Killed at Resaca on the Big Screen:

How Reenactors, Historians, Craftspeople, and Filmmakers Recreated Ambrose Bierce’s Civil War Short Story of 1887

By George E. Edwards

This book is about the making of Killed at Resaca, which is a film adapted to the screen by and directed by Jacob L. T. Bates.

The book follows the independent historical motion picture from its inception by teenager Jacob Bates, his screenplay development, the film’s casting, through filming on location on the battlefield and historic interiors, and highlighting costumes, special effects, makeup, sound, music, post-production, education and legacy.

The book shines the light on reenactors — the star(s) of the movie — whose voluntary contribution as cast and crew were indispensable to the making of the film. The book uses Killed at Resaca as a case study for understanding how a small historical film is researched, organized, filmed, edited, and remembered.

The book also examines Ambrose Bierce, the Battle of Resaca, Black Union military service, Civil War reenacting, uniforms and equipment, General Orders No. 100 and the law of war, museums and archives, historical filmmaking, and the people and objects connected with the production.

The book is book is particularly appropriate for people interested in becoming reenactors, aspiring historical filmmakers, historians and civil war enthusiasts, museum professionals and preservationists, folklorists, teachers and professors, lawyers, military persons and others interested in the law of war, readers and scholars of Ambrose Bierce and American literature, a budding actors and models who might be interested in portraying civil war-era soldiers on screen or still art.

(Version 37, 30 August 2026)