Originally networkcast in three installments, the 8-hour
Blue and the Gray is a sprawling adaptation of a story concept by Civil War historian Bruce Catton. The drama begins in 1859, with young war correspondent-to-be
John Hammond meeting future Union officer
Stacy Keach at the trial of abolitionist John Brown (
Sterling Hayden). They are reunited two years later during the presidential campaign of Abraham Lincoln (
Gregory Peck) and are eyewitnesses at the battle of Bull Run. Keach marries Julia Duffy in 1862, while Virginia-born Hammond writes his dispatches from the Deep South. A subplot concerning a family torn by North/South loyalties is resolved just before Appomattox. The Blue and the Gray was first telecast November 14, 16 and 17, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide