This Civil War drama is in fact a strong anti-war film that came out during the Vietnam war, and obviously shows it’s leanings, even while cloaking them in this story of a southern family who doesn’t want anything to do with this Civil War going on around it. The film is incredibly epic, and incredibly sad. Quite an enjoyable film.

The film follows the family of a Charlie Anderson (James Stewart) a widowed farmer living in Shenandoah, Virginia during the Civil War. He doesn’t have slaves, and works all the land with his sons, making everything there’s, and so doesn’t want anything to do with the Civil War, or fighting the Yankee’s. Recruiters try to take his sons, and they try to conscript his horses, but Anderson and his sons are having none of it. His duaghter Jennie (Rosemary Forsyth) gets engaged to and marries a Confederate soldier Colonel Fairchold (George Kennedy), but he is taken away as soon as the wedding is finished to fight. The youngest son Boy (Phillip Alford) found a Confederate hat in the river, and has been wearing it, and while out with a gun hunting with his friend, a local slave named Gabriel (Eugene Jackson Jr.) Boy is taken for a Confederate solider, and taken by some Union Men. Gabriel goes back to tell the Anderson’s, then as a man from the Union told him, leaves a free man, heading for the North. Charlie Anderson gathers up his boys and decides to go find Boy, leaving his married son and daughter in law at home. And Jennie comes with as well, refusing to be left behind.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Charlie and his sons visit a union army camp, and are given a letter of safe passage, and they get to a train station which processes prisoners, shows it, but is ignored, and the train quickly leaves. Charlie and his sons then set up an ambush and take the train to see if Boy is there, though they only find Colonel Fairchild, who is re-united with Jennie. And they head off to find Boy, staying in an abandoned house, and Charlie sets up a room for Jennie and the Colonel to finally have their first night together, before they head off.

Back at home the son and his wife are killed by a group of bandits.

Boy has been taken to a camp and made friends with other prisoners, and when they escape, he goes with them. They head back to Southern lines, and though Boy wants to go home, he goes with them, and has to fight with them. He is almost killed, but it turns out Gabriel is now a union soldier, and saves him, and he finally starts to head home.

Charlie realizes they will never find his son, and they head home, and find only his granddaughter still alive. The family goes to church services, arriviing late as usual, but during the service a wounded Boy finally returns to his family.

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A good movie, and quite a powerful message.