Civil War re-enactor Earl Salisbury of Goldsboro holds the DVD cover that features him charging in a scene from ‘Gods and Generals.’ Both he and his son, William, appeared in the book-inspired movie that filmed from summer to December 2001.
Posted on 07/17/2003 6:31:14 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
Earl Salisbury, a 44-year-old Civil War re-enactor from Goldsboro, picked up one of the first copies of "Gods and Generals" released on DVD Tuesday and found himself on the cover.
"Right, smack, dab in the center," Salisbury said. "I almost fell over dead. I'm the tall, skinny guy with stripes on his arm."
He said he had obtained the schedule for the filming of "Gods and Generals." He and a fellow re-enactor, his 21-year-old son, William, started going to the film shoots calling for Confederate soldiers. From summer to December 2001, they camped or stayed in hotels in Staunton, Va.; Hagerstown, Md.; and Charles Town, W.Va.
Warner Brothers Studio workers would wake them at 4:30 a.m. and drive them to the next shooting's location. They were told to stand here or there, never knowing whether the scene would survive the cuts.
He and William have invested eight years as re-enactors with the 8th Virginia Infantry, a unit of Longstreet's Corps. Earl Salisbury works at Corr-
Flex Display and Packaging in York. His son is a history major at Shippensburg University.
"He wants to be a writer like Michael Shaara," Salisbury said of his son. Shaara, who died in 1988, wrote "The Killer Angels," a novel about the Battle of Gettysburg. Jeff Shaara completed his father's trilogy with "Gods and Generals" and "The Last Full Measure."
The family was excited to see William Salisbury in the trailer promoting "Gods and Generals." When they attended the opening show in February at a Mechanicsburg theater they were more surprised to see Earl Salisbury in seven or eight scenes.
"You never know if you are in or out," Earl Salisbury said.
They received no money, because they are not "card-carrying" actors, he said. However, Ted Turner donated money on behalf of the re-enactors to a trust fund for battlefield preservation, William Salisbury said from his college dorm.
He said an earlier Ted Turner movie, "Gettysburg," sparked his interest as a child.
"When I found out 'Gods and Generals' was coming out, I made the time to get to a few weekend shootings," William Salisbury said. "It was definitely worthwhile. It was a motion picture."
The experience makes him notice the many minor players who appear in films as civilians or dead people.
"It was every Civil War re-enactor's dream to be in a movie rather than a PBS program," William Salisbury said.
The coincidences continued.
William Salisbury picked up a book, "Faith in Gods and Generals," which includes scenes from the movie. Two or three of the pictures showed the two Salisbury family re-enactors.
"The other day, somebody handed me paper and asked for my autograph," Earl Salisbury said. "When I asked why, he said because I was in his son's video game. This is totally wild!"
Civil War re-enactor Earl Salisbury of Goldsboro holds the DVD cover that features him charging in a scene from ‘Gods and Generals.’ Both he and his son, William, appeared in the book-inspired movie that filmed from summer to December 2001.
A detail from the ‘Gods and Generals’ DVD cover shows Earl Salisbury charging during a battle scene. ‘Right, smack, dab in the center,’ he says. ‘I’m the tall, skinny guy with stripes on his arm.’
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I know that feeling William! My unit is in the PBS program, "The Battle of Great Bridge"...(see my profile)
Walt
Just as well. "Andersonville" is a dreadfully bad movie.
Some of the re-enactors I spoke to had been in "Gettysburg" and a few had been in "Glory" also.
Funny thing about being a extra on that movie. They asked us to show up in dark blue trousers and black shirt and boots, which I duly did. Some people showed up in blue jeans (which they specifically asked that you not do) and those people got the full costumes. All I got was a broad brimmed hat one day. Another day I got a calvary jacket and kepi. They would announce before almost every shot: "please remove modern looking glasses and any wristwatches."
Walt
We call these Farb material...
In our unit some hard up reinactor would approach anyone with either modern or inaccurate items and would say "far be it for me to say those do not look accurate for the period", since then, we call modern and inaccurate items "farbee" items.
The act of calling on Farbee items is Farbitized...
Walt
This is the most clear, complete explanation I have seen thus far of the origin of the term "farb." I have seen that term several times but could never work out the etymology. Thank you.
(one who knows that the blue speckled enamel cookware seen in Army-Navy stores is also farb city, although used by some re-enactors I know)
Cool. That was filmed about 3 miles from the farm where I grew up. Used to shoot some trap across the field the prison was built. That whole area is being carved up for subdivisions now.
I heard in an interview that the script writer stayed EXTREMELY close to the dialogs in the in the book--which were direct quotes from various sources. It really is true that certain Southern generals (especially Stonewall Jackson) spouted scripture all the time. As for the Northern Generals? Well, I can't exactly picture the likes of Hooker or Grant quoting scripture much, and probably not Chamberlain either...sophisticated college professor that he was.
I think sometimes truth is stranger than fiction...and thereby that harder to make believable in a story or especially a movie.
How sad for you. Read Lee's Liutenants by Douglas Southall Freeman and you will understand that this part of the War Between the States was primarily a biography of Thomas Jonathan (Stonwall) Jackson. If you read deeply enough you will come to learn that these people were Christians, who actually spoke as they were portrayed, who believed as they spoke and who comported themselves as they believed.
It is a great pity that you cannot ingest a historically accurate re-enactment because it was not Hollywoodized.
One big reason that I'm not an active re-enactor today. I'd love to do it, but I can't see my hand in front of my face without my specs. (Contact lenses, LASIX, and period frames aren't effective for me for various reasons).
Here are some url's for some suttlers, mostly dealing with 18th century and early 19th century accuterments
http://www.gggodwin.com/catalog.htm
http://www.jastown.com/newhome.htm
For anyone interested.
All citizens were considered "Christian" and were to uphold a moral standard. Even in battle! No matter how hypocritical it may have seemed. If you were not a Christian, you were scrutinized publically.
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