光荣战役

“…But this time, we must make a whole country for all are live here so that they all can speak, before the war began, many of my regiment have never seen any negro…we fight for men and women which poetry has not yet written, but we should presently be as enviable as renowned as any.” This letter was shown at the beginning of the film that Shaw wrote to his mother. The American Civil War is the most important event that affects the development of the United States. On the surface, the American Civil War looks like individuals fight for abolishing slavery and support Lincoln's election. Then, several states in south start proclaiming independence; and the states in the north started a fight for the union. However, looking carefully, individuals might realize that during the election in 1860, Lincoln only got 40% of the votes across the country. Besides Vermont, in most of the states in the north, Lincoln only got 50% to 60% support. Therefore, that is mean if he wants to succeed in the election, he needs to get support from the whole country, and this circumstance leads to a question: is that true that the people who lived in the north really hate the slavery? People can see characters' reaction and movement from the film that claims that they really do not care about if the slavery is abolished or not. This film was showing around 28 years ago; and at that time, people may never think about that after 28 years later, there will have a black president. Moreover, the sound effects and the background music are significant elements that affect audience and historians’ thoughts and feeling. Besides that, these aspects are very important for people to get involve and understand the history. In the ancient world, soldiers fight for glory because they have faith and belief in their mind. Therefore, this film called Glory might have the same meaning. The American Civil War needs a great reason that encourages soldiers to fight for, and the liberate slavery become the most crucial reason that can encourage soldiers to keep up high morale. Furthermore, the film is an autobiography, and most of the autobiography is using the first person point of view. Hence, the scenes that Shaw read the letters that he wrote to his mother is a method to show the first person perspective to the audience. Also, the voiceover helps individuals to get to know the historical event better. Because the movie is also a story of the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry, so the other two main protagonists Trip and John play the important parts.

According to the Constitution of the United States1, they indicate that the Negro has right to join the election, but their vote only counted as third-fifth. As the matter of fact, this rule is disobeyed the constitutional spirit. Perhaps, individuals will think that this rule is made by the southern citizen; however, the southern citizen wants the black people to have the right to vote, and because at that time, black people take a big portion of the population in the south. Hence, their votes become more important. This is true that the causes of American Civil War include slavery, but the basic problem is economy. The diversity of economy between south and north become the origin of the civil war. Besides that, the British play a big part in this situation, and they offered help for the south; and all of these circumstances associated with the economy problem.

Robert Shaw who is a narrative's protagonist was "the son of wealthy Boston abolitionists" and he is "an educated, idealistic young man"2 sometimes he makes people he is relying on his parents too much because he always wrote letters to them and tell them almost everything about himself. The film starts on the battlefield, and it tells the audience the concept and the situation of the story directly.

When he back to home, Shaw "Shaw meets abolitionist Frederick Douglass (Raymond St. Jacques) and Massachusetts Governor John Andrew (Alan North), who offers Shaw the command of a regiment of Negro soldiers, the Massachusetts 54th."3

Shaw started to organize the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry, and Thomas became the first volunteer. Moreover, the film also stressed and emphasized the change, situation, and the growth of Thomas; for instance, what's his inner change. Besides that, the same portrayal and description of the inner heart appear in other character's circumstances. As the matter of fact, the most impressive scenes in the film are their way of fighting. At that time, the southern soldiers are more experienced than the northern soldier, and perhaps the reason is that the southern people just been through the Mexican-American War, and they have some excellent commander left from that war. Furthermore, they have the better weapons that are provided by British. However, the northern soldier looks more inexperienced and younger. During the first battle in this film, these soldiers are using the old-fashioned way to against the enemy.4 they are tidy and keep rank, and move forward till fighting at close quarters. Also, this way of the fight has been continued until the end of the movie. As the matter of fact, the soldiers did not have the machine gun, and they only have the rifle; therefore, they have one more complicated step is to reload the gun; and the most excellent soldier can shoot three times in a minute. Thus, that is mean their way of battle can cause the huge casualty rate. After the last battle in the film, "Shaw is tossed into a mass grave with his men, including Trip."5 Only at this moment, it showed the equal between black people and white people because even though they have different colors, they have the same aim and fight for same thing. Furthermore, "A postscript adds that the 54th "lost over half its number" in the attack, and that President Lincoln credited the 180,000 "men of color" who fought for the Union "with helping to turn the tide of the war"6 This evidence state that what they did is worthy and consequential

James Horner makes the sound effect in this film, and the music in the film is grand, magnificent and strikes a deep chord. The sound effect is really important for the film. The theme of the film is dignity and glory; therefore, James Horner used a lot of orchestral music in order to emphasize the background of this period of time. There are several scenes that are very impressive. The first one is when they used canning to punish Denzel Washington, and after he took off this shirt, the old scars are on his back, and all these scars represent the humiliation. He looked at Shaw and finally shed one tear.7 at this part, the director using the close-up shot; therefore, the audience can see the progressive transformation of his face and emotion. Moreover, the second impressive scene is when Shaw volunteered for his regiment, and he said: "There is more than rest and fight, sir, there is a character, there is the strength of heart.”8 Also, at this moment, the director used the same method as the first one, and the close-up shot showed the emotion of Shaw and his strength. Furthermore, the third impressive scene is before Shaw went to the battle, and he told to the journalist: " If I should fall, remember what you see here.”9 Then, he frees his horse. The most time in this movie, Shaw was riding on his horse in order to highlight his noble and different. However, before the last battle in the film, he releases his horse because he finally stands at the same position with his regiment. Shaw and his regiment became the pioneer of throw off the shackles and the forerunner of fighting for freedom. Moreover, the film is more like the growth of Shaw because during the 122 minutes, the Director showed the changes of his thoughts and behaviors, and same as Thomas.

A large number of historians "interested in film reach a large enough mass to begin to create the meetings, essays, journals, and books that indicate a topic is on the scholarly map."10

Films become a new method of learning history. People usually study history from books, articles, literature, documents, etc. films are able to help historians and students understand the history more. Moreover, films have visual effect and sound effect. Therefore, sometimes individuals might not understand the word in the book or literature, but they can understand from the frames.

To sum up, film studies as a new way of learning history help students and historians understand the more circumstances and situations. Also, from the visual and sound effects, individuals can get to know the historical events from the first-person point of view. Besides that, Glory is a really successful film; and there are several impressive scenes that help people get to know the personalities of protagonists.

那个时代

美国南北战争起始于1861年，在说“排队枪毙”这件事之前，首先要先对这个时间形成一个认知，对非军迷来说，大家对这种形式的战争感到迷惑，是因为这本身就是距我们很有年代的一场近代战争，而非现代战争。根据我们的历史观来说，第一次鸦片战争（1840年）之前属于古代史，近代史和现代史的分割线是1919年。

1861年世界上发生的大事影响了今后的世界格局，那个时候第一次世界大战还没发生，德意志帝国还未建立。由于俄国在克里米亚战争中惨败英法联军，俄国看到了由农奴组成的军队与英法自由民组成的军队之间的差距，促使俄国进行了农奴制改革，归还农奴自由，这次改革也让俄国的资本主义迅速发展。战争的后果产生了一系列的连锁反应，导致了撒丁王国统一了整个意大利，建立了意大利王国，统一后意大利资本主义的发展也得到了促进。在第一次工业革命的果实下，世界格局逐渐向现代演变，积攒着爆发第二次工业革命的能量。

1861年的清朝

1861年是中国清朝时期，当时的中国大地上正在经历第二次鸦片战争，英法联军占领北京，火烧圆明园。太平天国内部分裂但依然四处征战，三年后洪秀全病逝。

紫禁城内也在经历着巨变，这一年咸丰皇帝逝世，慈禧太后发动政变正式走上历史舞台，垂帘听政控制了中国半个多世纪。在紫禁城外，中国也开始了持续35年的洋务运动，中国走向了工业化和现代化之路，此时中国铁路之父詹天佑刚刚出生，袁世凯也刚刚两岁。

直到33年后的中日甲午战争，北洋水师覆灭，朝鲜国从大清国独立，被日本控制后兼并朝鲜半岛，洋务运动彻底失败。再后来由于课本上熟知的运动，中国历史就从近代进入了现代。

线列步兵

“排队枪毙”其实是在作战时对步兵运用的一种形态，一般叫“线列步兵”，也有一些其他的叫法。线列步兵是随着步兵作战工具由传统的冷兵器进化到火器枪械发展而来的。

线列步兵的特点是由手持火器的步兵排成较宽的2~4排，作战时听号令进行齐射，形成密集的弹雨对敌人进行杀伤。

这时候问题来了，这种宽且浅的阵型缺乏纵深，骑兵一个冲锋不就全乱了吗？的确是这样的，在机关枪和坦克尚未出现的野战战场上，骑兵依然是步兵大敌。

在回答这个问题之前，先引出线列步兵的三种阵型概念：线列、方阵、纵阵

步兵对战阵型：线列

线列阵型

在电影的开头，北军就以线列阵型向南军发起进攻，这就是排队枪毙的由来了，在这里介绍几种典型的线列阵型射击方式。

左侧的为三排士兵，第一排呈跪姿射击，以便给后面第二排呈站姿士兵以射击空间，第三排士兵则通过与前两排士兵中间的缝隙射击，但这样的缺点是第三排士兵射击时容易被前排士兵的帽檐或肩部饰物遮挡视野（可以参看近代英法两军的军服）

右侧的第二种方式同样也是三排士兵，第一排呈跪姿射击，第二排半蹲射击，第三排站立射击，这种方式同样也有缺点，由于第二排士兵的站姿不稳，射击时由于因为后座力伤到胸骨。

在这几种站姿的基础上，还有可以保持持续火力的“三段式射击”，第一排射击完毕后将枪支交由后排装填，并接过后排递过的已装填好的枪支继续射击，以此往复。以及适用于冲锋的“徐进式射击”，第一排射击完毕后原地装填，此时第三排前进到第一排前方变为第一排射击，射击完毕后原地装填，接着第二排前进到最前方变为第一排进行射击，以此往复，这样能够在保持火力输出的情况下持续前进，直到抵达冲锋距离冲进敌阵进行白刃战。

对战骑兵阵型：方阵

方阵阵型

线列步兵时代，步兵对抗骑兵的方式就是空心方阵队形，当步兵遭遇骑兵冲击时，迅速转换为方阵，对外可以向周边的巡游骑兵射击，若有骑兵冲锋，第一排将蹲地使用带刺刀的步枪充当长枪兵的角色抵御骑兵，即便有冲进方阵内的骑兵，也将面对内层四面八方的射击和刺刀。

行军阵型：纵列

纵列阵型

在呈线列方阵前进时速度非常缓慢，甚至各国军队对士兵在指定时间内前进多少步都有详细的要求，在不同的地形下保持线列阵型行进时遇到障碍物时会撕裂阵型，这非常考验部队的训练和组织能力，所以一般只有在固定位置防守或临近接敌时才会展开队形。为了保证速度，在行进时一般采用纵阵，有时在冲锋时也会采用此阵型。

关于指挥官萧

在电影中，我们可以看到54兵团的黑人士兵都是没有没有战斗经验的士兵，萧对士兵进行了非常严格的训练，大致可以总结为编队训练、射击训练、刺杀训练，这是很有章法的。

编队训练一方面是为了训练士兵的纪律性，另一很重要的原因就是训练在战场上保持阵型的能力，影片中讲到不少黑人士兵连左右都无法分辨，这样还怎么保证方阵不被撕裂。

萧对待黑人士兵的严厉态度不被同僚下属所理解，这里面不只是军容军纪的问题，是在战场环境下阵型保持的现实问题，如果无法保持阵型，一旦在炮火下变为散兵（Skirmish，这也是一种作战方阵，可以依托掩体牵制敌军或灵活穿插打击地方侧翼与线列兵阵形成夹击，随着武器发展，现代战争单兵战术也是某种意义上的散兵了），就无法抵御骑兵冲击，也无法防守阵地，无法与线列兵阵正面对抗。

而且线列步兵的特点就是对单兵素质要求不高，训练成本低，士兵只需维持好阵型、射击即可。各国军队训练也经常靠强硬方式来训练士兵，在方阵中的士兵就是一颗螺丝钉，不需要思考，训练方式就是“死记硬背”。

萧在经历了片头的败仗之后，意识到战场环境下对人的挑战，包括后面射击训练时对优秀射手心理挑战，都是希望将自己在战场上的经历化为训练，让自己的部下在真正的战场上能够生存下去。我看到有些豆友的影评在讲这个演员相比华盛顿和弗里曼来说并没有什么出彩之处，我认为角色塑造就是如此，作为一个上层白人家庭长大的他，无法理解黑人，觉得无法融入他们这都是很正常的。作为指挥链的一环，他注定无法拥有出彩的个性，这就是一个心存善良，对士兵生命负责的合格指挥官形象。

武器装备

前面说到过，线列步兵是随着步兵作战工具由传统的冷兵器进化到火器枪械发展而来的。在电影中的射击训练环节，影片很详细的展示了当时的击发线膛枪的装填方式，还提到“一个好的射手一分钟能够射击三次”这是非常贴近现实的。

为什么当时要采用线列步兵战术，归根结底还是当时的枪支射速慢、准度差。要尽快杀伤敌人的有生力量，就要在尽可能短的时间内击中更多的敌人，所以才会产生使用宽薄线列齐射的战术。举一个现实的例子，大家都知道的AK47，理论射速为每分钟600发，在当时的时代需要200个人同时开枪才可以达到一支AK47的火力输出能力，在自动步枪面前采用线列步阵型，那就真的是排队枪毙了，这就是时代的差距。

南北战争时期，也是轻兵器枪械由前装填步枪向后装填步枪、滑膛枪向线膛枪演变的时期，战争后期，后装填步枪、机关枪逐渐出现，南北战争结束后，前装填步枪时代的随之结束，随着步兵武器杀伤性、准确性的大幅提高，排队枪毙式的线列步兵作战方式也逐渐被抛弃了。

枪械

南北战争时期，历史正处在单兵武器进化的交接点，所以在这场战争中出现的枪械琳琅满目，五花八门。

根据电影中领枪的桥段，影片中54团装备的应该是恩菲尔1853（Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle-musket）实在是很不好认，我一开始以为是占北军主流的春田，但是后来查了一下54团全团装备的是恩菲尔德。这是一直英国产步枪，在英国的型号是P1853，到美国后被重新命名为M1853（M意为model，命名习惯不同）。

还记得开头说的时代背景吗，由于英国遍及全球的战争步伐，所以这把枪在上面提到过的克里米亚和第二次鸦片战争中都有出现，太平天国还仿造过，是的，中国人也死于这把枪下。

这是一种前装填-击发式-线膛步枪，采用米涅弹、使用火帽击发，影片中对这把枪的评价是贴近现实的，便宜、稳定、耐用，是它的最大优点。

恩菲尔德 M1853

为了可以感受到作为一名排队枪毙的线列步兵感受，需要先简单介绍几种近代枪械知识，主要从上一行加粗的几个关键字的纬度简单介绍，不详细展开，详细的我也不太了解。

前装填/后装填

前装填：在影片中可以清楚的看到前装填的装填步骤，传统的前装填步枪装弹时首先需要枪口向上将枪立起，然后从枪口向内装填火药，然后将弹头装入，再使用长杆从枪口伸入把弹头和火药压实，这样就完成了发射前的装填动作，早期的长杆是木质的，在战场环境下士兵紧张的情况下容易折断，所以后来换成了金属杆。长杆可以收入枪中随枪携带，就是上图中枪口下的那一根杆子。

后装填：随着击发方式和弹药一体化的发展，后装填步枪出现了，现代枪械不严格的说都算后装填步枪，弹头-火药-底火一体化的子弹从枪管后部装入。这种方式的优势显而易见，装填速度大大加速，步枪作为单兵武器终于变成了高效率杀人武器。

火绳枪/燧发枪/击发枪

火绳枪：不像现代步枪扣动扳机就可以发射子弹一样，火绳枪的原理更像是过年放鞭炮一样，需要先点燃一根作为引线的火绳，燃烧传递至盛放底火药的小碗中（也叫火皿），小碗一般还有个盖子，暂时不发射时可以先盖上，以免火药洒出或受潮。仔细观察下方照片，小碗的一侧有一个小孔，直通枪管内，小碗中的底火被引燃后，燃烧通过小孔被传递到枪管中先前灌装好的火药，火药引燃后将弹头发射出去，这就是火绳枪的击发原理了。

火绳点火装置特写

这种击发方式可靠性很差，而且发射前等待的时间很长，射手要预先点燃火绳，然后再持枪瞄准，在这段时间内可能已经错失射击机会，而且战场环境下有很多意外情况可以导致射击失败，底火受潮、火绳无法点燃等等。在冷兵器时代，火绳枪并不能作为主力武器。电影《红河谷》里就有过火绳枪发射的画面，危急时刻拿着打火石怎么打却打不着火绳，最后全军覆没。

疯狂打，就是打不着

燧发枪：燧发枪针对火绳枪最主要的改进，就是改进了靠火绳点燃的这一点，燧发枪通过燧火石的打击动作产生火星引燃火皿中的底火，但是可靠性同样也比较低，想像一下一个快没气的一次性打火机，你永远不知道下一次能不能打着。不过这样以来击发时就没有等待火绳燃烧的时间，大大减少了射击等待时间，可以让射手抓住射击机会。而且重试成本很低，不用重新换一条火绳，直接再扣动一次扳机就可以了。

击发枪：击发枪最主要的引燃方式是通过火帽完成的，现代步枪也是通过火帽击发的，简单的理解就是火帽做到了子弹里，通过撞针击发火帽。

在影片中射击训练的片段，可以清楚的看到火帽安装的过程，火帽代替了火绳和火皿中的底火药，击锤击打火帽后，火帽可以直接引燃枪管中的火药（小时候玩的摔炮，跟那个类似）。火帽的好处是显而易见的，首先大大节省了击发步骤，再也不怕潮湿和雨淋了，缺点就是容易手忙脚乱装掉，电影里第一次安装因为紧张就给掉了，又从兜里掏了一个出来。

为了改进这一点，春田1855就用一个特色的梅纳德底火带替换了这种火帽安装，原理有点像打印小票的热敏打印机，枪击中预装一卷充当火帽的底火纸，每次击发后自动卷出一段新的来供下次使用。这种理念已经很接近现代了，但因为这个底火带很容易受潮，卷纸的传送可靠性也太差，早期测试时失误率达到了50%。

手忙脚乱装的这个小东西就是火帽

滑膛步枪/线膛步枪

早期的前装填式步枪基本都是滑膛的，滑膛步枪的枪管内部是光滑的，弹头依靠火药推动滑出枪膛，但是子弹为了顺利装进枪管，子弹的直径要小于枪管直径，这样就会导致火药燃烧时会泄露部分燃气，浪费推力，导致滑膛枪的射程和准确度都不高。

后来人们发现在枪管内刻出膛线（不过原始的线膛枪膛线是直的），让弹头射出时顺着膛线旋转，弹头可以飞的更远，打的也更准。自从旋转膛线步枪出现后，前装滑膛枪就退出历史舞台了。

现代还有滑膛枪，比如一些发射信号弹、照明弹枪、打猎用的霰弹枪等等，这些枪支对精度都没有特别高的要求。

弹药

早期的弹药装填很原始，射手需要带一个火药瓶，然后对准枪口灌进去，灌多了可能炸膛，灌少了弹头没有杀伤性。

火药瓶

为了改进这种情况，后来出现了纸壳定装弹药，人们把一次发射需用的弹药装在纸袋中，这样装填时只需要用嘴把小纸袋撕开，火药倒入枪管即可，后来弹头也一起被包在了纸中，装填时弹头随着纸壳一起塞入枪管即可，大大节省了装弹时间。

再后来底火（就是那个火帽）也加入了纸壳弹家族，通过撞针击发纸壳弹内的底火，直接在枪膛内引燃，自此枪膛终于封闭不再漏气了。

网上搜来的图，右侧就是纸壳定装弹药，火药与弹头包装在一个纸袋中

为了进一步提高线膛枪的精度，人们希望弹头和枪管尽量贴合，于是枪管后端灌装火药的部分被做窄，这样弹头装入后可以在狭窄处卡住，用长杆压实后，弹头就可以跟膛线契合。

下面的火药室比枪膛更狭窄

后来为了改善弹头的杀伤力和旋转能力，锥头子弹终于被发明出来，经过火药挤压后，弹头依然可以保持一个较好的圆柱形装，弹头的飞行稳定性得到了提高。弹头终于接近到了现代的样子。

锥头弹

但这时还有一个问题需要解决，就是装弹时仍然需要使用长杆压实弹头，才可以让弹头和膛线契合，弹头才能顺着膛线进行旋转，终于米涅弹被发明出来。

米涅弹的形象像是一个窝窝头，弹头的底部是一个空腔，在火药引燃时，空腔收到燃气的挤压自然向外扩张，使弹头外壁与枪管内的膛线挤压贴合，自此线膛步枪初步解决了精度问题。

受火药燃气挤压，空腔扩大

再后来出现的金属定装弹（纸壳定装弹换成了金属壳），子弹终于不受外界因素干扰，可靠性大大提高。无烟火药的出现解决了战场雾霾问题，射手视野大大增强。

经过这些进化，步枪登上历史舞台，冷兵器时代谢幕。（离AK47依然远的很）

美墨战争·内战导火索

美国是实打实打出来的

美国独立战争之后美国的领土并不是像今天一样广阔，此后边打边买（对，还可以买），才形成了今天的领土范围，可以参见上图。

德克萨斯独立

德克萨斯州是以前墨西哥的属地，墨西哥以前是西班牙的殖民地，在墨西哥独立战争（长达11年的独立战争，值得了解一下）之后，在百废待兴的情况下，墨西哥即要开发人迹罕见的德克萨斯来应对战后的粮食短缺，又要对抗当地的印第安人，于是放松了移民政策。随着美裔移民逐渐增多（是不是想到了东南亚某国），德克萨斯的美裔移民比例大大高出墨裔，墨西哥开始禁止美国移民迁往德克萨斯。

美裔移民想种棉花挣钱（出口欧洲很值钱），但是墨西哥出于粮食短缺的原因要求强制移民种植粮食作物，同时墨西哥要求德克萨斯必须遵守废除奴隶规定，并且由联邦制转为中央集权制。

于是想种棉花蓄奴的联邦制南方佬与墨西哥当局产生了冲突，最终的结果是掀起了德克萨斯革命，德克萨斯独立。

美墨战争

虽然战争结束，但墨西哥依然不承认德克萨斯独立，存在边境争议。墨西哥以战争威胁美国不得干涉墨西哥内政，正处在扩张主义热潮的美国宣布如果德克萨斯加入美国，美国将会承认德克萨斯主张的边界线，1845年德克萨斯加入美国。

1846年，美墨战争爆发，这场战争以美军攻入墨西哥首都墨西哥城结束，战后美国获得了墨西哥8个州的大部分土地。

奴隶制是美墨战争的导火索，也成为美国南北内战的表象，但在背后是随着工业化的发展，种植园经济和工业化对于关税矛盾的不可调和，以及州政府与联邦政府之间的权力矛盾最终导致内战爆发。

参加美墨战争的将士很多后来也参加了南北内战，比如邦联总统杰佛逊·戴维斯。在初期南军有作战经验的士兵较多，但后期已经无法与北军充足的兵员和工业能力抗衡了。

总结

目的是为大家观影提供更多背景信息，关于南北内战本身其实目前也一直没有一个很盖棺定论的说法，美国直到现在也有不少南方佬心怀邦联的。

南北战争从各方面都浓缩了时代发展的缩影，无论从哪个领域延伸去看，都能找到一些有趣的发现。