No Retreat from Destiny: The Battle That Rescued Washington

In the film "No Retreat From Destiny" viewers are presented with the events that led up to the Battle of Monocacy presented instead of with the usual Ken Burns photos/quotes but with live reenactments.

The cinematography is gorgeous and the editing is crisp and tight. I loved how they used the photos in this film!! The production design is amazing and the costuming is great.

There are a few drawbacks, some of these people are not professional actors and sometimes there are some awkward pauses in the script which leads to the cuing over some overly dramatic music. It's intrusive and kind of reminds you that you are in fact watching a film.

However if you have an interest in the Civil War or you are history teacher I strongly recommend this film.

This really is a very good Civil War film. The depiction of command communication and frustration covers that end. The well-researched and -enacted battle scenes are convincing, as are the scenes of the dead and of the medical personnel trying to save/treat the wounded. So are the scenes of a soldier's life and the constant quest for food.

I thought the actors who portrayed Lincoln and Davis were very good. Surely, that Confederate sniper knew it was Lincoln by his tall hat and wounded the Union medical officer instead as a warning? See "The Fort Stevens Incident" posted on Internet by the Jack Miller Center.

Actor Todd Hunter who played Jubal Early certainly looked and acted his part!

General Lew Wallace's delaying action at Monocacy Junction on 9 July 1864 gave the Union the necessary 24 hours to save Washington, but did Early provide another 24 hours, letting his men rest/sleep overnight instead of marching on to the city that night with troops who weren't so exhausted?

Would Custer ... or Patton ... have paused to rest and regroup like that?

The film noted that decision.

By this time of the war, the Union especially had repeating rifles which are missing from the film.

All the key historical commanders and units and locations are represented, and frequent references to a map are most helpful.

I have just put up on the Internet a free/educational little print-and-play game about the battle and brief siege of Washington, Postcard Monocacy Junction, 9-11 July 1864.

This film could be very good for high school classes.

The acting may a bit cheesy at times, and the make up regarding facial hair definitely looked fake. But, the authenticity of the weapons and the devastating effects they had made up for it. The battle scenes were actually cringe-worthy as a result. I can't even imagine the cajones it must've taken to stand in the open with bullets whizzing by and your comrades on either side of you being mortality wounded.

A well produced Indie docu-drama, with great production values and scale for such a limited budget. I keep hearing $500,000, but I thought it was truly closer to half of that.

The Music is great and hits the mark each time. I liked the emotional center with the woman's P.O.V. Voice Over telling us the story as if she already knew the outcome, but never let on, let us discover the story with her. Nice.

The actors did a great job on a tough Indie film budget, and they looked striking like the Generals and politicians they were supposed to portray. No other Civil War film has so accurately brought to life real characters from the 1860s. The combat was stunning and shocking, up-there with much bigger budget Hollywood productions. Overall, worth checking out.

My wife's Great Great Grandfather fought in this campaign under Jubal Early so we are very familiar with the story and the events that occurred. Most of this depiction is well done from an historical perspective even if most of the actors are obviously amateurs and some of the costuming was not the best. But, it was a low budget effort and most of the film is taken up by reenact-ors who did an excellent job of creating a realistic battlefield experience that would have been common for the War of Northern Aggression. Somehow it was kind of fitting that the absolute worst actor in the movie was the guy playing Abraham Lincoln, himself a terrible person and vehement war criminal. There was another piece of the story that didn't make it into the film as John McCausland was sent by Early to go on to Chambersburg, PA to exact compensation from the town for the burning of VMI by the Yankees earlier that year. Unfortunately, the townspeople refused to pay the $100k ransom so the Confederates burned the town except for the Jewish Synagogue and the Masonic Lodge. We lived there then for over 30 years and they now have a commemoration for the Burning of Chambersburg, the only town North of the Mason Dixon Line to be burned by Confederate forces. Whereas, the Yankees burned dozens of towns, homes, farms, businesses, churches, and other structures throughout the South.