''For the Cause of the South'' is a

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

1912 American silent film that portrayed a tragic, fictional romance set during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Directed by

Bannister Merwin Henry Bannister Merwin (1873 – 22 February 1922), was an American poet, magazine editor, novelist, film director and screenwriter during the silent era. He wrote as many as 141 films between 1909 and 1921. He was associated with Edison St ...

, the film was produced by

Edison Studios Edison Studios was an American film production organization, owned by companies controlled by inventor and entrepreneur, Thomas Edison. The studio made close to 1,200 films, as part of the Edison Manufacturing Company (1894–1911) and then Thom ...

, which was located in New York City, in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. The production starred

Laura Sawyer Laura Sawyer (February 3, 1885 – September 7, 1970) was an American film actress on stage and in silent films. Early life Sawyer was born in Iron County, Missouri, the daughter of Alvah Hayden and Laurette Sawyer.Corpus Christi Times (Co ...

, Benjamin Wilson, and Charles Ogle, with supporting characters played by

Bessie Learn Bessie Learn (30 August 1888 – 5 February 1987) was an American actress who appeared in 86 films between 1911 and 1919. Biography Elizabeth “Bessie” Learn was born in San Diego''Photoplay: the Aristocrat of Motion Picture Magazines'', Vol ...

and James Gordon in the role of Confederate General

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

Plot

Advertisement for Edison films, January 1912

According to articles and reviews in 1912 trade publications, the film began with scenes set in the contemporary South, over 50 years after the start of the American Civil War.Phillips, Henry Albert (1912)
"For the Cause of the South (Edison)"
short story based on plot details of that Edison film, ''The Motion Picture Story Magazine'', January 1912, pp. 103-112. Internet Archive, San Francisco. Retrieved June 10, 2020. Helen Randall, an elderly well-to-do Southern

spinster ''Spinster'' is a term referring to an unmarried woman who is older than what is perceived as the prime age range during which women usually marry. It can also indicate that a woman is considered unlikely to ever marry. The term originally den ...

, is described sitting at her home and conversing with her niece Edith, a young woman who is engaged and soon to be married. Curious about her aunt's past, Edith asks her why she never married. Helen is visibly disheartened by the question but shows her niece a

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

of a young soldier, a keepsake she displays on the

fireplace mantle The fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a fire grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and ca ...

in her living room. The scene then transitioned back in time to just before the war, when Helen is a teenager and is attending a women's

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

located near

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

. While a student there she meets and falls in love with Charles Dalton, a cadet at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

. The couple's plans to marry are soon interrupted by the outbreak of war between the North and South. Helen, obeying her father, returns home while Charles remains in New York, where he is commissioned as a captain of a cavalry unit in the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

army. Meanwhile, Helen's father joins the opposing

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

to serve as a colonel. As the war intensifies and drags on, Helen loses touch with Charles. Her father, who is now away from their home serving at the front, is ordered by General Robert E. Lee to deliver an urgent, secret message to General "Stonewall" Jackson, information that may prevent the fall of

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, the Confederacy's capital, to Union forces. While skirting "Yankee" lines, Colonel Randall is seen by Union soldiers, who chase him. The desperate colonel's home happens to be nearby, so Randall rushes there with the enemy in hot pursuit. Helen and her older brother Harry are at the stately residence and are startled when their father appears. Frantic to protect him, she, unlike her cowardly brother, helps to defend him and to safeguard the message he is carrying when a unit of Union cavalry arrives. Helen during the "bloody fight" that ensues is shocked to see that her beloved Charles is leading the unit."Edison Films"
advertisement for four releases, ''The Moving Picture World'', January 20, 1912, p. 182. Internet Archive. Retrieved June 9, 2020. Armed with a pistol, she ultimately has to choose between her loyalty to family and the Confederacy or her love for Charles. Loyalty prevails, and she shoots and kills Charles. She then faints amid the chaos, but upon awakening she finds that Confederate soldiers had arrived to chase off the remaining Yankee troopers. Although she is hailed as a Southern heroine, Helen grieves and remains devastated by the death of the man she once planned to wed, a casualty of war that she inflicted. She therefore dedicates her own remaining years to living a chaste, unmarried life. Film still,

Cast

as Helen Randall, the Colonel's daughter *

as Edith, Helen's niece * Benjamin Wilson as

Captain Charles Dalton * Charles Ogle as

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

Colonel Randall *

Guy Hedlund Guy Elmer Hedlund (August 21, 1884 – December 29, 1964) was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1906 and 1947. Born in Portland, Connecticut, on August 21, 1884, worked with newspapers, on a c ...

as Harry Randall, the Colonel's son and Helen's brother * James Gordon as Confederate General

Production and release

The sets for staging the production were built in New York City at the main filming facilities of

, which were located at the intersection of Decatur Avenue and Oliver Place in the Bronx. Many of the needed

extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

s who performed as low-ranking Union and Confederate soldiers and as other peripheral characters in the story were residents hired from the Bronx neighborhoods surrounding the studio. At that time it was common practice for Edison to gather and hire people living and working nearby, to "pick up drivers, cartmen, anyone as an extra"."Marc MacDermott: Movie '49er"
''

Photoplay ''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For mo ...

'' (Chicago, Illinois), October 1917, p. 104. Internet Archive. Retrieved June 8, 2020. The 1000-foot "

one-reeler A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

" was released on January 26, 1912 and distributed by the

General Film Company The General Film Company was a motion picture distribution company in the United States. Between 1909 and 1920, the company distributed almost 12,000 silent era motion pictures. Formation The General Film Company was formed by the Motion Pictu ...

.For additional information about the General Film Company, see The lack of published reviews of the picture in major newspapers in the United States in 1912 suggests that the film had a limited distribution. It was, however, advertised at the time in some trade journals. In those publications Edison promoted it as a tragic tale of "a sweet-faced woman", who in her defense of the Southern cause "shot and killed her lover, a Union boy in blue." Edison Bronxbis

"Lost" film status

No copy of this Edison production is listed in

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

, the

UCLA Film Archives The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, in the collection of moving images at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, the

George Eastman Museum The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as ''George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film'', the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in ...

, the

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

, or in other major film repositories in the United States, Canada, or Europe. The film is therefore presumed to be a lost production. A major fire at Edison's Bronx facilities on March 28, 1914 devastated much of the studio, destroying sets, large collections of costumes, production equipment, and, as reported in ''The New York Times'', "many moving picture feature films"."'MOVIE' FILMS BURN WITH EDISON STUDIO...", ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', March 29, 1914, p. 13.

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

Historical Newspapers, Ann Arbor Michigan; subscription access through The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. Retrieved June 8, 2020. It is quite possible that any master negatives and prints of ''For the Cause of the South'' stored there were among the losses in that fire.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id= 0132167 , title=For the Cause of the South 1912 films 1910s historical films 1910s action drama films American action drama films American war drama films 1912 romantic drama films American Civil War films American historical romance films American romantic drama films Films shot in New York City Cultural depictions of Robert E. Lee 1910s American films