Living History

Brian Pohanka ’77 helps Hollywood get real

By Sherri Kimmel

When the credits roll for the mega-award-nominated Civil War odyssey Cold Mountain, you’ll see listed Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella and his toothsome stars Nicole Kidman and Jude Law. But you’ll also see the name Brian Pohanka ’77.

After all, an $80-million period piece with A-list actors and directors also requires an A-list historical adviser. Pohanka, after doing the job for two earlier, lower-budget films—Gods and Generals and Gettysburg—was the man.

And, boy, does he look the part. It’s the beard—groomed in a style called an Imperial, because it was popularized in the 1860s by the French emperor Napoleon III. Pohanka, a re-enactor, or living-history enthusiast, since the late 1970s adopted the style to fit his alter ego as captain of Company A of the 5th New York Voluntary Infantry. He’s held that leadership post with the re-enactment group that wears colorful Zouave—French-style—uniforms since 1989.

Reliving Civil War battles in the character of a real officer has enriched Pohanka’s insights as a human-interest-oriented historical consultant and writer.

“I picked up a little idea of what it’s like to sleep in a canvas tent when it’s 17 degrees out or to march in 100-degree weather in August through the woods. And I’ve learned the [military] tactics. Now I understand, when I read diaries and official reports, what the soldiers were talking about. It’s gibberish to someone who wouldn’t have done this.”

For Cold Mountain, Pohanka enlisted two Pittsburgh-area re-enactor friends who also are well-versed in history, Michael Kraus and John Bert, to accompany him—not to Petersburg, Va., where the film’s featured Battle of the Crater was fought—but to Romania. Their mission was to teach the Eastern Europeans the complex choreography of Civil War tactics that Pohanka learned from the original drill manuals.

American consultants Brian Pohanka (left) and Michael Kraus with a Romanian “Confederate.”

“We were among a handful of Americans,” says Pohanka. “There were fewer Americans working on the crew than any other nationality.”

Cost savings were a key reason the location was chosen, but for authenticity’s sake the decision was a good one as well. Not only does the landscape resemble the mid-19th century South, but the Romanian soldiers that the trio of Americans trained to portray Confederate and Union soldiers fit the Civil War profile.

“We were struck by their lean and hungry look,” Pohanka explains. “Their physical build is much closer to the way Americans looked back then. Americans have become more big-framed and muscular, fleshy people.”

Pohanka and the other historical advisers were well-acquainted with the Battle of the Crater, the focus of the first 15 minutes of the film, before signing on. It occurred July 30, 1864, when the Union army tunneled explosives under a Confederate fort. Just before the explosion rocked the Confederates, the Union command switched the advance troops from a trained black division to an untrained white one. Soldiers plowed into the crater left by the blast, instead of going around it, making them sitting ducks for the stunned Confederates.

Says Pohanka, the battle set was more grandiose-looking than the actual site was. “It was a synthesis of the siege. It’s as if they took every photo ever taken during the siege of Petersburg, took the most impressive forts and cannons, and put them in one place.”

Over that mile-long set during the filming, Pohanka and his two colleagues ranged so they could keep an eye on the authenticity of the action being carried out by the 1,000 soldiers they had trained to wear equipment and use weapons properly.

“What’s fascinating is when you do this kind of thing—living history or re-enactment—you’re always looking for things that are real,” he says. “When you do something such as train hundreds of troops from scratch in Civil War maneuvers and have to deal with all that, that’s real.”

While advising on the film’s military aspect for six weeks in the summer of ’02, Pohanka saw all the film stars do a run-through of the script. He daily encountered Jude Law, the British actor portraying Inman, whose epic journey home began after he was wounded in the Battle of the Crater.

“He was a very nice guy who struck me as wanting to get the part right,” says Pohanka. “Acting is hard work and a job, like working for a company.” He also has glowing words for the writer/director who adapted Charles Frazier’s novel. “We were all very glad and honored to be working with Anthony Minghella. He listened to everyone’s opinion with great respect. That is not always the case.”

Besides advising on site, Pohanka reviewed the script before the shoot began, suggesting changes if dialogue contained phrases not used in the 1860s. He also sent Minghella many first-person accounts of the battle so he could “extract a visual idea.”

While film consulting can be quite fulfilling, Pohanka sees himself more as a writer, having authored or contributed to 20-some books on the Civil War. He’s also worked on a number of documentaries, including the 50 episodes of The History Channel’s Civil War Journal, for which he was series consultant and a frequent “talking head.” His current project is a regimental history of the 5th New York, a project he began 25 years ago.

“Over 1,500 soldiers served in the regiment during its history. I’ve gone through the service and pension records of every man and have corresponded with more than 100 descendants. I’ve looked at census records—where they came from, where they grew up—and at what happened to them after the war. I’m trying to weave all that together.”

A history major at Dickinson, Pohanka took courses on the Civil War and often visited the U.S. Army War College to view its photo collection, but his penchant for that time period developed earlier. “I’ve been interested in the Civil War since I was 8 years old.”

Today, Pohanka writes in an inspiring setting, a late 1880s-era home near Mt. Vernon, Va., once owned by a veteran of the 10th New York Cavalry. Some rooms sport a Civil War motif, and walls are adorned with art and objects related to the war. Even his wife is Civil War related. Brian met Cricket, a costume historian, through living-history activities. She’s an expert on women’s clothing who has worked for several museums. His wife didn’t work on Cold Mountain, but her expertise helped him be more attentive to costuming.

Though Pohanka says he is never totally pleased with how historical characterizations turn out on film, he was pretty satisfied with Cold Mountain’s depictions of war.

“I was glad that the battle scene was graphic, violent and gory. That’s what war is. It’s not a bunch of people in costume. If it’s not as violent and horrible as it really is, it’s not being true to reality. It should have been even more violent. But they didn’t dress it up and tie a little red ribbon around it. Most reviewers mentioned how powerful the opening scene is. Since I spent most of my time with that one, I’m glad it got that reaction.”

For more information about the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry, go to: www.zouave.org.

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