History TearJerker / Gettysburg

*** Particularly sad is when General Garnett during Pickett's Charge is shot by a cannon right as the music turns tragic, and then it cuts to Lee pulling his binoculars away from his face with this sad expression...

* After the first day is done, Buford leans on a fence outside the Union headquarters and says "Well, General Reynolds, we held the high ground," and then silently puts his face down on his arms.

* General Reynolds' sudden, shocking death. The extended cut shows him as a caring and level-headed man who has the affection and respect of his troops, and his competent and quick decisions fully justify the tears of relief Buford had on Reynolds' arrival. And then a sniper shoots him dead in the middle of ordering an advance. His entire brigade is grief-stricken and kneel around his body in a scene that evokes the painting "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_General_Wolfe The Death of General Wolfe]]."

* The troops of the 69th Pennsylvania shouting "Fredricksburg!" after successfully repelling Pickett's Charge in memory of their own comrades, who had been slaughtered in that battle the year before.

* Tom informing Chamberlain that Kilrain did not survive the surgery for his wound. You can see the way Chamberlain tries to remain stoic, but seeing his eyes tear up more and more as Tom talks, then his sad little smile when Tom notes how fond he was of the old Irishman, is utterly heartbreaking.

** General Pickett's quiet horror, then screaming, "I can't see! I can't see what's happening to my boys! ''What's happening to my boys!?''" when he realizes how badly things are going. His response to General Lee's inquiry about his division, "General Lee... I ''have'' no ''division''", are well beyond the threshold to hold back the [[ManlyTears waterworks]].

*** What gets me is when General Garnett during Pickett's Charge is shot by a cannon right as the music turns tragic, and then it cuts to Lee pulling his binoculars away from his face with this sad expression...

*** What gets me is when the officer on the horse during Pickett's Charge is shot by the cannon right as the music turns tragic, and then it cuts to Lee pulling his binoculars away from his face with this sad expression...

* Tom informing Chamberlain that Kilrain did not survive the surgery for his wound. Chamberlain - a man who has been through ridiculous amounts of stress in the battle thus far and remained TheStoic - visibly [[ManlyTears tears up]]. His sad little smile when Tom admits how fond of Kilrain he was is heartbreaking.

* Although the actual fighting at Devil's Den isn't shown, an earlier scene on July [=2nd=] has Hood protesting the order to attack the Union left flank head-on, due to the conditions being so lopsidedly advantageous for the defender. Beforehand, Lee had already shot down Longstreet's own arguments for a flanking maneuver towards the right and the Union rear. Later on, Longstreet is shown walking into a field hospital where Hood lays ashen-faced, slow of speech and possibly delirious. After inquiring about his division's casualties[[note]]he was wounded early on, so the rest of the fighting was carried out by his subordinates[[/note]] and requesting credit for his troops, Hood broken-heartedly sobs that Longstreet should have let him go to the right... cue Longstreet slowly, wordlessly walking out in melancholy into a similar scene of carnage outside, symbolizing just how bad it was for Hood's men. If one keeps in mind the stories of Longstreet favoring a big flanking maneuver on July [=3rd=], these scenes are essentially {{Foreshadowing}} Pickett's Charge.

*** It's made even more poignant when you realize that this is Pickett's first time in an actual battle. He'd previously always arrived after the fact, and him [[WarIsHell realizing just how brutal warfare is]] just hammers it in.

Considering the forgone nature of the conclusion it's not very surprising. Still, it's horrifying to see what happens to these men.

-->'''Armistead:''' (''to Longstreet'') Win (General Hancock) was like a brother to me. Remember? Towards the end of the evening, things got a little rough. We both began to... well, there were a lot of tears. I went over to Hancock. I took him by the shoulder. I said, "Win, so help me, if I ever raise my hand against you, [[TemptingFate may God strike me dead]]."

* When General Armistead learns he and General Hancock have both been wounded. (Though Armistead would never know it, Hancock survived his wound and continued to fight to the end of the war.) Even more because Richard Jordan, who played Armistead, passed away shortly after filming wrapped.

-->'''Armistead:''' (''to Longstreet'') Win was like a brother to me. Remember? Towards the end of the evening, things got a little rough. We both began to... well, there were a lot of tears. I went over to Hancock. I took him by the shoulder. I said, "Win, so help me, if I ever raise my hand against you, [[TemptingFate may God strike me dead]]."

** General Pickett's quiet horror, then screaming, "I can't see! I can't see what's happening to my boys! ''What's happening to my boys!?''" when he realizes how badly things are going, as well as his response to General Lee's inquiry about his division -- "General Lee... I have no division" -- are well beyond the threshold to hold back the [[ManlyTears waterworks]].
** Longstreet is so certain that Pickett's Charge will fail that Longstreet is too choked up to order the assault. When Pickett asks him if he should begin the attack, the best that the heartbroken Longstreet can manage is a wordless nod.
*** Made worse by how eager and elated Pickett is to carry out the order, which he's asking for in the first place because Alexander[[note]]artillery chief of Longstreet's corps which Pickett's division is part of[[/note]] informed him that he ''must'' "Hurry up, for God's sake, or the artillery can't help you!" The problem is, a prior scene had Alexander telling Longstreet in person that the artillery was running low on ammo[[note]]meaning that he'd ''have'' to cut down on either bombarding the Union artillery or supporting fire for the Confederate infantry[[/note]] and that his guns weren't having the desired effect of clearing out the Union artillery, to which Longstreet could only tell him to grab some more ammo and keep the fire on because he couldn't send in Pickett's division or the others until at least some of the Union guns had been cleared from the ridge... which means that ''Longstreet and Alexander both already knew that the plan was doomed''.
*** Before this there is a moment right after the planning session where Longstreet manages to catch Pickett alone and asks him "George... can you take that ridge?" Pickett's response is a cocky smile, but Longstreet's expression[[note]]to say nothing of his inability to meet Pickett's eyes[[/note]] and the swelling music make it ''very'' clear what is about to happen. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRZj48Ys25U Can be seen here starting at 5:40]].
** When General Armistead learns he and General Hancock have both been wounded. (Though Armistead would never know it, Hancock survived his wound and continued to fight to the end of the war.) Even more because Richard Jordan, who played Armistead, passed away shortly after filming wrapped.

*** Even ''moreso'' when you learn that the production crew learned of Jordan's passing while they were in the process of ''editing this very scene''.

-->'''Armistead:''' (to Longstreet) Win was like a brother to me. Remember? Towards the end of the evening, things got a little rough. We both began to... well, there were a lot of tears. I went over to Hancock. I took him by the shoulder. I said, "Win, so help me, if I ever raise my hand against you, [[TemptingFate may God strike me dead]]."

** And of course the charge of the 20th Maine itself.

* Although the actual fighting at Devil's Den isn't shown, an earlier scene on July [=2nd=] has Hood protesting the order to attack the Union left flank head-on, due to the conditions being so lopsidedly advantageous for the defender; problem is, Lee already shot down Longstreet's own arguments for a flanking maneuver towards the right and the Union rear. Later on, Longstreet is shown walking into a field hospital where Hood lays ashen-faced, slow of speech and possibly delirious. After inquiring about his division's casualties[[note]]he was wounded early on, so the rest of the fighting was carried out by his subordinates[[/note]] and requesting credit for his troops, Hood broken-heartedly sobs that Longstreet should have let him go to the right... cue Longstreet slowly, wordlessly walking out in melancholy into a similar scene of carnage outside, symbolizing just how bad it was for Hood's men. If one keeps in mind the stories of Longstreet favoring a big flanking maneuver on July [=3rd=], these scenes essentially are {{Foreshadowing}} Pickett's Charge.

** When General Armistead learns he and General Hancock have both been wounded. (Though Armistead would never know it, Hancock survived his wound and continued to fight to the end of the war.) Even more because Richard Jordan, who played Armistead, passed away shortly after filming.

** The reunion of the Chamberlain brothers at the end.

** Longstreet is so certain that Pickett's Charge will fail that he is too choked up to order the assault. When Pickett asks him if he should begin the attack, the best the heartbroken Longstreet can manage is a nod.
*** Made worse by how eager and elated Pickett is to carry out the order.
*** Before this there is a moment right after the planning session where Longstreet manages to catch Pickett alone and asks him "George... can you take that ridge?" Pickett's response is a cocky smile, but Longstreet's expression and the swelling music make it ''very'' clear what is about to happen. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRZj48Ys25U Can be seen here starting at 5:40]].

** General Pickett's "I can't see! I can't see what's happening to my boys! What's happening to my boys!?" when he realizes how badly things are going, as well as his response to General Lee's inquiry about his division -- "General Lee... I have no division" -- are well beyond the threshold to hold back the [[ManlyTears waterworks]].

* General Pickett's "I can't see! I can't see what's happening to my boys! What's happening to my boys!?" when he realizes how badly things are going, as well as his response to General Lee's inquiry about his division -- "General Lee... I have no division" -- are well beyond the threshold to hold back the [[ManlyTears waterworks]].
* Longstreet is so certain that Pickett's Charge will fail that he is too choked up to order the assault. When Pickett asks him if he should begin the attack, the best the heartbroken Longstreet can manage is a nod.
** Made worse by how eager and elated Pickett is to carry out the order.
* There's far too many of these moments to count, but major ones include:
-->'''Armistead:''' (to Longstreet) Win was like a brother to me. Remember? Towards the end of the evening, things got a little rough. We both began to... well, there were a lot of tears. I went over to Hancock. I took him by the shoulder. I said, "Win, so help me, if I ever raise my hand against you, [[TemptingFate may God strike me dead]]."
* When General Armistead learns he and General Hancock have both been wounded. (Though Armistead would never know it, Hancock survived his wound and continued to fight to the end of the war.) Even more because Richard Jordan, who played Armistead, passed away shortly after filming.

** Even ''moreso'' when you learn that the production crew learned of Jordan's passing while they were in the process of ''editing this very scene''.

-->'''Armistead:''' No! Not... both of us! Not... all of us! Please, God!

* When General Armistead learns he and General Hancock have both been mortally wounded. Even more because Richard Jordan, who played Armistead, passed away shortly after filming.