draudrey-26730 Just watched the Antietam episode. There were top-notch Antietam historians interviewed for this episode. There were several poignant stories about soldiers in this battle effectively woven into the episode. Had I just heard the episode without seeing the accompanying visuals, I would have been much happier. The battle sequences were terrible and negated the good effect of the narrative. I agree with the other reviewers who have commented on the utter lack of proper Civil War infantry drill and tactics in the battle scenes and the horrible uniforms worn horribly by the actors. This horribleness extends to the depiction of the artillery as well. This episode features Battery B 4th US, a unit that incurred 40% casualties in the battle. With the exception of one Napoleon, everything that was shown about the battery was wrong. The drill was all wrong, the arrangement of the cannons one behind the others was wrong, the limber aligned on the oblique with no horses was wrong, the mushroom clouds of canister were wrong. Where's General John Gibbon getting off his horse to raise the elevation screw to lower the muzzle? Where's the 15 year-old Cincinnati paper boy Bugler Johnny Cook earning his Medal of Honor? So much potential in this dramatic story. All wasted.

bwenglish There isn't much more to be said that hasn't already been said. This "documentary" and I use that term loosely, is a disgrace to the soldiers and sailors of the American Civil War. This is complete and utter fictionalization of historical events. I would liken this to "The 300". Sure, it's historically based but the visuals are in no way shape or form accurate. Any historian, adviser, etc. that was associated with this monstrosity should be ashamed of themselves, including Gary Adelman, the historian for the CWPT.There is a wealth of information, books, photographs, drawings, originals out there to research things like uniforms, weapons and tactics. The fact that no one took the time to look at a single Confederate or Federal uniform is evident here. No one read a tactics manual, no one studied the progression of an actual battle.The fact that the production company is so proud of their "authenticity" is proof they did little to no research. They found gray wool and blue wool jackets from Pakistan and said "this will do it". There are even production companies out there that specialize in historically accurate portrayals of Civil War soldiers with expertise, skills and knowledge of the period. They didn't even bother with a simple google search.Unfortunately, people will look at this and think it is a visual and accurate depiction of the Civil War. They had the community and expertise available to them and they didn't use it, they had an opportunity to truly educate people about the war but they ignored it. I truly hope AHC never produces another film about any period.

awl7788 I'm no historian, but I love history and especially civil war history. My love of civil war history stems from my relation to Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson. I have visited many battlefields at Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Lookout Mt., Signal Mt., Shilo, etc... and have attended a few reenactments and have been to MANY museums about the war featuring uniforms and guns. Like the other reviews ( which might be the same person because the main complaint was uniform inaccuracies. The uniforms are bad, yes, the acting really bad, yes... My expectations weren't extremely high, though, because it is very low budget. My main complaint is how unbelievably inaccurate and misconstrued the actual history is. I could lay all of them out from the first 20 minutes, but you wouldn't want to read all of them. One example - this documentary makes it seem as if the southern states had seceded out of fear of Abe abolishing slavery! Not only was abolishing slavery among the first things the confederacy was going to do after the war, but Abe wanted to send every African American to Panama! You've got to show every side of the secession because non of it is cut and dry. How would you like to be taxed "exporting" goods to your own country because you lived and worked in the south? Study up on state inequalities as the country grew to understand more fully what was going on. Slavery was NOT an issue at the beginning of the war, but was turned into THE cause the union soldiers were given to boost morale because they were being slaughtered and were giving up! The confederate soldiers nor their generals were villains, but land owners protecting their property and families. This documentary implies the south was going to invade the north, but Abe from the beginning wanted to quickly squash, through war, the rebelling states and restore the union by force. General Lee was even visited personally by Abe and was asked to lead the army of the union, but Lee declined saying he never thought his country would invade itself and his duty was to his home and his state- not because he wanted to save the institution of slavery. The civil war is very complicated and not cut and dry like this documentary portrays. In fact, the south had blacks fighting in their ranks. I have an adopted black brother who is even more a history buff than I and has even participated in reenactments as a confederate. When he arrived the historians were beside themselves telling him his knowledge of the war exceeded some of their peers who some just didn't know, but even those who deliberately leave those details out because it taints the history they want to show. He even dressed as a confederate to tour Gettysburg and was met with tons of compliments from experts and fellow reenactment participants. I really wanted to enjoy this show because I'm always trying to watch civil war documentaries when they're available. Here's my suggestion. If you want to learn about our civil war, go on a trip and visit museums and battlefields when you can. If you can't, watch the most historically accurate films ever made in Gettysburg and Gods and Generals. The books these films are based on are even better. If you read this far into this review, thanks. My parting words- visit the sites as the truth is preserved in most cases and don't watch this show.

NYCPress As someone with family members who served—and died—on both sides during the Civil War, I regret that this production has done more to make "those people back then" seem even more remote to the modern viewer. Even the layman can tell that there's something hokey about how the soldiers are portrayed, in their actions and equipment. There were thousands upon thousands of photographs taken in studios and in the field from 1861 to 1865. Play a simple game of "one of these things is not like the other" and compare them to this show. One might say " well, the average person doesn't know," and this is a faulty excuse. For one, the purpose of a documentary is to inform. Second, they may not be able to articulate just WHAT is wrong, but there is a subliminal aesthetic on which anyone can pick up. Take a simple uniform cap. During the war, the brims were made of a varnished, stiff leather that can look quite fetching when worn with purpose. You see a photo of a soldier from 155 years ago wearing one, and you can connect with him. You think "this guy had a personality. He was real." Now get a cheap, costume-grade replica that is finished with a soft, pleather brim that looks rather sad and creased like a baseball cap, plopped on the head of an actor. The actor looks weird, because he treats it as a costume, and presumes that "well, this probably looked good to those old-fashioned people." It is all disingenuous because it, itself, is wrong and is being worn with ignorance. This stuff is more important, and detectable, than many realize. For me, part of making "them" feel less different from "us" is to just represent them as they would have looked and acted, not a contrived farce that seems to presume that history, left as it was, is too "boring" for modern audiences. Put it this way: you can't expect to create an accurate-looking Civil War scene from scratch by renting costumes and weapons, handing them out, and saying "action." You, literally, need to build an army unit. The background in "Cold Mountain" went through a "camp of instruction" to bring them up to a basic level of proficiency. I'm not saying that reenactors are God's gift to history, but at least there's a core, basic knowledge there. You start with that, and bring in a military coordinator/adviser to smooth out the few individual quirks and "reenactorisms," and go from there. I've seen viewers who are afraid of this production being "one-sided" (i.e. acknowledging that the North won the war) but I assure you that both sides in this are equally sullied with plastic water bottles and flag poles that look to have been taken from the church auditorium.