Gettysburg (1993 film) Quotes

Gettysburg (1993 film) is a television show that debuted in 1970 . Gettysburg ended in 1970.

It features Moctesuma Esparza as producer, Randy Edelman in charge of musical score, and Kees Van Oostrum as head of cinematography.

Gettysburg (1993 film) is recorded in English and originally aired in United States. Each episode of Gettysburg (1993 film) is 254 minutes long. Gettysburg (1993 film) is distributed by New Line Cinema.

The cast includes: Jeff Daniels as Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Martin Sheen as General Robert E. Lee, Kevin Conway as Sergeant 'Buster' Kilrain, Bo Brinkman as Maj. Walter H. Taylor, Stephen Lang as Major General George E. Pickett, Tom Berenger as Lieutenant General James Longstreet, Richard Jordan as Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead, Patrick Gorman as Major General John Bell Hood, Maxwell Caulfield as Colonel Strong Vincent, Brian Mallon as Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, C. Thomas Howell as Lieutenant Thomas D. Chamberlain, Kevin Conway as Surgeon, and Cooper Huckabee as Henry T. Harrison.

Gettysburg (1993 film) Quotes

Kevin Conway as Sergeant 'Buster' Kilrain

• (Kevin Conway) "There's only one aristocracy, and that"
• (Kevin Conway) "is right here."

• (Kevin Conway) "Colonel, you're a lovely man. I see a great difference between us, yet I admire you. You're an idealist, praise be."

• (Kevin Conway) "I'm Kilrain, and I damn all gentlemen."

• (Kevin Conway) "What I'm fighting for is to prove I'm a better man than the others. There's many a man worse than me, and some better. But I don't think race or country matters a damn. What matters is justice. And that's why I'm here. I'll be treated as I deserve, not as my father deserved."

Richard Jordan as Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead

• (James L. Kemper) "You see, Colonel, uh -- the government derives its power from the consent of the people. Every government, everywhere. Well, let me make this very plain to you, sir: we do not consent, and we will never consent. And what you've got to do is;"
• (James L. Kemper) "- you've got to go back over there to your Parliament, and you've gotta make it very plain to them. You've gotta tell them that what we're fighting for here is the; is the freedom from what we consider to be the rule of a foreign power. I mean, that's all we want. That's what this war is all about."
• (Brig. Gen. Richard B. Garnett) "Jim;"
• (James L. Kemper) "No, no, no, no. Now-now, we-we established this country in the first place with very strong state governments just for that very reason. I mean, uh -- let me put it to you this way: my home is in Virginia. The government of my home is home. Virginia would not allow itself to be ruled by -- by some, uh, king over there in London. And it's not about to let itself be ruled by some president in Washington. Virginia, by God, sir, is gonna be run by Virginians."
• (Richard Jordan) "Oh, my. "The Cause.""
• (Stephen Lang) "Actually, Jimmy, I got a pair of kings."
• (James L. Kemper) "And it's all for the Yankees, the damn, money-grubbin' Yankees. I mean, those damn fools, they don't get the message. Always the darkies, nothin' but the darkies."
• (Stephen Lang) "You know, Jim -- ahem. Sit down."
• (Stephen Lang) "I think that my idea, my, uh -- my analogy of a gentlemen's club is-is fair enough. It's clear enough."
• (Stephen Lang) "Colonel, think on it, now. Now you suppose that we all join a club, a gentlemen's club. And then, well, after a time, several of the members began to, uh -- began to intrude themselves into our private lives, our home lives. Began tellin' us what we could do, what we couldn't do. Well, then, wouldn't any one of us have the right to resign? I mean, just --"
• (Stephen Lang) "-- resign. Well, that's what we did. That's what I did, and now these people are tellin' us that we don't have that right to resign."
• (James L. Kemper) "Well --"
• (James L. Kemper) "I gotta hand it to you, George. You certainly do have a talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious. You ever considered runnin' for Congress?"
• (Brig. Gen. Richard B. Garnett) "Oooh."
• (Stephen Lang) "It's a thought."

• (Richard Jordan) "The last time I saw Winn he played that song. That very song. Back in California, we were all together for the last time. Before we broke up. Spring of '61. Almyra Hancock. You remember Almyra, Hancock's wife? Beautiful woman. Most perfect woman I ever saw. They were a beautiful couple. Beautiful. Garnett was with me that night. A lot of fellows from the old outfit. People standing around singing in the blue uniform. We were leaving the next day. Some going north, some going south. Splitting up. A soldier's farewell. "Goodbye." "Good luck." "I'll see you in hell." Do you remember that? Towards the end of the evening, we all sat around the piano. And Myra played that song there, that was the one she played. Maybe for years, maybe forever, I'll never forget that. You know how it was, Pete. Winn was like a brother to me. Remember? Towards the end of the evening, things got a little rough. We both began to -- well, there were a lot of tears. I went over to Hancock. I took him by the shoulder. I said, "Winn, so help me, if I ever raise my hand against you, may God strike me dead." Ain't seen him since. He was at Malverne Hill, White Oak Swamp, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg. One of these days, I will see him, I'm afraid. Across that small, deadly space. I thought about sitting this one out. But I can't do that. That wouldn't be right either. I guess not. Thank you, Peter. I had to talk about that."

• (Richard Jordan) "Winn was like a brother to me. Remember? Towards the end of the evening, things got a little rough. We both began to -- well, there were a lot of tears. I went over to Hancock. I took him by the shoulder. I said, "Winn, so help me, if I ever raise my hand against you, may God strike me dead." Ain't seen him since. He was at Malverne Hill, White Oak Swamp, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg. One of these days, I will see him, I'm afraid. Across that small, deadly space."

• (Richard Jordan) "How's the leg, Dick?"
• (Brig. Gen. Richard B. Garnett) "Oh, it's alright. Can't walk. I'm going to have to ride."
• (Richard Jordan) "Dick, you can't do that. You'll be the perfect target."
• (Brig. Gen. Richard B. Garnett) "When we go up that hill and we break that line; there'll be a clear path to Washington and maybe today, this day, will be the last day. I've got to ride up there. Well, Lo; I'll see you at the top."

• (Col. Arthur Freemantle) "I'm told you're descended from an illustrious military family."
• (Richard Jordan) "Who told you that? Kemper?"
• (Col. Arthur Freemantle) "He tells me it was your uncle who defended Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, and that he was therefore the guardian of the original "Star-Spangled Banner." I must say, I do appreciate the irony of it all."
• (Richard Jordan) "Colonel Freemantle -- it does not begin or end with my uncle -- or myself. We're all sons of Virginia here."
• (Richard Jordan) "That major out there, commanding the cannon -- that's James Dearing. First in his class at West Point, before Virgina seceded. And the boy over there with the color guard --"
• (Richard Jordan) "-- that's Private Robert Tyler Jones. His grandfather was President of the United States. The colonel behind me -- that's Colonel William Aylett. Now, his great-grandfather was the Virginian, Patrick Henry. It was Patrick Henry who said to your King George III, "Give me liberty, or give me death." There are boys here from Norfolk -- Portsmouth -- small hamlets along the James River. From Charlottesville and Fredericksburg -- and the Shenondoah Valley. Mostly, they're all veteran soldiers now; the cowards and shirkers are long gone. Every man here knows his duty. They would make this charge, even without an officer to lead them. They know the gravity of the situation, and the mettle of their foe. They know that this day's work will be desperate and deadly. They know, that for many of them, this will be their last charge. But not one of them needs to be told what is expected of him. They're all willing to make the supreme sacrifice -- to achieve victory, here -- the crowning victory -- and the end of this war. We are all here, Colonel. You may tell them, when you return to your country -- that all Virginia was here on this day."

• (Richard Jordan) "Come on, boy, come on. What'll you think of yourself tomorrow?"
• (Richard Jordan) "Virginians. Virginians."
• (Richard Jordan) "With me. Who will come with me?"

• (Richard Jordan) "Virginians. Virginians. For your land; for your homes; for your sweethearts; for your wives; for Virginia. Forward -- march."

• (Richard Jordan) "All science trembles at the searing logic of your fiery intellect."

• (Richard Jordan) "What does Col. Fremantle think? Will the British come in on our side?"
• (James L. Kemper) "Oh, hell yeah, they'll come in; they'll come in when we don't need 'em no more. Just like some damn bank gon' loan you money when you no longuh in debt."

Jeff Daniels as Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

• (Unnamed) "Colonel. I've been moving these Rebs with an empty musket."
• (Jeff Daniels) "No so loud."

• (Jeff Daniels) "Hold to the last. To the last what? Exercise in rhetoric. Last shell -- last man -- last foot of ground -- last breath --"

• (Jeff Daniels) "I've been ordered to take you men with me, I'm told that if you don't come I can shoot you. Well, you know I won't do that. Maybe somebody else will, but I won't, so that's that. Here's the situation, the Whole Reb army is up that road aways waiting for us, so this is no time for an argument like this, I tell you. We could surely use you fellahs, we're now well below half strength. Whether you fight or not, that's up to you, whether you come along is -- well, you're coming. You know who we are and what we are doing here, but if you are going to fight alongside us there are a few things I want you to know. This regiment was formed last summer, in Maine. There were a thousand of us then, there are less than 300 of us now. All of us volunteered to fight for the Union, just as you have. Some came mainly because we were bored at home, thought this looked like it might be fun. Some came because we were ashamed not to. Many of us came because it was the right thing to do. And all of us have seen men die. This is a different kind of army. If you look back through history you will see men fighting for pay, for women, for some other kind of loot. They fight for land, power, because a king leads them, or just because they like killing. But we are here for something new, this has not happened much, in the history of the world. We are an army out to set other men free. America should be free ground, all of it, not divided by a line between slave states and free; all the way from here to the Pacific Ocean. No man has to bow. No man born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was. Here you can be something. Here is the place to build a home. But it's not the land, there's always more land. It's the idea that we all have value; you and me. What we are fighting for, in the end, we're fighting for each other. Sorry, I didn't mean to preach. You go ahead and you talk for a while. If you choose to join us and you want your muskets back you can have them; nothing more will be said by anyone anywhere. If you choose not to join us well then you can come along under guard and when this is all over I will do what I can to ensure you get a fair trial, but for now we're moving out. Gentlemen, I think if we lose this fight we lose the war, so if you choose to join us I will be personally very grateful."

• (Unnamed) "Colonel Rice has instructed me to tell you're relieved, sir."
• (Jeff Daniels) "Relieved?"
• (Unnamed) "Fresh troops are on their way up and they'll take over here, sir. Colonel Rice wants to give you people a rest. You are to fall back, and I am to show you the way."
• (Jeff Daniels) "Fall back. Yes --"
• (Jeff Daniels) "Ellis, have the men fall in; we're moving out."
• (Jeff Daniels) "Where are we going?"
• (Unnamed) "Oh, sir. Lovely spot. Very quiet. Safest place on the battlefield. Right smack-dab in the center."

• (Jeff Daniels) "Mutiny? I thought that was a word for the Navy."

• (Jeff Daniels) "Gentlemen -- the 83rd Pennsylvania, 44th New York, and 16th Michigan will be moving in to our right. But if you look to our left, you will see that there is no one there. It's because we're the end of the line. The Union army stops here. We are the flank. Do you understand, gentlemen? We cannot retreat. We cannot withdraw. We are going to have to be stubborn today. So, you put the boys in position, you tell them to stay down. Pile the rocks up high; get the best protection you can. I want the reserve pulled up about 20 yards. This is sloping ground, it's good ground. If you have any breakthroughs, if you have men wounded, if you have a hole in the line, you plug it with the reserve. How are we fixed for ammunition?"
• (Capt. Ellis Spear) "Sir, I think about 60 rounds per man."
• (Jeff Daniels) "That's good. 60 rounds. I think; I -- yes, that's adequate. Any questions?"
• (Unnamed) "Colonel -- seems to me the fighting's on that side of the hill."
• (Unnamed) "Yep. Seems to me that we're the back door. Everything's goin' on at the front door."
• (Jeff Daniels) "Well, gentlemen, that hill is steep. It's rocky. It's bare. To come straight up it is impossible. No. The Reb army is going to swing around. It's gonna come up through that notch right over there. It'll move under the cover of trees, try to get 'round the flank. And gentlemen -- we are the flank. Gentlemen."
• (Jeff Daniels) "God go with you."

• (Jeff Daniels) "Don't call me Lawrence."
• (C. Thomas Howell) "Darn it, Lawrence, I'm your brother."
• (Jeff Daniels) "Just be careful of the name business in front of the men, just because you're my brother -- it looks like favoritism."
• (C. Thomas Howell) "God Almighty, General Meade has his own son as his aide de camp."

• (Jeff Daniels) "Tell me something, Buster -- What do you think of Negroes?"
• (Kevin Conway) "Well, if you mean the race, I don't really know. This is not a thing to be ashamed of. The thing is, you cannot judge a race. Any man who judges by the group is a pea-wit. You take men one at a time."
• (Jeff Daniels) "You see to me there was never any difference."
• (Kevin Conway) "None at all?"
• (Jeff Daniels) "None at all. Of course, I haven't known that many freed men -- But those I knew in Bangor, Portland -- You look in the eye, there was a man. There was a "divine spark," as my mother used to call it. That is all there is to it. Races are men. "What a piece of work is man. How infinite in faculties and form, and movement -- How express and admirable. In action how like an angel."
• (Kevin Conway) "Well, if he's an angel, all right then -- But he damn well must be a killer angel. Colonel, darling, you're a lovely man. I see a vast great difference between us, yet I admire you, lad. You're an idealist, praise be. The truth is, Colonel -- There is no "divine spark". There's many a man alive no more of value than a dead dog. Believe me. When you've seen them hang each other the way I have back in the Old Country. Equality? What I'm fighting for is to prove I'm a better man than many of them. Where have you seen this "divine spark" in operation, Colonel? Where have you noted this magnificent equality? No two things on Earth are equal or have an equal chance. Not a leaf, not a tree. There's many a man worse than me, and some better -- But I don't think race or country matters a damn. What matters, Colonel -- Is justice. Which is why I'm here. I'll be treated as I deserve, not as my father deserved. I'm Kilrain -- And I damn all gentlemen. There is only one aristocracy -- And that is right here."
• (Kevin Conway) "And that's why we've got to win this war."

• (Jeff Daniels) "Where have you been?"
• (C. Thomas Howell) "We sent out a detail and found some more departed souls down there, and they were carrying coffee for which they had no more use for, so --"
• (Jeff Daniels) "Oh, you're a ghoul."

• (Jeff Daniels) "Generals can do anything. There's nothing so much like a god on earth as a General on a battlefield."

• (Jeff Daniels) "Many of us volunteered to fight for the Union. Some came mainly because we were bored at home and this looked like it might be fun. Some came because we were ashamed not to. Many came because it was the right thing to do."

Cooper Huckabee as Henry T. Harrison

• (Unnamed) "Howdy, friend. Where are you headed?"
• (Cooper Huckabee) "General Longstreet. I gotta see the General."
• (Unnamed) "Is that a fact?"
• (Cooper Huckabee) "I know General Lee has his headquarters up here a little ways. Wherever he is General Longstreet is nearby. You fellows take me that way, this is urgent."
• (Unnamed) "Let me put it to you like this, stranger. You're not in uniform and you're coming through my picket line. I'll take you up there, but if nobody back there knows you, well, I guess unfortunately, you'll have to be hanged."

Martin Sheen as General Robert E. Lee

• (Martin Sheen) "This is all my fault."

• (Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart) "You wish to see me, sir?"
• (Martin Sheen) "It is the opinion of some -- excellent officers that you have let us all down."
• (Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart) "General Lee, sir, if you will please tell me who these gentlemen are --"
• (Martin Sheen) "There will be none of that. There is no time."
• (Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart) "Sir, I only ask that I be allowed to defend my --"
• (Martin Sheen) "There is no time."
• (Martin Sheen) "General Stuart -- your mission was to free this army from the enemy cavalry and report any movement by the enemy's main body. That mission was not fulfilled. You left here with no word of your movement or movement of the enemy for several days. Meanwhile, we were engaged here and drawn into battle without adequate knowledge of the enemy's strength or position, without knowledge of the ground. So it is only by God's grace that we did not meet disaster here."
• (Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart) "General Lee, there were reasons --"
• (Martin Sheen) "Perhaps you misunderstood my orders? Perhaps I did not make myself clear. Well, sir -- this must be made very clear. You, sir, with your cavalry, are the eyes of this army. Without your cavalry, we are made blind. That has already happened once. It must never, never happen again."
• (Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart) "Sir -- since I no longer hold the General's --"
• (Martin Sheen) "I have told you, there is no time for that. There is no time."
• (Martin Sheen) "There is another fight comin' tomorrow, and we need you. We need every man, God knows. You must take what I have told you, and learn from it, as a man does."
• (Martin Sheen) "There has been a mistake. It will not happen again; I know your quality. You are one of the finest cavalry officers I have ever known, and your service to this army has been invaluable. Now -- let us speak no more of this."
• (Martin Sheen) "The matter is concluded. Good night, General."

• (Martin Sheen) "Yes, sir, general. We will attack the center. But I believe you are right about the flank. Hood and McLaws were both very badly damaged yesterday. What I will do is give you two other divisions: General Pettigrew and General Trimble. They are stronger and more rested, and so you will have nearly three divisions at your command, including Pickett. Your objection will be that clump of trees yonder."
• (Martin Sheen) "The attack will be proceeded by massed artillery. We'll concentrate all our guns on that one small area. A feu d'enfer, as Napoleon would call it. When the artillery has had its effect, your charge will break the line. You will have nearly 15,000 men at your command, general. And you may begin whenever you are ready, but plan it well. Do plan it well, I pray you, sir. We stake everything on this."
• (Tom Berenger) "Sir with your permission -- Sir, I've been a soldier all my life. I've fought from the ranks on up, you know my service. But sir, I must tell you now, I believe this attack will fail. No 15,000 men ever made could take that ridge. It's a distance of more than a mile, over open ground. When the men come out of the trees, they will be under fire from Yankee artillery from all over the field. And those are Hancock's boys. And now, they have the stone wall like we did at Fredericksburg."
• (Martin Sheen) "We do our duty, general. We do what we must do."
• (Tom Berenger) "Yes, sir."

• (Martin Sheen) "Gen. Longstreet, do you mind if I accompany you?"
• (Tom Berenger) "Not at all. I am very glad to have you with us, Sir."
• (Tom Berenger) "The heat reminds me of Mexico."
• (Martin Sheen) "Yes, but the air was very dry."
• (Tom Berenger) "That was a good outfit. I remember storming the ramparts of Chapultepec with old George Pickett, REynolds, my old friend Ulysses Sam Grant. There was some good men in that army."
• (Martin Sheen) "Yes sir, there were indeed."
• (Tom Berenger) "Some of those men are waiting for us now up ahead on those ridges."
• (Tom Berenger) "I don't know. I sometimes feel troubled. Those fellas; those boys in blue; they never quite seem the enemy."
• (Martin Sheen) "I know."
• (Tom Berenger) "I used to command some of those boys. Swore an oath too. Ah -- I; I couldn't fight against Georgia, South Carolina. Not against my own family --"
• (Martin Sheen) "No Sir. There was always a higher duty to Virginia. That was our first duty. There was never any question or doubt about that."
• (Tom Berenger) "Guess so."
• (Martin Sheen) "Let us no think about that now. The issue is in God's hands. We can only do our duty."
• (Martin Sheen) "General, soldiering has one great trap: to be a good solider you must love the army. To be a good commander, you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love. We do not fear our own death you and I. But there comes a time --"
• (Martin Sheen) "We are never quite prepared for so many to die. Oh, we do expect the occasional empty chair. A salute to fallen comrades. But this war goes on and on and the men die and the price gets ever higher. We are prepared to loose some of us, but we are never prepared to loose all of us. And there is the great trap General. When you attack, you must hold nothing back. You must commit yourself totally. We are adrift here in a sea of blood and I want it to end. I want this to be the final battle."

• (Martin Sheen) "But this war goes on and on and the men die and the price gets even higher. We are prepared to lose some of us, but we are never prepared to lose all of us. We are adrift here in a sea of blood and I want it to end. I want this to be the final battle."

• (Martin Sheen) "In the morning is the great battle. Tomorrow or the next day will determine the war. Virginia is here. All the South is here. What will you do tomorrow? In the morning, the enemy will be up in fortified positions on high ground. Longstreet's corps will be coming up, and -- my boys'll be ready to finish the job. If I tell them to withdraw now -- no, sir. They've been patient for far too long. With the enemy out there up on the hill, they'll be ready to finish the job. But I don't even know how much is up there. How many men? How many cannon? I don't know the ground or the flanks. I don't know. If I wait in the morning, the early morning, maybe Meade, under pressure, will attack. Hmm. That would make General Longstreet very happy. But I don't think Meade will come down. And I don't think I can withdraw. So -- God's will. Thy will be done."

• (Martin Sheen) "To be a good soldier you must love the army. To be a good commander you must be able to order the death of the thing you love."

• (Martin Sheen) "General, you must look to your division."
• (Stephen Lang) "General Lee -- I have no division."

Tom Berenger as Lieutenant General James Longstreet

• (Tom Berenger) "God."
• (Tom Berenger) "How are you, T.J.?"
• (Cap. Thomas J. Goree) "I'm tolerable, sir."
• (Tom Berenger) "They ain't comin'. Too bad."
• (Cap. Thomas J. Goree) "Yes, sir. General -- I'll tell you plain. There are times when you worry me."
• (Tom Berenger) "Well --"
• (Cap. Thomas J. Goree) "No good tryin' to get yourself killed, General. The Lord'll come for you in His own good time."
• (Maj. G. Moxley Sorrel) "What are your orders, sir?"
• (Tom Berenger) "Prepare for a defense, but -- the Yankees ain't comin'. Come on, boys."

• (Tom Berenger) "You English had your own civil war, didn't you?"
• (Col. Arthur Freemantle) "That was ages ago. We wouldn't dream of doing it now. Cavaliers and Roundheads. Off with his head. Off with his head."

• (Tom Berenger) "Some of the men are waiting for us now up ahead over those ridges. I don't know, I sometimes feel troubled. Those fellows, those boys in blue, they never quite seem like the enemy. I used to command some of those boys, swore an oath too."

• (Tom Berenger) "He says the lead element is here with the Third Corps --"
• (Tom Berenger) "-- the Sixth right behind --"
• (Tom Berenger) "-- supported by a column of Federal cavalry. Seven corps altogether. The First and Eleventh are above Taneytown, and there's more cavalry two hours east. There may be as many as 100,000 altogether."
• (Martin Sheen) "Do you believe the man, this Mr. Harrison?"
• (Tom Berenger) "No choice. Oh, you remember him, sir; the actor from Mississippi?"
• (Martin Sheen) "An actor? We move on the word of an actor?"
• (Tom Berenger) "Can't afford not to."
• (Martin Sheen) "There would be some word from General Stuart. General Stuart would not leave us blind."
• (Tom Berenger) "Oh, one other thing. Hooker's been replaced. George Meade's the new commander. Harrison read it in the Yankee papers."
• (Martin Sheen) "George Meade. Pennsylvania man. Meade would be cautious, I think. Take him some time to get organized. Perhaps we should move more swiftly. There may be an opportunity here."
• (Tom Berenger) "Yes, sir."
• (Martin Sheen) "Well --"
• (Martin Sheen) "-- no reason to delay. I think we should concentrate here."
• (Martin Sheen) "All the roads converge just east of this gap, and this junction will be very necessary."
• (Tom Berenger) "Yes, sir."
• (Martin Sheen) "I left my spectacles over there. What is the name of this town?"
• (Tom Berenger) ""Gettysburg.""
• (Martin Sheen) "Very well."

• (Tom Berenger) "This is almost perfect, now we got them where we want them. Swing south and east, down the road, get between them and Lincoln, find some good high ground, then they'll have to hit us, they'll have to, we'll have them, sir."
• (Martin Sheen) "You mean disengage?"
• (Tom Berenger) "Well sir, I've always been under the impression that it was our strategy to conduct a defensive campaign wherever possible in order to keep the army intact."
• (Martin Sheen) "Granted, but the situation has changed now."
• (Tom Berenger) "In what way?"
• (Martin Sheen) "We've already pushed them back, they're on the run, vacating the town. How can we move off to the south and the east in the face of the enemy? What are you thinking, General?"
• (Tom Berenger) "Maybe we should not have fought here?"
• (Martin Sheen) "I know that. But we have prevailed. The men have prevailed."
• (Tom Berenger) "Yes sir, they have always done that. But in the morning we may be outnumbered, and they'll be entrenched on the high ground."
• (Martin Sheen) "General, you know as well as I, we have never concerned ourselves with being outnumbered."
• (Tom Berenger) "That is true, sir, you are right. If we move to the south to Washington, they have to pursue us, and then we can fight on ground of our choosing."
• (Martin Sheen) "But the enemy is here. We did not want the fight but the fight is here. How can I ask this army to retreat in the face of what they have done this day?"
• (Tom Berenger) "Not retreat, sir. Re-deploy."
• (Martin Sheen) "Our guns will move them off that hill or Ewell will push them off. But if Meade is there tomorrow, I cannot move this army away, no sir, I will attack him."
• (Tom Berenger) "General, if Meade is up there tomorrow, it is because he wants us to attack him. We pushed back two corps, but there are five more coming."

• (Tom Berenger) "His record at West Point is still the talk of both armies. He graduated last in his class, dead last. Quite a feat, when you consider his classmates."

• (Col. Arthur Freemantle) "You call yourselves Americans, but you're really just transplanted Englishmen. Look at your names: Lee, Hood, Longstreet, Jackson, Stuart --"
• (Tom Berenger) "My people were Dutch --"
• (Col. Arthur Freemantle) "And the same for your adversaries: Meade, Hooker, Hancock, and; shall I say; Lincoln. The same God, same language, same culture and history, same songs, stories, legends, myths; different dreams. Different dreams. So very sad."

• (Tom Berenger) "We should have freed the slaves, THEN fired on Fort Sumter."

Stephen Lang as Major General George E. Pickett

• (Stephen Lang) "Up men. And to your posts. And let no man forget today, that you are from Old Virginia."

• (Stephen Lang) "My boys. What's happening to my boys?"

• (Stephen Lang) "Sirs, perhaps there are those among you who believe you are descended from a ape. I suppose there may even be those among you who believe that I am descended from a ape. But I challenge the man to step forward who believes that General Robert E. Lee is descended from a ape."
• (James L. Kemper) "Hear, hear."
• (Brig. Gen. Richard B. Garnett) "Not likely."

• (Stephen Lang) "That's the style, Lo. That's the style."

Bo Brinkman as Maj. Walter H. Taylor

• (Bo Brinkman) "Good morning, sir."
• (Martin Sheen) "Goor morning, Major Taylor."
• (Bo Brinkman) "Will the general have some breakfast?"
• (Martin Sheen) "No, thank you."
• (Bo Brinkman) "We have flapjacks in small mountains. Fresh butter, bacon, wagons of ham, apple butter, ripe cherries. You really ought to pitch in, sir. Courtesy of our host, the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."

C. Thomas Howell as Lieutenant Thomas D. Chamberlain

• (C. Thomas Howell) "I don't mean no disrespect to you fighting men, but sometimes I can't help but figure -- why you fightin' this war?"
• (Rebel Prisoner) "Why are you?"
• (C. Thomas Howell) "To free the slaves, of course. And preserve the Union."
• (Rebel Prisoner) "I don't know about other folk, but I ain't fighting for no darkies one way or the other. I'm fightin' for my rights. All of us here, that's what we're fighting for rights."
• (C. Thomas Howell) "Your what?"
• (Rebel Prisoner) "For our rights. The right to live my life like I see fit. Why can't you just live the way you want to live, and let us live the way we do? Live and let live, I hear some folks say. Be lot less fuss and bother if more folks took it to heart."
• (C. Thomas Howell) "Where'd you get captured?"
• (Rebel Prisoner) "From a cut just west of Gettysburg town. Wasn't a pretty sight. Many a good boy lost a young and promising life. Some wore blue and some wore gray. Seen enough of this war?"
• (C. Thomas Howell) "I guess I have."
• (Rebel Prisoner) "I guess I have too. Looks like I'm gonna be sittiing out the rest of it."
• (C. Thomas Howell) "Well, I appreciate you talking to me."
• (Rebel Prisoner) "See you in hell, Billy Yank."
• (C. Thomas Howell) "See you in hell, Johnny Reb."

• (C. Thomas Howell) "Sir? Sir."
• (Richard Jordan) "Will you help me up please?"
• (C. Thomas Howell) "Sir, could you tell me what your name is, who you are?"
• (Richard Jordan) "I would like to speak to General Hancock. Do you know where General Hancock may be found?"
• (C. Thomas Howell) "I'm sorry, Sir. The General is down. He's been hit."
• (Richard Jordan) "NO. Not both of us. Not all of us. Please God."
• (C. Thomas Howell) "Sir, sir we're having a surgeon come as quickly as we can."
• (Richard Jordan) "Can you hear me son?"
• (C. Thomas Howell) "Yes, sir. I can hear you."
• (Richard Jordan) "Will you tell General Hancock, that General Armistead sends his regrets. Will you tell him how very sorry I am."
• (C. Thomas Howell) "I will tell him, sir. I will tell him."

Patrick Gorman as Major General John Bell Hood

• (Patrick Gorman) "They don't even need guns to defend that. All they've got to do is roll rocks down on us."

Brian Mallon as Major General Winfield Scott Hancock

• (Brian Mallon) "There are times when a corps commander's life does not count."

• (Brian Mallon) "Tell me, Professor. In your studies have you come across a story from antiquity of two men who are like brothers facing each other on the field of battle?"
• (Jeff Daniels) "Well, General, if the Greeks or Romans did not tell of it, I think that story must surely be in the Bible."
• (Brian Mallon) "When I look across the field and see the flags of the 9th and 14th Virginia; I can almost see his old crumpled hat and hear his voice. Lewis Armistead was my closest friend before the war. I'd like to see him again; but not here, not like this. What do you say, Colonel; what do the books tell you."

Maxwell Caulfield as Colonel Strong Vincent

• (Maxwell Caulfield) "Now we'll see how professors fight."

• (Maxwell Caulfield) "It's a far cry from Bowdoin College."
• (Jeff Daniels) "No farther than Harvard yard."

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