From the book of the same name by Jeffery M Shaara. A prequel to Gettysburg (1993, featuring the same direction and production team and many of the same cast) this film takes us from after the fall of Fort Sumter, but before major conflict, with Robert E. Lee (Duvall) rejecting Lincoln's offer to command the Union forces, to about May 1863, just before Gettysburg. It creates a strong sense of the Confederate mindset of the American Civil War as 'the second war of independence', with many close descendents of the leaders of the Revolutionary War amongst its movers and shakers. The focus is mainly on the complex personality of General Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson (Lang): deeply religious, loving and gentle, but completely ruthless in battle. It follows Jackson from a professorship at the Virginia Military Institute, to his death in the aftermath of his and Lee's greatest triumph at Chancellorsville. Brought to life by a brilliant cast with stunning battle scenes performed by hordes of re-enactors. While the film does not pack quite the same wallop as Gettysburg, and, for our era is somewhat preachy, it is a quality and very worthwhile contribution to the gallery of films on this conflict.