Goofs

When Jeb Stuart escapes the hanging, he fires eight shots from the stolen six-shooter.

The film plays fast and loose with the facts, most noticeably, the other officers who graduate at West Point with J.E.B. Stuart in 1854: James Longstreet (1842), George Pickett (1846), Philip Sheridan (1853), John Hood (1853), and George Custer (1861).

When the cadets go to see Robert E. Lee, the sign on the door says "Commandant" but he was the Superintendent of West Point, not Commandant (Robert S. Garnett and William H.T. Walker were the Commandants during Lee's tenure as Superintendent).

The artillery pieces at the Harpers Ferry battle are shown being pulled by teams of four horses. Prior to the Civil War all field artillery pieces, except the M1841 12-poundgGun used teams of six horses (the 12-pound gun required eight horses). A shortage of horses during the war caused field artillery horse teams to be reduced to four horses, a changed which continued after the war.

Most of the Harpers Ferry engagement is inaccurate. While the government forces were led by Robert E. Lee, and Lee did have Jeb Stuart carry the white flag to Brown, the troops were marines, not army, and they did not use cannons.

The final battle takes place in a building called "The Arsenal". The Federal Armory at Harpers Ferry was a complex of manufacturing, storage, and office buildings. During the fighting, Brown's force took refuge in the Fire House, one of the smallest buildings on the grounds. The Fire House was built of brick, but had three large wooden doors through which the firefighting equipment could move.

Brown's beard is fake. When he and his men ready to make their last stand then square off against the townsfolk, you can see the left-hand corner of his "beard" pulled down a bit, revealing both skin and the strap holding the "beard" in place.

During the final battle sequence, none of the cannons recoil when fired.

While discussing how the guns got into crates marked "Bibles", Holliday says he once found three tons of gunpowder marked birdseed. Three tons of bird seed would have been very suspicious in the 1850's. Birdseed is for pets, like canaries. There were very few pet birds on what was the frontier in those days. This was a writer's mistake. He should have said "chicken feed".

The Union troops use the Colt Single Action Army .45 caliber revolver as their sidearm. The Colt Single Action Army was released in 1873.

Stuart tells Custer he thought he saw a picture of Brown in "The Atlantic". "The Atlantic" was founded in 1857. In the film, Stuart's time in Kansas takes place in 1854-1855.

As Rader tells of Brown's plans, Davis mentions the intel he has been receiving on Brown from "our Secret Service". The Secret Service was established in 1865.

Delaware Crossing is depicted as being out in the middle of nowhere. It was actually the spot where the Kansas River met The Great Trail, a network of footpaths used by the Native Americans. "Delaware Crossing" took its name from the Delaware tribe. A ferry which began operation on the river in 1831 was nicknamed "Delaware Crossing". Today, "Delaware Crossing" is in the Muncie neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas.

Jeb is recognized as a soldier in Palmyra because of the markings of his horse. Seems odd that Jeb, who is trying to be low profile and knows is going to what is basically the headquarters of his enemy, had chosen a horse with such obvious markings without trying at least to disguise them.