''The Blue and the Gray'' is a television miniseries that first aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

in three installments on November 14, November 16, and November 17, 1982. Set during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, the series starred John Hammond,

Stacy Keach Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor and narrator. He has played mainly dramatic roles throughout his career, often in law enforcement or as a private detective. His most prominent role was as Mickey Spillane's fiction ...

Lloyd Bridges Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. (January 15, 1913 – March 10, 1998) was an American film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of four children, includi ...

, and Gregory Peck as President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. It was executive produced by Larry White and

Lou Reda Louis J. Reda (January 31, 1925 – September 30, 2017) was an American filmmaker, specializing in television documentaries, who produced some 30 productions, as chairman of Lou Reda Productions, based in Easton, Pennsylvania. Reda's production c ...

, in association with

Columbia Pictures Television Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CPT) was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution studio. It is the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gem ...

. A novel of the same name by John Leekley was published as a companion to the series in 1982, based on a story by John Leekley and

Bruce Catton Charles Bruce Catton (October 9, 1899 – August 28, 1978) was an American historian and journalist, known best for his books concerning the American Civil War. Known as a narrative historian, Catton specialized in popular history, featuring in ...

and the teleplay by Ian McLellan Hunter. The title refers to the colors of the uniforms worn by

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

soldiers respectively.

Synopsis

The plot revolves around the families of two sisters; Maggie Geyser and Evelyn Hale. The Geysers are farmers who reside near Charlottesville, Virginia, and the Hales own a small newspaper in

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; non-locally ) is a borough and the county seat of Adams County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are named for this town. Gettysburg is home to th ...

. The Geysers are generally indifferent to the issue of slavery, but are sympathetic to the Southern cause. The lone exception in the family is son John, an artistic young man who becomes sympathetic to the plight of Southern slaves and free Negroes. The Hales are pro-Union and

anti-slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

, but, like many Northerners at the time, they hope for a peaceful solution to the nation's problems. The drama begins in 1859 when John leaves the Geyser family farm for Pennsylvania, where he gets a job as an artist correspondent for the paper owned by his uncle, Jacob Hale, Sr. John's first assignment takes him to the trial of abolitionist John Brown, where he meets and befriends the mysterious Jonas Steele, a former

Jayhawker Jayhawkers and red legs are terms that came to prominence in Kansas Territory during the Bleeding Kansas period of the 1850s; they were adopted by militant bands affiliated with the free-state cause during the American Civil War. These gangs we ...

and Pinkerton detective. Jonas returns with John to Gettysburg and falls in love with John's cousin Mary, but is afraid to commit to her, thanks to his troubling dreams that seem to predict the future. After falling out with his family over the issues of slavery and secession during Christmas of 1860, John returns to Pennsylvania, while John's brothers Matthew, Mark, and Luke join the Confederate Army. John's cousins, Malachy and Jake Hale, join the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

. The Hales' youngest child, 16-year-old James, lies about his age to join the Union Army, but contracts

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

and dies before he sees any action. Caught "betwixt and between", John will not fight for the South, but is unwilling to bear arms against his own brothers. After being reunited with Jonas Steele, who has joined the Union Army as a scout, John becomes a war correspondent for ''

Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...

''. Jonas is commissioned to use his detective skills (being a former Pinkerton detective) to investigate a series of gruesome war crimes. Meanwhile, John travels with the Union Army and witnesses many of the important events of the Civil War, including

First Bull Run The First Battle of Bull Run (the name used by Union forces), also known as the Battle of First Manassas

, the Peninsula Campaign, the

Siege of Vicksburg The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mis ...

, Battle of the Wilderness (where his brother Mark is killed in front of him), Lee's surrender at Appomattox and Abraham Lincoln's assassination. At Bull Run, John meets Kathy Reynolds, the daughter of a senator, who, despite her higher social standing, proves to be a good war nurse. Jonas overcomes his doubts and marries Mary. John's sister, Emma, and her child are caught up in the Siege of Vicksburg, where her husband, Lester, is killed. The

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

is a prominent focal point of the story; Mary is killed as the battle rages near the Steele home, just as one of Jonas' dreams had predicted. John reconciles with his family as he, his father, and Matthew join a group of Confederate troops in defending the Geyser homestead against a Union Army attack. The Union Army is driven off, but Matthew is killed in the skirmish. Despite being a Union officer, Jonas gains the respect of the Geysers (and possibly a future with Emma) by orchestrating Luke's rescue from a Union POW camp. Jonas finally locates the war crimes assailant, Confederate Major Welles, and kills him. He suffers a serious sword injury to his right arm during the fight resulting in the arm being subsequently amputated. Later, his strange dream of President Lincoln's death arrives too late to save the President at

Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater bo ...

. The Hales and the Geysers come together after the war to celebrate John and Kathy's wedding at the Geyser homestead in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Cast

Production notes

Although the series is largely set in

, it was filmed entirely on location in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

, except for the segment representing the Elmira, New York Federal prison camp which was filmed in the stockade at nearby

Fort Gibson Fort Gibson is a historic military site next to the modern city of Fort Gibson, in Muskogee County Oklahoma. It guarded the American frontier in Indian Territory from 1824 to 1888. When it was constructed, the fort was farther west than any ot ...

State Park, Oklahoma.Columbia Tristar DVD, 2001, closing credits, and DVD case.

Soundtrack

Bruce Broughton Bruce Harold Broughton (born March 8, 1945) is an American orchestral composer of television, film, and video game scores and concert works. He has composed several highly acclaimed soundtracks over his extensive career and has contributed man ...

's entire 2-hour score presented in stereo from the only surviving complete 1/4" two-track master elements was released on limited edition CD limited in 2008 on the

Intrada A prelude (german: Präludium or '; la, praeludium; french: prélude; it, preludio) is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. While, during the Baroque era, for example, it may have served as an introduction t ...

label.

DVD release

''The Blue and the Gray'' was released on Region 1

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in 3- and 2-disc sets. The first was released on November 6, 2001, and the second on July 26, 2005. The 3-disc edition runs 381 minutes, while the 2-disc edition is an abridged 296-minute cut.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue and the Gray 1982 American television series debuts 1982 American television series endings Fiction set in 1859 Fiction set in 1860 Television series about the American Civil War 1980s American television miniseries Fictional depictions of Abraham Lincoln in film Fictional depictions of Abraham Lincoln in television Cultural depictions of Ulysses S. Grant Cultural depictions of Robert E. Lee Films shot in Arkansas Films directed by Andrew McLaglen Films scored by Bruce Broughton