2014-05-31 by Ed Timperlake
During these dangerous times it is important for all enemies and Allies of America to know that we are a peaceful nation until aroused.
Make no mistake there is a fighting thread in America with undaunted battlefield courage. Commanders and troops who fought for both the Blue and Gray understood modern war and many made the ultimate sacrifice.
This defining time in American history is being presented by Ron Maxwell. He is creating an anthology series of Classic tales of the Civil War to be brought to the screen.
Ron Maxwell’s project is reported on “Kickstarter:”
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/334202292/ron-maxwells-civil-war-classics
Ron Maxwell has been heralded by the Los Angeles Times as our foremost filmmaker of the American Civil War.
His three epic motion pictures – Gettysburg in 1993, Gods & Generals in 2003 and Copperhead in 2013 – are unrivaled in their scope, historical veracity, dramatic impact and depth of understanding of the issues that tore the country apart in the middle of the 19th Century.
No other filmmaker has brought so many Civil War era characters to vivid life on the screen: Robert E. Lee, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Winfield Scott Hancock, Stonewall Jackson, Meade, Longstreet, Burnside, Hood, Stuart, Pickett, to name just a few.
His battle scenes are unique in their authentic tactical re-creations, their intensity, their drama: Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg.
Ron Maxwell’s Civil War Classics!
Each episode will feature a well-known actor in the leading role, and each will be filmed in the landmark Maxwell style: historically true, first rate production values, fascinating stories, great performances, dramatic action.
And each episode, in the footsteps of the iconic series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock and Rod Sterling, will be hosted and introduced by Ron Maxwell.
The first episode of the anthology series will be developed and produced with additional production funding from Westie Films. Award winning filmmaker McKay Daines will produce the series.
Ron Maxwell’s Civil War Classics archive of titles.
Over a lifetime of reading and research, Ron Maxwell has accumulated an amazing collection of short stories written about the war, a priceless treasure trove of Civil War fiction written by both obscure and famous American authors over the hundred and fifty years since the war was fought.
This is a partial list from the hundreds of titles, novellas and short stories for adaptation to hour-long films for the continuing anthology series to be hosted by Ron Maxwell.
Journey to Shiloh, by Henry Allen
Seven young Texans who set out in 1862 for Richmond are recruited into the Army of the Mississippi and see action under General Bragg at the battles of Corinth and Shiloh.
Action at Aquila, by Hervey Allen
Picture of the war in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864.
Watchfires, by Louis Auchincloss
An upper-class NYC man and his wife aid the Underground Railroad.
The Valiant Virginians, by James Bellah
The Virginia Cavalry in the Army of the Shenandoah under Jubal Early and their defeat by Sheridan.
The Amulet, by Hal Borland
Confederate sympathizers making their way from Denver to join the Confederacy in 1861 become involved in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, Missouri
Kingdom Coming, by Roark Broadford
Life on a Louisiana planatation during the war.
Salisbury Plain, by Henry C Branson
The experiences of a young Union officer during the war.
Boy in Blue, by Royce Brier
The war in the Cumberland Valley and the Battle of Chicamauga as it appeared to a Union soldier.
Wild is the River, by Louis Bromfield
Life in New Orleans during the occupation by Union troops under General Butler.
Rat Hell, by Peter Burchard
Twenty Yankee officers, captive in Libby Prison, tunnel to freedom.
Banners at Shenandoah, by Bruce Catton
Story of General Phil Sheridan’s Union cavalry operations in the Shenandoah Valley culminating at Cedar Creek.
The Crisis, by Winston Churchill
Hero is an anti-slavery New Englander.
The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane
A young Union soldier in his first action at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
The Far-side of Home, by Maggie Davis
Moving story of a Georgia soldier and his young bride facing the hardships of war.
The Kays, by Margaret Deland
Experiences of a conscientious objector during the war.
The Border, by Dagmar Doneghy
Picture of the ravages of war on the Missouri-Kansas border.
Shiloh, by Shelby Foote
Centers around the Battle of Shiloh, 1862.
Eight April Days, by Scott Hart
Story of the campaign of Robert E. Lee in the days preceding the surrender at Appomattox.
Seek Out and Destroy, by James David Horan
Based on the raiding trip of the Confederate ship Shenandoah in the last months of the war.
Elkhorn Tavern, by Douglas C. Jones
The Confederate and Union armies destroy a settlement in Arkansas as they wage a battle. The Hasford family watch as the wr rolls over their farm.
Bride of Fortune, by Harnett T. Kane
Story of Varina Howell Davis’s meeting and courtship with her future husband.
City of Two Flags, by Clark McMeekin
The conflict between Union and Confederate sympathizers in Louisville, who refused to accept Kentucky’s neutrality.
No Tears for Christmas, by Helen Topping Miller
Christmas at a Tennessee plantation house used as headquarters by Union troops.
Unvexed to the Sea, by Gerry Morrison
The siege and capture of Vicksburg.
Woman with a Sword, by Hollister Noble
Story of Anna Ella Carroll, newspaper woman and writer who is credited with planning the Tennessee campaign.
Company Q by Richard O’Connor
Hero undertakes an undercover spying mission into besieged Atlanta.
Untold Glory by Cothburn O’Neal
The spy activities of Felicia Shover in occupied Memphis.
Many are the Hearts by Bruce Palmer
Four vignettes with various aspects of the war as background.
The Bright Sword, by Eleanor Perenyi
John B. Hood’s campaign in Tennessee in 1864.
Crescent City, by Belva Plain
A Jewish immigrant family settles in New Orleans where their loyalties are tested by the opposing sides.
When the Music Changed, by Marie R. Reno
Romance set in wartime Washington and New York.
The Unterrified, by Constance Robertson
Copperheads in upstate NY.
Weep No More, by Janet Stevenson
Elizabeth Van Lew, a Southern abolitionist in Richmond, serves as spy for the North.
The Fathers, by Allen Tate
Conflicting ideas in Virginia, just across the Potomac from Washington.
Katy of Catoctin, by George A. Townsend
A romance involving the German-American settlers of the Blue Ridge mountains of Maryland. Story begins with John Brown’s raid.
Wilderness, by Robert Penn Warren
Story of a crippled German Jew who finds his courage on the battlefield.
By Ambrose Bierce:
A Horseman in the Sky, An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge, A Son of the Gods, One of the Missing, Killed at Resaca, A Tough Tussle, The Affair at Coulter’s Notch, George Thurston, The Coup de Grace, One Officer, One Man, A Resumed Identity, The Damned Thing, The Man and the Snake, Moxon’s Master, The Secret of Macarger’s Gulch, The Moonlit Road, Beyond the Wall, A Jug of Syrup, A Watcher by the Dead, A Vine on a House, The Boarded Window, The Stranger.
The Unvanquished, by William Faulkner
Drusilla Sartoris, disguised as a Confederate soldier, goes to war with the men to avenge her sweetheart’s death.
First Blood at Harper’s Ferry, by James W. Bellah.
The Secret of the Seven Days, by J. W. Bellah
How Stonewall Came Back, by J.W. Bellah
The Lost Soldier, by John Brick
The Crystal Chandelier, by Joseph Hergesheimer
Weep Not for Them, by Clifford Dowdey
Gentleman in Blue, by Laurence Stallings
Jack Still, by John P. Marquand
High Tide, by John P. Marquand
The Rebel Trace, by Joseph Hergesheimer
A Mountain Victory, by William Faulkner
The Duke’s Brigade, by Clifford Dowdey
Beautiful Rebel, by Paul Jones
No Enemy, by MacKinley Kantor
Ambuscade, by William Faulkner
A Preacher Goes to War, by John W. Thomason, Jr
The Stars in their Courses, by J.W. Thomason, Jr
The Die-Hard, by Stephen Vincent Benet
Work: A story of experience, by Louisa May Alcott
Frank’s Campaign, by Horatio Alger
Norwood, by Henry Ward Beecher
The Return of the O’Mahoney, by Harold Frederic
Clarence, by Bret Harte
The Iron Game, by Harry F. Keenan
Tiger Lilies, by Sidney Lanier
Manassas, by Upton Sinclair