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There were numerous embarrasments regarding 'Gettysburg'...and I speak as one of the reenactors who had the pleasure of being there (great job,btw, of finding a site near Gettysburg which had the requisite road, slope, and clump of trees...)I know that modern day reenactors can't be expected to starve themselves to look the part, but neither did the movie have to focus on so much of their corpulence. Secondly, for a film pretending to accuracy, the beards and clothing were remarkably hokey (Longstreet/Berenger's whiskers, topped in ridiculousness only by his hat.) And I thought J.E.B.'s beard would drop off during his dressdown. The Father Corby scene, General Heth, General Garnett...all marvelously badly acted. And the worst part in the whole production, the absolute bilge award winner...as mentioned already, Armistead/Jordan's over the top mawkish sorrow at having to oppose 'Ol Winny'...I can't bear the scene in Longstreet's tent anymore.
However, I was not bothered at all by the speechifying, because if anything it was underplayed, and thankfully so. In reality, an address to a regiment by its commander could run upwards of two hours, more an oration than anything else, and these were fairly typical. I know for a fact the 93rd Pa, being force-marched up from Maryland along with the rest of the Sixth Corps, found time to listen to fiery two hour speech from its chaplain before beginning the march, when time was of a critical essence...

"There were numerous embarrasments regarding 'Gettysburg'..."

Granted all your points are correct (especially the awful phony beards) but these are pretty minor things. Overall, I thought the Movie was excellent. Barringer was great as the brooding General Longstreet and Daniels performance as Chamberlain was worthy of a Best Actor nomination. The film captures all the "what ifs" that make Gettysburg so fascinating to study. What if Ewell had taken the high ground on the first day, an obvious move for any good General; what if Stuart hadn't gone on his joyride and had kept the Confederate army informed as to the Union's position? What if Gen. Lee had taken Longstreet's advice and used a flanking manuver rather than head on assualts against an entrenched enemy; a tactic that had already proven itself disasterous at the Battles of Malvern Hill and Fredricksburg. Despite my personal feelings toward Martin Sheen, I didn't think his portrayal of General Lee was bad at all, although I think most freepers disagree with me on this one. Granted, Sheen is a very short man and Lee was not, but I thought Sheen captured that image of Southern Gentility and honor that I usually associate with General Lee.