant lawyer to uncover the truth and save her life.Excellent courtroom drama about the trial of Mary Surratt, allegedly one of the Lincoln conspirators.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsJames StewartShelley WintersDan DuryeaA cowboy's obsession with a stolen rifle leads to a bullet-ridden odyssey through the American West.The story of a rifle. Won by Jimmy Stewart in a shooting contest in Dodge City, stolen from him by the man who murdered his father, then passing through several different hands until going full circle back to Stewart. On the way he helps a cavalry detachment fight off an indian attack. We learn that the cavalry sergeant is a veteran of the 9th Pennsylvania cavalry and fought at both Bull Run and Gettysburg. Stewart and his friend were also at Bull Run, but in a confederate regiment.
Excellent film with a very good cast including Rock Hudson, a young Tony Curtis and Shelly Winters playing the love interest. - CreatorEthan HawkeStarsEthan HawkeHubert Point-Du JourBeau KnappEthan Hawke stars as abolitionist John Brown in this series based on the novel. "Onion" is a fictional enslaved boy who becomes a member of Brown's family of abolitionist soldiers and finds himself in the 1859 raid at Harpers Ferry.Interesting biopic of John Brown told from the viewpoint of a young slave liberated by Brown in Kansas, taking us through his raid on Harpers Ferry and finally, the aftermath of the raid including Brown's execution.
- CreatorDouglas HeyesStarsKirstie AlleyGeorg Stanford BrownDavid CarradineTwo friends, one northern and one southern, struggle to maintain their friendship as events build towards the American Civil War.Pre civil war story about George Hazard, a Northerner, and Orry Main, a Southerner, who become friends after meeting at West Point.
- StarsPhilip CasnoffKyle ChandlerCathy Lee CrosbyThe Civil War has just ended, but things in the country aren't much better, especially in the south.Post civil war continuation of the story of the Hazard and Main families.
- DirectorJon AmielStarsRichard GereJodie FosterLanny FlahertyA farmer returns home from the Civil War, but his wife begins to suspect that the man is an impostor.Another film set after the war when Richard Gere's Confederate veteran Jack Sommersby returns home.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJohn WayneKim DarbyGlen CampbellA drunken, hard-nosed U.S. Marshal and a Texas Ranger help a stubborn teenager track down her father's murderer in Indian Territory.Set after the civil war but both John Wayne and Glen Campbell play Confederate veterans. I do enjoy the scene where they insult each other about their respective war records. I've even been to Lone Jack where Rooster lost his eye during a 'little scrap outside Kansas City'. There's a very small but nice little museum there.
- DirectorDavid Von AnckenStarsPierce BrosnanLiam NeesonAnjelica HustonAfter the end of the American Civil War, a former Confederate colonel hunts down a former Yankee officer with whom he has a grudge.Interesting post-war western in which Pierce Brosnan an ex union captain is pursued through the wilderness by Liam Neeson's ex confederate colonel. But which of the two is the victim?
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandArthur KennedyA highly fictionalized account of the life of George Armstrong Custer from his arrival at West Point in 1857 to his death at the battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.Errol Flynn at his swashbuckling best in a post war biopic of George Armstrong Custer and the battle of the Little Big Horn.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsAlan LaddJean ArthurVan HeflinA weary gunfighter in 1880s Wyoming begins to envision a quieter life after befriending a homestead family with a young son who idolizes him, but a smoldering range war forces him to act.Not too sure about this but I believe that Shane and some of the Homesteaders are Confederate veterans whilst Jack Palance and the Ranchers men were Yankees.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsWarner BaxterGloria StuartClaude GillingwaterThe story of Dr. Samuel Mudd, who was imprisoned after innocently treating President Lincoln's assassin in 1865.Well made history of Dr Samuel Mudd's trial for conspiracy in President Lincoln's murder, and his subsequent imprisonment at Fort Jefferson, Florida.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsSamuel L. JacksonKurt RussellJennifer Jason LeighIn the dead of a Wyoming winter, a bounty hunter and his prisoner find shelter in a cabin currently inhabited by a collection of nefarious characters.Civil war references aplenty in Tarantino's latest western with Bruce Dern playing Confederate General Sandy Smithers, Samuel L. Jackson playing ex Union Major Marquis Warren and Walton Goggins as a former Confederate Captain from the guerilla unit, Mannix's Marauders, which was led by his father.
- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsJames StewartDean MartinRaquel WelchMace Bishop (James Stewart) masquerades as a hangman in order to save his outlaw brother, Dee (Dean Martin), from the gallows, runs to Mexico chased by Sheriff July Johnson's (George Kennedy's) posse and fights against Mexican bandits.In 1867 brothers Dean Martin and James Stewart kidnap Rachel Welch and rob a bank for which they are pursued through Texas into Mexico by Sheriff George Kennedy. During the war Martin rode with Quantrill & Kennedy with Forrest whilst Stewart was one of Sherman's Bummers.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsClark GableJane RussellRobert RyanTwo brothers discharged from the Confederate Army join a businessman for a cattle drive from Texas to Montana where they run into raiding Jayhawkers, angry Sioux, rough terrain and bad weather.A pair of brothers who formally served with Quantrill rob a businessman but then team up with him to drive a herd of cattle from Texas to Montana. Pretty good western with a decent cast; Clark Gable and the High Chaparral's Cameron Mitchell play the brothers, Robert Ryan the businessman and Jane Russell provides the love interest.
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsRichard BooneStuart WhitmanAnthony FranciosaA former Confederate officer and a Mexican try to prevent a former Confederate colonel from selling stolen rifles to renegade Apaches in Mexico.Two years after the end of the Civil War a former rebel major reluctantly agrees to join forces with a yankee captain and a black sergeant to destroy a shipment of stolen repeating rifles before they are sold by a renegade rebel colonel to the Apaches. A pretty good western.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsAlan LaddOlivia de HavillandDean JaggerA Confederate veteran living in the Yankee North struggles with his son's shock-induced muteness and the Northerners' hatred.Former rebel, Alan Ladd, takes his real life son David north looking for a cure to the boys muteness, the result of a shock when their Georgia home was bombarded and his mother killed.
In the north, he finds plenty of prejudice, particularly from sheep farmer Dean Jagger and his sons, but he also finds love from Olivia de Havilland.