List of films and television shows about the American Civil War

The following is a list of films and television shows about the American Civil War from the beginning of the 20th century until present.

Films about the war

Before 1920

• The Guerrilla (1908)
• The Fugitive (1910)
• The House with Closed Shutters (1910)
• In the Border States (1910)
• The Battle (1911), directed by D.W. Griffith
• His Trust Fulfilled (1911)
• Railroad Raiders of '62 (1911)
• Swords and Hearts (1911)
• For Her Sake (1911)
• Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight (1912)
• The Informer (1912)
• The Lie (1912)
• The Seventh Son (1912)
• The Battle of Gettysburg (1913)
• The Battle of Shiloh (1913)
• The Price of Victory (1913)
• The Seed of the Fathers (1913)
• Dan (1914)
• The Sleeping Sentinel (1914)
• The Birth of a Nation (1915), also known as The Clansmen, directed by D.W. Griffith
• The Warrens of Virginia (1915)
• Colonel Carter of Cartersville (1915)
• The Coward (1915)
• According to the Code (1916)
• Her Father's Son (1916)
• Naked Hearts (1916)
• The Sting of Victory (1916)
• The Blood of His Fathers (1917)
• The Field of Honor (1917)
• The Lincoln Cycle (1917)
• The Spreading Dawn (1917)
• Hearts of Love (1918)
• The Scarlet Drop (1918)
• The Son of Democracy (1918)
• Miss Dulcie from Dixie (1918)
• Hay Foot, Straw Foot (1919)

1920s

• The Copperhead (1920)
• Grandma's Boy (1922)
• Barbara Frietchie (1924)
• The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln (1924)
• Hands Up! (1926)
• The General (1926), film by Buster Keaton about the Great Locomotive Chase
• Court Martial (1928)
• The Overland Telegraph (1929)

1930s

• Abraham Lincoln (1930), a biopic about President Abraham Lincoln
• Secret Service (1931)
• Little Women (1933)
• Operator 13 (1934)
• So Red the Rose (1935)
• The Littlest Rebel (1935)
• Hearts in Bondage (1936)
• General Spanky (1936)
• The Old Maid (1939)
• Gone with the Wind (1939), perhaps the most famous Civil War film

1940s

• The Man from Dakota (1940)
• Virginia City (1940)
• Dark Command (1940)
• They Died With Their Boots On (1941), a biopic about General George Custer
• Tennessee Johnson (1942), a biopic about President Andrew Johnson
• The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944), a biopic about Mark Twain
• Renegade Girl (1946)
• Silver River (1948)
• A Southern Yankee (1948)
• The Man from Colorado (1949)
• Little Women (1949)
• South of St. Louis (1949)

1950s

• Two Flags West (1950)
• Rocky Mountain (1950)
• Drums in the Deep South (1951)
• The Last Outpost (1951)
• The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
• Springfield Rifle (1952)
• Escape from Fort Bravo (1953)
• The Raid (1954), loosely based on the St. Albans Raid
• The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), based on the Great Locomotive Chase
• Love Me Tender (1956)
• Friendly Persuasion (1956)
• Revolt at Fort Laramie (1957)
• Band of Angels (1957)
• Raintree County (1957)
• The Horse Soldiers (1959), based on the Grierson's Raid in the Vicksburg Campaign and the Battle of Newton's Station

1960s

• Mysterious Island (1961)
• How the West Was Won (1962)
• Advance to the Rear (1964)
• Major Dundee (1965)
• Shenandoah (1965)
• Alvarez Kelly (1966)
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), western, directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood, that involves an encounter with both Union and Confederate forces
• A Time for Killing (1967)

1970s

• Rio Lobo (1970)
• The Beguiled (1971)
• The Red Badge of Courage (TV) (1974)
• The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Clint Eastwood film about guerrilla warfare in Missouri

1980s and 1990s

• The Shadow Riders (1982) made for television film, starring Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott
• Glory (1989), drama, starring Matthew Broderick and Denzel Washington, about the African-American 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
• Dances With Wolves (1990)
• Ironclads (1991), made-for-TV drama about the ironclad warships CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor, which clashed at the Battle of Hampton Roads
• Sommersby (1993)
• Ghost Brigade (1993)
• Gettysburg (1993), war film featuring Tom Berenger and Jeff Daniels about the Battle of Gettysburg
• Pharaoh's Army (1995)
• Andersonville (TV) (1996)
• Amistad (1997), features a brief shot of the war at the end of the film
• The Hunley (TV) (1999), film about the Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley
• Ride with the Devil (1999), Ang Lee film about the guerrilla battles in Kansas and Missouri between the jayhawkers and the bushwhackers

2000s

• Wicked Spring (2002)
• Gangs of New York (2002), drama, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, about the New York Draft Riots
• Gods and Generals (2003), prequel to Gettysburg and covers the battles of First Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville
• Cold Mountain (2003), drama, starring Jude Law and Nicole Kidman, that features the Battle of the Crater and aftermath of the war
• C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004), alternative history film which speculates what would happen had the South won the Civil War
• Dead Birds (2004)
• The Colt (TV) (2005), drama, starring Ryan Merriman, features Battle of the Wilderness
• Mysterious Island (TV) (2005)
• The Last Confederate: The Story of Robert Adams (2007)
• Dog Jack (2009)

2010s

• The Conspirator (2010)
• Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies (2012)
• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)
• Lincoln (2012), starring Daniel Day-Lewis, covering the last few months of the war
• Saving Lincoln (2013), about Ward Hill Lamon who was Lincoln's bodyguard
• Killing Lincoln (TV) (2013)
• Copperhead (2013)
• Field of Lost Shoes (2014)
• Army of Frankensteins (2014)
• The Keeping Room (2014)
• Free State of Jones (2016)
• The Beguiled (2017)
• Little Women (2019)

Television shows and miniseries

• The Twilight Zone (1959-1964), had a few episodes that dealt with the Civil War:
  • The Passersby (1961)
  • Still Valley (1961)
  • An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1964)
• The Americans (1961), TV series
• The Blue and the Gray (1982), miniseries, starring John Hammond, Stacy Keach, Lloyd Bridges, and Gregory Peck as President Abraham Lincoln
• North and South (1985 - 1986/1994), miniseries, starring Patrick Swayze, James Read and Lesley-Anne Down
• The Rose and the Jackal (1990) Civil War Spy drama starring Christopher Reeve as Allan Pinkerton and Madolyn Smith as Rose Greenhow
• True Blood (2008-2014), one of the main protagonists of the show vampire Bill Compton is a former Confederate soldier and some flashbacks are set specifically in the Civil War.
• Hell on Wheels (2011-2016), protagonist of the show is an ex-Confederate soldier veteran.
• Copper (2012-2013) - portrays the 1864 Election Day sabotage
• Grant (2020), miniseries, depicts the life of Ulysses Grant, with a large portion covering the Civil War.

Documentaries

• The Battle of Gettysburg (1955)
• The Civil War (first broadcast on PBS from September 23 to Thursday, September 27, 1990)
• The Great Battles of the Civil War (TV series 1994)
• Civil War Combat (TV Series 2000-2003)
• Gettysburg: 3 days of Destiny (2004)
• 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed Women (2006), TV, recounting the Battle of Antietam
• Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War (2006)
• Lincoln and Lee at Antietam: The Cost of Freedom (2006)
• Sherman's March (2007)
• Gettysburg (broadcast on History in 2011)