Tear Jerker / Gettysburg

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

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• ANYTHING to do with Pickett's Charge:
  • 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 waterworks. It's worth noting that, in real life, Pickett never forgave Lee for this ("That old man got my division massacred").
    • 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 in shock...and then Armistead sees Garnett's horse passing by him, and realizes what has happened.
  • 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 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 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 and that his guns weren't having the desired effect of clearing out the Union artillery. 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 and the swelling music make it very clear what is about to happen. Can be seen here starting at 5:40.
• Buford's speech about how he's convinced his men will be wasted in a tragic slaughter that sleazy politicians will exploit rather than honor. It doesn't come to pass, at least not for his side, but it's still a moving moment.
• When General Armistead learns he and his best friend, 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: I... would like... to see General Hancock. Can you tell me... where General Hancock may be found?
  Thomas: I'm sorry, sir. The general's down, he's been hit.
  Armistead: No! Not... both of us! Not... all of us! Please, God!
  • 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.
• 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, may God strike me dead."
• Then there are the moments that just make you want to shed Manly Tears of joy:
  • The arrival of Reynolds on the first day. It's hard not to get just as choked up as Buford when you see him ride up to the Seminary.
  • Chamberlain's order to refuse the line. The swelling of the music and the camera tracking Chamberlain as he rushes down the line to place the men, and seeing his sheer determination to Hold the Line.
  • And of course, the charge of the 20th Maine itself.
  • The reunion of the Chamberlain brothers at the end.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 "The Death of General Wolfe."
• Hancock stoically bears the loss of his friend Reynolds and reminisces a little about his friendship with Reynolds and Armistead, making a wistful remark about where old Lo is and if he's still alive. When Buford says he is alive and part of the army out there, Hancock's whole face changes as the hypothetical of facing his old friend in combat becomes an inevitability.
• 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.
• The seriously wounded General Kemper's meeting with Lee, Kemper believing he is mortally wounded, Lee distraught when confronted with the actual consequences of his decisions (in fact Kemper miraculously survived and was later elected Governor of Virginia).