Lincoln Page #2

Damn! Damn!

We, we saw you, um. We were at, at -

FIRST WHITE SOLDIER

We was at Gettysburg!

HAROLD GREEN SECOND WHITE SOLDIER

You boys fight at Gettysburg? DAMN I can't believe it's -

FIRST WHITE SOLDIER (CONT'D)

(to Green, with mild

CONTEMPT)

Naw, we didn't fight there.

We just signed up last month.

We saw him two years ago at the

cemetery dedication.

SECOND WHITE SOLDIER

Yeah, we heard you speak! We...

DAMN DAMN DAMN! Uh, hey, how tall

are you anyway?!

FIRST WHITE SOLDIER

Jeez, SHUT up!

LINCOLN:

Could you hear what I said?

FIRST WHITE SOLDIER

No, sir, not much, it was-

SECOND WHITE SOLDIER

(he recites, fast and

MECHANICALLY:
)

"Four score and seven years ago,

our fathers brought forth on this

continent a new nation, conceived

in liberty and dedicated to the

5.

proposition that all men are

created equal."

LINCOLN:

That's good, thank you for -

FIRST WHITE SOLDIER

"Now we are engaged in a great

civil war, testing whether that

nation or any nation so conceived

and so dedicated can long endure.

We are, we are, we are met on a

great battlefield of that war."

LINCOLN:

Thank you, that's -

SECOND WHITE SOLDIER

"We have come to dedicate a portion

of that field as a final resting

place for those who here gave their

lives that that nation might live.

It is..."

(He chokes up a little.)

FIRST WHITE SOLDIER

His uncles, they died on the second

day of fighting.

SECOND WHITE SOLDIER A VOICE (O.C.)

I know the last part. "It is, Company up! Move it out!

uh, it is rather -"

Soldiers all over the field rise up at the mustering of the

troops. Names of regiments, brigades, divisions are called:

all across the field, the men put out fires, put on

knapsacks.

LINCOLN:

(to the two white

SOLDIERS:
)

You fellas best find your company.

FIRST WHITE SOLDIER

(SALUTING LINCOLN:)

Thank you, sir. God bless you!

LINCOLN:

God bless you.

The second white soldier salutes, and the two move out.

6.

Green salutes Lincoln as well and glances at Clark, who

remains, looking down. Green leaves. Clark looks up, salutes

Lincoln and, turning smartly, walks toward his unit.

Then he stops, turns back, faces Lincoln, who watches him. A

beat, and then, in a tone of admiration and cautious

admonishment, reminding Lincoln of his promise:

IRA CLARK:

"That we here highly resolve that

these dead shall not have died in

VAIN -- "

Clark salutes Lincoln again, turns again and walks away.

Lincoln watches him go. As he walks into the fog, Clark

continues reciting in a powerful voice:

IRA CLARK (CONT'D)

" - That this nation, under God,

shall have a new birth of freedom --

and that government of the people,

by the people, for the people,

shall not perish from the earth."

Lincoln watches Clark until the fog's swallowed him up.

TITLE:

JANUARY, 1865

TWO MONTHS HAVE PASSED SINCE ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S RE-ELECTION

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR IS NOW IN ITS FOURTH YEAR

EXT. A SHIP AT SEA - NIGHT

A huge, dark, strange-looking steamship, part wood and part

iron, turreted like a giant ironclad monitor, is plowing

through the choppy black waters of an open sea.

Lincoln is alone, in darkness, on the deck, which has no

railing, open to the sea. The ship's tearing through rough

water, but there's little pitching, wind or spray. The deck

is dominated by the immense black gunnery turret.

LINCOLN (V.O.)

It's nighttime. The ship's moved

by some terrible power, at a

terrific speed.

Lincoln stares out towards a barely discernible horizon,

indicated by a weird, flickering, leaden glow, which appears

to recede faster than the fast-approaching ship.

7.

LINCOLN (V.O.)

Though it's imperceptible in the

darkness, I have an intuition that

we're headed towards a shore. No

one else seems to be aboard the

vessel. I'm alone.

INT. MARY'S BOUDOIR, SECOND FLOOR OF THE WHITE HOUSE - NIGHT

The room's cozy, attractive, cluttered, part dressmaker's

workshop, part repository of Mary's endless purchases:

clothing, fabrics, knicknacks, carpets. Books everywhere.

Lincoln reclines on a French chair, too small for his lengthy

frame. He's in shirtsleeves, vest unbuttoned and tie

unknotted, shoeless. He has an open folio filled with

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