There are so many movies that are supposed to be about historical events, but get them wrong. Films like “Braveheart”, “Troy” and “Jefferson in Paris” may interest people in the past, but they think they know what happened, when they don’t.

So it’s nice when one comes along that tries to tell true history. Tonight Sweden’s TV3 is showing the excellent film about the American Civil War “Gods and Generals”. From the blurb in “Dagens Nyheter”:

“American war drama from 2003. A depiction of the American Civil War from the first battle of Bull Run to the final conflict at Fredricksburg…”

The only problem with this text, which “Dagens Nyheter” undoubtedly got from TV3 is that while the film does indeed run the gamut from Bull Run to Fredricksburg, the Civil War did not end then. I know a little about the battle, on around December 12, 1862, because my great grandfather Sam fought there, and his younger brother Zack died there.

Had the Civil War ended at Fredricksburg, the Confederacy would have won the war. Instead, the Civil War last almost two and half years longer, until April 1865. “Gods and Generals” is in fact a prequel to the also very good film “Gettysburg” about the battle of that name in July 1863.

Not sure if this is a reflection on the poor teaching of foreign history in Swedish schools, or just sloppy work at TV3.

Image right (from Flickr):
Gods and Generals (2003), originally uploaded by the.voyager.