Glory's Civil War Reenactors Didn't Want To Stay In Hotels

In 1989, Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Matthew Broderick, Cary Elwes, and Andre Braugher starred in the film "Glory," directed by Edward Zwick. It was the story of the American Civil War's 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, which was one of the earliest Black regiments in the Union Army. It was based on the 1965 novel "One Gallant Rush" by Peter Burchard, the 1973 novel "Lay This Laurel" by Lincoln Kirstein, and the personal letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the leader of the 54th. 

In the film, Shaw gives the Black soldiers the option to walk away after they learn that the Confederacy responded to the Emancipation Proclamation by ordering all captured Black men to be returned to slavery. No one left. The regiment made a heroic stand at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner, and not everyone made it out alive. Broderick played Shaw, Washington played Private Silas Trip, Morgan Freeman was Sergeant Major John Rawlins, Brauher was Corporal Thomas Searles, and Elwes was Major Cabot Forbes. The film was up for five Academy Awards that year and won three, including a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Denzel Washington. 

The production tried to make the film as realistic as possible, using Civil War reenactors as extras, particularly in the scene featuring the Battle of Antietam where Shaw was injured. According to Elwes in a 2019 Forbes interview, when the film was released in theaters for a two-day 30th-anniversary event, they took it very seriously. 

In the interview with Forbes, Cary Elwes said of the shoot:

"We had time for rehearsals, which was a time to bond, and that was a fantastic experience. The ensemble cast, the camaraderie of it all, I'm still friends with the cast; we all just got along. I remember being very hot, though. We were in Georgia in these woolen Civil War uniforms. No one complained, we all just got on with it, and we had a great time."

I love hearing about productions where people come together because what they're making is an important story to tell. Elwes said that the reenactors took it even more seriously. He said, "The real heroes of the piece were the Civil War reenactors who camped on and lived on, these battlefields. They didn't want to stay in hotels; they wanted to pitch their tents." 

That's rough, but some reenactors want everything to feel like it's happening with complete accuracy. Some people who do this are historians, and some do it to honor the fallen. It's a controversial hobby, though, as some people say it promotes racism. 

Not everyone goes for the whole, historically accurate experience, but I've seen the intensity on a set before. During the shoot for the 2010 film "Jonah Hex," I spoke to a few of them who wouldn't break character, even while they got food from the catering truck. I remember one guy who was checking his cell phone (off-camera) and was yelled at by the other re-enactors. I asked him about it during a break in the shoot, and he said he usually wouldn't, but his wife was close to having a baby. Hey, if you're going to break character, that's a good reason to do it. 

"Glory" is streaming on Paramount+.