Sam Elliott credited as playing...
Brig. Gen. John Buford
- [Buford's cavalry has sighted the Confederate army on the evening of June 30]
- Gen. Buford: You know what's gonna happen here in the morning?
- Col. Thomas C. Devin: Sir?
- Gen. Buford: Whole damn Reb army's gonna be here. They'll move through this town, occupy these hills on the other side, and when our people get here Lee'll have the high ground, and there'll be the devil to pay! The high ground! Meade'll come in slowly, cautiously, new to command. They'll be on his back from Washington. Wires hot with messages. "Attack! Attack!" So he will set up a ring around these hills. And when Lee's army is all nicely entrenched behind fat rocks on the high ground, Meade'll finally attack, if he can coordinate the army. Straight up the hillside, out in the open, in that gorgeous field of fire. We will charge valiantly... and be butchered valiantly! And afterwards, men in tall hats and gold watch fobs will thump their chests and say what a brave charge it was.
- [he takes off his hat and rubs his head in resignation]
- Gen. Buford: Devin, I've led a soldier's life, and I've never seen anything as brutally clear as this. It's as if I can actually see the blue troops in one long, bloody moment, goin' up the long slope to the stony top. As if it were already done... already a memory. An odd... set... stony quality to it. As if tomorrow has already happened and there's nothin' you can do about it. The way you sometimes feel before an ill-considered attack, knowin' it'll fail, but you cannot stop it. You must even take part, and help it fail.
- Col. Thomas C. Devin: Sir.
- Gen. Buford: We have twenty-five hundred men. They'll be comin' in force. There'll be twenty thousand comin' down that road in the morning. If we hold this ridge for a couple hours, we can keep 'em away. If we can block that road 'til the main body gets here, we can deprive the enemy of the high ground!
- Col. Thomas C. Devin: Well, the boys are ready for a brawl, no doubt of that.
- Gen. Buford: We can force the Rebs to deploy. That's a narrow road they'll be comin' down. We stack 'em up, it'll take 'em a while to get on track, to get into position. Is Calef's battery up yet?
- Col. Thomas C. Devin: Sir, his six guns are deploying forward now.
- [Buford turns to his officers]
- Gen. Buford: How far back is Reynolds with the main force?
- Cavalry Officer: About ten miles, sir. Not much more.
- [Gamble and his aide gallop up at full speed]
- Col. William Gamble: Sir, you were right. My scouts report the Reb army is comin' this way, and that's for sure. They're all concentratin' in this direction.
- [Buford sighs and looks in the direction of the Confederates' approach]
- Gen. Buford: We're gonna hold here in the morning. Long enough for Reynolds and the infantry to arrive. We hang onto the high ground, we have a chance to win this fight that's comin'. Understood?
- Officers: Yes, sir.
- Gen. Buford: Post the cannon along this road, the Chambersburg Pike. The Rebs'll hit us at dawn, but I think we can hold 'em for at least two hours.
- Col. Thomas C. Devin: Hell, General, we can hold 'em all the damn livelong day.
- [the officers chorus in agreement]
- Col. Thomas C. Devin: At Thoroughfare Gap, you held against Longstreet. You held for six hours.
- Col. William Gamble: And they never came. We held for nothin'.
- [Buford turns back to face the battlefield again]
- Gen. Buford: Rebs'll hit us just about first light. Keep a clear eye! Let's have the pickets give us a good warning. All right, gentlemen. Let's get posted.
- Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds: [Has just arrived to reinforce Buford, surveying battlefield] Lovely ground.
- Gen. Buford: I thought so, Sir.
- Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds: Now, let's go surprise Harry Heth.
- Gen. Buford: [as the Confederates try their first attack] Got one brigade in position and that's all. We got the best damn ground around and they're hitting me with one brigade... lovely. Lovely!
- [turns around and looks with his binoculars for Gen. Reynolds, seeing no sign]
- Gen. Buford: Damn!