I enjoyed this movie about the involvement of cadets from the Virginia Military Institute in the Battle of New Market which delayed U. S. Grant's invasion into the Shenandoah Valley. Most of the movie takes place at the academy in 1863-4 showing the cadet's dedication to duty, honor and concern about the war.
The movie takes a decidedly ant-slavery stand though this is mostly in the background. This first scene in 1858 shows the governor of Virginia, who opposed secession, taking his 12 year old son to a slave auction to see the misery and pain inherit in the practice of slavery. Five years later the son is one of the cadets called to serve in the reserves of CSA General Breckenridge's army for the battle.
The cadets experience romance, fear, death, loss of comrades, fear but finally victory. The title comes from one of the last scenes when Confederate soldiers recover boots and shoes from the battlefield. Their sacrifice is still honored each year at VMI. This movie will only appeal to a small audience of course. It received no advance publicity of any kind. I was the only person in this theater at the multiplex. It probably won't last long wherever it plays.
The movie takes a decidedly ant-slavery stand though this is mostly in the background. This first scene in 1858 shows the governor of Virginia, who opposed secession, taking his 12 year old son to a slave auction to see the misery and pain inherit in the practice of slavery. Five years later the son is one of the cadets called to serve in the reserves of CSA General Breckenridge's army for the battle.
The cadets experience romance, fear, death, loss of comrades, fear but finally victory. The title comes from one of the last scenes when Confederate soldiers recover boots and shoes from the battlefield. Their sacrifice is still honored each year at VMI. This movie will only appeal to a small audience of course. It received no advance publicity of any kind. I was the only person in this theater at the multiplex. It probably won't last long wherever it plays.