A Time Out for War

Duration: 600 ft.

Year Published: 194050

Creator: Churchill Films

Complete Record: On a sultry summer afternoon two Union soldiers sit concealed beside a river. One taunts a Confederate soldier who answers from across the river. The mood is more one of frustration than of conflict. Just before four o’clock, the Union soldiers propose an hour of truce. The Confederate soldier agrees, comes forward and sits down near the river bank to smoke and exchange a few words with his enemies. One Union soldier goes upstream to fish. The other offers to trade hardtack for tobacco. Each throws his small package to the other. Upon opening his package, the Confederate soldier finds it contains some additional food. Touched by this small kindness, he offers some more tobacco. The two men relax, warily. Occasionally they converse briefly. Suddenly the fisherman calls out. He has caught something big. It’s almost time for the hour of truce to end, but the Confederate soldier indicates an extension of time. The big strike proves to be the body of a Union soldier. Evening shadows are darkening when the burial is completed. Standing at attention, the Union soldiers on one side of the river, the Confederate on the other, fire a salute to honor the dead. The sky is dark now, the light dim. In the silence, after the salute, the cannons boom in the distance. The war goes on.