Goofs

A sheep herding boy tell Will the war is over, that it ended at Appomattox (April 9, 1865). No one would have thought the war was over at this point. Johnston did not surrender to Sherman until April 26, 1865, at Bennett Place, North Carolina. Forest surrendered May 9, at Gainsville, Alabama, while other smaller Confederate forces east of the Mississippi continued to surrender in May and June. West of the Mississippi (which would have been of greater concern to the characters in this movie since they were out of Missouri), the war continued into May, when the last land battle was fought at Palmito Ranch (May 13), near Brownsville, Texas. Over the next 6 weeks, the remaining Confederate forces surrendered In Louisiana (Kirby Smith: May 26), and Indian Territory (Stand Watie: June 23). So, as there were still armies throughout the South that continued to fight for another month, and were only going to surrender over the next 10 weeks, NO one would have thought the war was over in early April, 1865. But many continue to think the war ended when Lee Surrendered to Grant, on April 9, and evidently, so did the writers, director, and producer of this movie.

In the final gun fight, Will and company are able to see the raiders turned bandits approach Don Chaves' party in the dark. They are then able to look down their sights at the bandits, and shoot and hit them, all in the dark. In the dark, one could not even see their sights, let alone look down them and be able to hit their target (except by chance). So, to kill all of these men, by chance, is almost impossible.

As Will and company start out against the raiders turned bandits, the night-time sky is not black but a brilliant blue. Though a filter making the scene appear darker was used, there is still a lot of light about, on the ground, and on the distant hills and horizon. And that "night-time" blue sky is not even close to being dark blue.

Night time scenes were filmed using a filter to darken scenes. BUT this technique leaves the sky blue when in fact the night sky is always black! This technique tends to also leave landscapes brilliant, bathed in sunlight, even though it is supposed to be nightfall. Further, detail and color (both close and distant) is evident, when in fact it would, should fade, disappear, into the shadows and darkness of the background.

The three escape Confederate POWs tip their hand to the farmer and his family by referring to Shiloh as Pittsburgh Landing. As the boy puts it, "Only Rebels would call it Pittsburgh Landing. Around here we call it Shiloh." Battles got their names from the use of names in the press. The press in the Northern states did indeed use the name Shiloh, while the press in the Southern states would have used Pittsburgh Landing. But Missouri was a boarder state, with Union and Confederate sympathies blended throughout the state. In fact Confederate sympathy was so rampant that even though Missouri did not secede from the Union, it none-the-less sent representatives to the Confederate Congress in Richmond. Therefore papers throughout Missouri would have used both terms, depending on the sympathies of the owner and editor of the newspaper. This Missouri family, as with all Missourians, would have been exposed to both types of newspapers and therefore would have undoubtably been very familiar with both terms to the point that they would have used both names very freely, despite their own personal viewpoints. Accordingly, they would not have been alarmed to hear the name Pittsburgh Landing in this conversation, and become suspicious that these men were the escaped POWs for that reason. Rather, all they would have need to become suspicious was the sudden appearance of three strangers after the news of the escape from the POW camp had spread.

When Will puts Jen's shoes on her, she is wearing sheer stockings. In the 19th Century, since hemlines were ground level, and ankles could not be seen, sheer stockings would have been pointless. Silk and rayon stockings only came about in the 1920's (and nylon in the 1940's) when hemlines rose and showed off a woman's ankles and calves. In the 1860, women's stockings would have been either wool or cotton, and what Jen is wearing when Will puts her shoes on her feet are sheer and NOT wool or cotton.

The weapons most prevalent in this movie are 1873 Springfield carbines and fixed ammunition revolvers (Colt Peacemakers and converted 1860 Colt Army revolvers). As the Springfield did not come out until 1873, it would have postdated the Civil War by 8 years. Peacemakers too, postdate the Civil War by 8 years. The 1860 Colt Army Revolvers (a pistol that was of the Civil War era) were converted from percussion to fixed ammunition (one can tell this by the ejector rod attached to the side of the barrel that was used to eject the spent shells from the cylinder), would not have been converted until after the end of the war. Also, as the pistols used at this time were percussion, the gun belts worn by the main characters would not have had loops for fixed ammunition rounds.