Gettysburg quotes

View Quote [Director's CutĖ Pickett has a private word with Longstreet]
Maj. Gen. George Pickett: Well, sir, you are looking fine.
Lt. Gen. James Longstreet: Lookin' lovely yourself, George.
Maj. Gen. George Pickett: General... uh, no reflection on you, sir, but, well...you know, my division, my Virginia boys, we haven't seen all that much action for a long time. I mean, well, we weren't all that engaged at Fredericksburg; we missed Chancellorsville altogether, off on some piddlin' affair. Now they took two of my brigades, Corse and Jenkins, and sent them off to guard Richmond? I mean, Richmond, of all places? And now, sir, do you know where I have been placed in the line of march? Last, sir. That's where I am. Exactly last. I'm bringin' up the damn rear, beg pardon, sir. You see, my boys are beginning to feel a trifle disgusted at this attitude towards them as fightin' men. My boys --
Lt. Gen. James Longstreet: George...
Maj. Gen. George Pickett: Sir?
Lt. Gen. James Longstreet: Please.
Maj. Gen. George Pickett: Oh, I sure don't mean to imply you, sir. No. Hell no, sir. No, it's just, uh... well, the bureaucrats. See, I was just... I was hoping, sir, that you could talk to somebody about this arrangement of the troops.
Lt. Gen. James Longstreet: Would you like me to move the whole army to the side so you can go first?
Maj. Gen. George Pickett: Sir? [chuckles] Now that you mention it...
Lt. Gen. James Longstreet: There is no plot, George. It's just the way things fell out. I mean, hell, look at it this way. If the army has to turn around, fight its way back... well, you'll be first in line.
Maj. Gen. George Pickett: Yes... yes, I suppose that is true, isn't it? You understand, sir. It's just that this whole damn war might be over after one more bout, and my Virginia boys will have missed most of it.
Lt. Gen. James Longstreet: Yeah, I know. How far back are they?
Maj. Gen. George Pickett: Chambersburg. A hard day's march, sir.
Lt. Gen. James Longstreet: Mm-hmm... I know I can count on you, George, when the time comes. And it will come. It will come.
Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead: [walks up] Sorry to butt in, but they're calling for George over at the poker table. Your fame, sir, has preceded you.
Maj. Gen. George Pickett: Well... thank you, General. [shakes Longstreet's hand] Well...cheerio, fellas.
Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead: Don't forget to bring your money.

View Quote [During Pickett's Charge, as Federal artillery and rifle fire begins to destroy the leading formations]
Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead: What are you doing?!
Brig. Gen. James Kemper: You gotta come up Lo, you gotta come up and help us! Goddamn, they're flanking us! They're flanking us, they're coming down on the right, and they're firing right into us.
Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead: Head for the trees! Head up for the center. I'll call for double quick, we'll go on double quick. Nobody waits, everybody goes!
[Kemper rides back to the line as Armistead addresses his Brigade]
Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead: Boys! At the double quick!
Confederate Officers: Double quick!
Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead: March!

View Quote [As Armistead leads the charge to the stone wall] That's the style, Lo! [Raises his hat in the air] THAT'S THE STYLE!!

View Quote [As smoke obscures the charge] What's happenin'? I can't see what's happenin' to my boys. WHAT'S HAPPENIN' TO MY BOYS?!

View Quote [examining his sword scabbard which was hit by a bullet and bent badly] I'll be damned.

View Quote [just before Pickett's Charge] With General Longstreet in command, my old war horse, meeting the enemy face to face on ground of his own choosing, and with honour, we will prevail!

View Quote [last words] Will you tell General Han**** that General Armistead sends his regrets? Will you tell him how very sorry I am?

View Quote [Observing the initial attack of the Confederates against his men] Got a brigade in position and that's all. We got the best damn ground around and they're hitting me with one brigade. Lovely, lovely! [Turns around, looking for a sign of Gen. Reynolds, sees none] Damn it.

View Quote [reaches the fence, noticing a soldier cowering nearby] Come on, boy, come on! What will you think of yourself tomorrow? Virginians! Virginians! [Impales his hat on his sword] We'll stay! Who will come with me?! The day is ours, men! Turn the cannons on them! Turn the cannons!

View Quote [repeated line, to his brother Thomas] Don't call me Lawrence.

View Quote [Responding to an order to form a defensive position after his division has been slaughtered] General Lee, I have no division.

View Quote [thinking] 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 will 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. 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.

View Quote [to Col. Devin, one of his brigade commanders] You know what's gonna happen here in the morning? The whole damn rebel army's gonna be here. They'll move through this town, occupy these hills on the other side. When our people get here, Lee'll have the high ground. There'll be the devil to pay. The high ground! Meade will come in slowly, cautiously, new to command. They'll be on his back from Washington, wires hot with messages: "Attack! Attack!" So he will set up a ring around these hills, and when Lee's army is all nicely entrenched behind fat rocks on the high ground, Meade'll finally attack, if he can coordinate the army. Straight up the hillside, out in the open, in that gorgeous field of fire. We will charge valiantly, and be butchered valiantly! Afterwards, men in tall hats and gold watch-fobs will thump their chests and say what a brave charge it was. [sighs] Devin, I've led a soldier's life. I've never seen anything as brutally clear as this. It's as if I can actually see the blue troops in one long, bloody moment, going up the long slope to the stony top, as if it were already done, and already a memory. Odd, set, stony quality to it, as if tomorrow's already happened and there's nothing you can do about it. Way you sometimes feel before an ill-considered attack, knowing it'll fail, but you cannot stop it! You must even take part, and help it fail!

View Quote [to Col. Fremantle, on the irony of his uncle defending the original "Star Spangled Banner" at Ft. McHenry in 1814] Colonel Fremantle, it does not begin or end with my uncle, or myself. We're all sons of Virginia here. That major out there, commanding the cannon - that's James Dearing, first in his class at West Point, before Virginia seceded. And the boy over there with the color guard - 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, to the Shenandoah 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.

View Quote [to his spy, Harrison, just before Pickett's Charge] You know what's gonna happen? I'll tell you what's gonna happen. Troops are now forming behind the line of trees. When they come out, they'll be under enemy long-range artillery fire. Solid shot. Percussion. Every gun they have. Troops will come out under fire with more than a mile to walk. And still, within the open field, among the range of aimed muskets. They'll be slowed by that fence out there, and the formation - what's left of it - will begin to come apart. When they cross that road, they'll be under short-range artillery. Canister fire. Thousands of little bits of shrapnel wiping the holes in the lines. If they get to the wall without breaking up, there won't be many left. A mathematical equation... But maybe, just maybe, our own artillery will break up their defenses. There's always that hope. [he sighs] That's Han**** out there, and he ain't gonna run. So it's mathematical after all. If they get to that road, or beyond it, we'll suffer over fifty percent casualties. But, Harrison...I don't believe my boys will reach that wall.