History Series / TheBlueAndTheGray

* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler:James lies about his age to join the Union Army but then contracts dysentery and dies before ever seeing the battlefield]], which is very much TruthINTelevision for many soldiers on both sides of the war.

* GetAHoldOfYourselfWoman: John gives one of these to Kathy at Bull Run.

* BrightSlap: John gives one of these to Kathy at Bull Run.

* DuelToTheDeath: John is challenged to a duel by a German suitor of Cathy's after letting her and a third suitor know that he fled a fallen Kathy after their carriage crashed into a crater. Neither die, but the German ends up humiliated once again.

* AccidentalHero: Malachi. His gun jams and he runs away from battle. He comes across a Confederate deserter, and they wager their fate on the battle's outcome, ending with the Confederate being taken prisoner. When escorting his prisoner to headquarters, Malachi comes across some Southern stragglers in need of medical attention, who surrender to him. Reaching headquarters with all the prisoners, which (to his CO, he apparently captured with an ''unloaded weapon''), he is issued a commendation and promoted.

A 1982 CBS miniseries about an extended family during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar. Beginning in 1859 and ending a year after the war, it examines how the main characters are effected by the conflict.

John Geyser is a southerner whose family owns a farm in Virginia. He has three brothers, each of them far more serious about agriculture than him. Tired of farm life and hoping to get a job at his uncle's newspaper, he moves to Gettysburg, PA.

!!This Series contains the following tropes:

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Kathy's third suitor is never mentioned again after John and the German's duel.

* MistakenForSpies: John initially fears this will happen to him when the war begins due to his not wanting to fight for either side. The fact that he has a southern accent in Gettysburg, PA also helps. Later on, he hires a smuggler to get him inside a besieged Vicksburg, carrying milk and food for his sister and her child. The smuggler is sure that he's a spy, and he's likely carried Union spies in before, since he was recommended to John by the "scout" Jonas.

* BringMyBrownPants: Malachi, at Bull Run.

* HollywoodHistory:
** The eponymous uniforms did not show up in RealLife until late in the Civil War. Initially, soldiers on both sides wore the uniforms of their militias.
** In the ending, John tells the Senator to smile for a photo. In that era, smiling for a photograph was viewed as indicating loose sexual morals.

A 1982 CBS miniseries about an extended family during TheAmericanCivilWar. Beginning in 1859 and ending a year after the war, it examines how the main characters are effected by the conflict.

The Blue and the Gray Tropes Entry

John Geyser is a southerner whos family owns a farm in Virginia. He has three brothers, each of them far more serious about agriculture than him. Tired of farm life and hoping to get a job at his uncle's newspaper, he moves to Gettysburg, PA.

* AccidentalHero: Malachi: His gun jams and he runs away from battle. He comes across a Confederate deserter, and, they wager their fate on the battle's outcome, ending with the Confederate being taken prisoner. When escorting his prisoner to headquarters, Malachi comes across some Southern stragglers in need of medical attention, who surrender to him. Reaching headquarters with all the prisoners, which (to his CO, he apparently captured with an ''unloaded weapon''), he is issued a commendation and promoted.
* AnyoneCanDie: It is the Civil War, afterall. Of the Geyser and Hale family, five members (including in-laws) are killed. Two of them aren't even soldiers, albeit one is a smuggler. Numerous supporting characters and friends of the main characters are also killed.
* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: Emma has her child hours before her husband is killed. He does get to see his child before the shelling begins and his hospital ward is hit.

* BringMyBrownPants: Malachi, at Bull Run
* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Luke and Grundy sneak John and his Northern cousins accross Confederate lines for "a bit of fun". Their CO catches them, and gives them a choice of thirty days latrine duty, or joining the balloon corps. Choosing the latter, Luke and Grundy are shot down on the second mission; Grundy is killed, and Luke is taken prisoner (in a time before the Geneva Convention protected prisoners' rights) by the North, not to be released until toward the end o the war.

* DrillSergeantNasty: Averted. The sergeant who trains the conscripts isn't portrayed like any drill instructor seen before. The most he does is a stern shaking of the head to when a bumbling private misfires his rifle while loading.

** When Lester recovers from his wounds, only to be blown up when his hospital ward is shelled.
** When Mary survives a literal version of the events in Jonas' dream, only to be killed in Gettysburg.

* PeacefulInDeath: Subverted. John's brother dies screaming in the Wilderness as a burning tree falls on him. The Union sergeant of the Hale brothers is shown after he's killed, wearing the shocked and pained expression he had when he died. It is also played straight at Mary's funeral after she is killed in Gettysburg.

* YouCantFightFate: Jonas' attempts to prevent Mary's and Lincoln's deaths prove futile

* DeathWish: Jonas, between Mary's death and Kathy's comforting him at the hospital.

* DeadlyDoctor: The doctor at Elmira prison camp is said to be this by the Confederate [=POWs=]. One soldier said that he heard the doctor boast that he had [[BeyondTheImpossible killed more rebels than any soldier on the front]].

* AccidentalHero: Malachi: His gun jams and he runs away from battle. He comes across a Confederate deserter, and, they wager their fate on the battle's outcome, ending with the Confederate being taken prisoner. When escorting his prisoner to headquarters, Malachi comes across some Southern stragglers in need of medical attention, who surrender to him. Reaching headquarters with all the prisoners, which )to his CO, he apparently captured with an ''unloaded weapon''), he is issued a commendation and promoted.

* HollywoodHistory: The eponymous uniforms did not show up in RealLife until late in the Civil War. Initially, soldiers on both sides wore the uniforms of their militias.

* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Luke and Grundy sneak John and his Northern cousins accross Confederate lines for "a bit of fun". Their CO catches them, and gives them a choice of thirty days latrine duty, or joining the balloon corps. Choosing the latter, they are shot down on the next mission; Grundy is killed, and Luke is taken prisoner (in a time before the Geneva Convention protected prisoners' rights) by the North, not to be released until toward the end o the war.

* SelfDeprecation: When asked if he has ever "seen the elephant" (been in a battle", Malachi replies that he has -- over his shoulder.

* BringMyBrownPants: Jacob, at Bull Run

* Self-Deprecation: When asked if he has ever "seen the elephant" (been in a battle", Malachi replies that he has -- over his shoulder.

* FriendlyEnemy: The trading scene mentioned above, but John's brother Luke invites John and his two cousins to a barn dance behind enemy lines. Even Luke's commander relents in letting them go after Luke says that he gave his word that they'd get back.

* YouAreInCommandNow: While he was only one rank lower than the man he replaced, Malachi is forced to lead his squad in the Wilderness after their sergeant is killed.