Jerry Chesser is Capt. R.I. Chessman, an officer in Hampton’s Legion during the Civil War.
He leads a hard-fighting group of men, winds up fighting at Gettysburg, bleeding defending Georgia and being captured by Union forces.
And he slowly loses hope in the Confederate cause, urging his own growing son not to join the fight for fear he’ll lose his life for a lost cause.
Meanwhile, Union Gen. Sherman is determined to make the South pay a heavy price for leaving the Union.
And a Union colonel tries to fulfill two promises: one made to his wife to return home safe, one made to his sister to make sure his nephew does the same.
The latter would be a whole lot easier if his nephew wasn’t a drunk embarrassment to the Union Army.
Jerry Chessman as Capt. R.I. Chessman, a cavalryman in Hampton’s Legion in American Confederate (2019)
Parker Stevenson as Gen. Sherman, issuing a stern warning to a captured Rebel in American Confederate (2019)
Review:
Oh, my, director Christopher Forbes has graduated from making barely watchable low-budget Westerns to making incomprehensively bad Civil War dramas.
A plot might have helped here. So would some semblance of cohesion to tie together the disjointed scenes he commits to film.
Then, again, maybe a plot would have been wasted. Because some of the scenes are so groan-worthy, they defy logic.
In one, the drunken nephew pulls his pistol on a Rebel cavalryman, somehow overlooking the fact that the entire cylinder that holds the bullets is missing.
In another, a Confederate cavalryman is shot in the left shoulder. His left arm falls off. So he steps on the dismembered arm to retrieve his pistol so he can go right on fighting right-handed.
I could go on and on about this film’s shortcomings. Just know this: If you pay as much as a penny to watch this movie, you’;; feel as though you’ve been duped long before the credits roll.
Stan Fink as Doc Henry, breaking bad news to nurse Miss Olivia in American Confederate (2019)
Jezibell Anat as Miss Olivia, a nurse pleading with Gen. Sherman for badly needed medical supplies in American Confederate (2019)
Directed by:
Christopher Forbes
Cast:
Jerry Chesser … Capt. R.L. Chessman
Stan Fink … Henry, medic
Tripp Courtney … Capt. Falstaff
Charles Kizer …
John Hudson … Parrish
Jezibell Anat … Miss Olivia
Kimberly Campbell … Mrs. Chessman
William Adams … Loews
Danny Francis … General
Daniel Dobson … Peyton Chessman
Josh Belenke …
Parker Stevenson … Gen. Sherman
Joseph Zuchowski … Peabody
John Vaughn … Union colonel
Runtime: 97 min.
John Vaughn as the Union colonel, trying to even the score for a slain nephew in American Confederate (2019)
Timothy E. Dillinger as the drunken nephew of a Union colonel, under a Rebel’s gun in American Confederate (2019)
Memorable lines:
Confederate Doctor Henry: “That was a long night.”
Miss Olivia: “Yes it was, Henry. Any longer, and I’d forget what daylight looked like.”
Union colonel: “Where have you been?”
His nephew: “Keeping up with the troops, sir.”
Colonel: “Keeping up with the troops? I can imagine which troops you were keeping up with. Which ones and which bawdy house were you into this time?”
The nephew: “Thank you, sir.”
Pierce: “What’s that glowing in the west there, captain? It looks like the sun forgot to sink.”
Capt. Chessman: “That’s Atlanta. I imagine they’re burning it.”
Pierce: “Shouldn’t we move in? Try to help them?”
Chessman: “We ain’t gods, Pierce. We’re just flesh and blood.”
Union colonel: “Warn the men, do not get overconfident with these people. I fought with these individuals in Mexico. I know these rebels can fight. They’ll fight like a wildcat. And if you can a mistake, they will shove it down your throat. They will kill you and laugh while you bleed to death.”
Union cavalryman: “I want to parlay. You unarmed.”
Confederate cavalryman: “I’m one armed.”
Union cavalryman: “Well, I’m unarmed.”
The parlay commences.
Capt. Chessman, to son Peyton, who wants to join up to fight: “Dying is so easy out there, Peyton. You don’t get to stop, back up, or think about it. A bullet hits you. Bam, you’re gone. Just like that.”
Daniel Dobson as Peyton Chessman, itching to fight but stopped by his father in American Confederate (2019)
Kimberly Campbell as Mrs. Chessman, welcoming her husband as he visits home in American Confederate (2019)
Tripp Courtney as Capt. Falstaff, who’d like to see every Southerner dead in American Confederate (2019)
Joseph Zuchowski as Peabody, Sherman’s quartermaster, with his ear on suspicious singing in American Confederate (2019)
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