Jimmy Stewart gives a great performance
I have always been a fan of Jimmy Stewart and also enjoyed the history behind the story

A metaphor for the war which would divide 1960s America
I recall seeing this film as a child and then later on DVD while working at an Aid Station in Diyala Province (FOB Warhorse). I've always viewed this film as somewhat of a backdoor critique of Viet Nam. As others have noted, production on this film was completed in '65. This would have been well before a broad cross-section of America came to see the war in SE Asia as futile and unwinnable by the restrictions placed on our forces there. But I nonetheless believe that the film was Hollywood's metaphor about having to take sides even when you dont wish to in actual shooting wars or in no less fiery "culture wars". How did audiences in Selma or Montgomery or Atlanta react to the sight of the young freed slave in the heat of an assault pausing to recognize his old friend and NOT bayoneting him?
Historical inaccuracies in this film will be pointed out by gleeful "gotcha!" purists, as they've done above. Weapons are anachronistic, to say the least.
Stewart shines and saves what might have otherwise been a mediocre film

Shining story
Stewart shines in "Shenandoah" and leads a terrific cast. This is my favorite film of all times. I've seen it so often I've stopped counting. The problem is my tears start flowing early in anticipation of the emotional scenes.

My 15 year old Newphew's Favorite Movie - Shenandoah
My 15 year old Nephew recently spent several weeks with his Grandmother. He watched the Western Channel on cable TV, because that was what she wanted to watch. When my Grandson and I took him home, he said to my Grandson:"Dude have you ever seen the movie Shenandoah? It is the best movie I have ever seen. This guy has seven sons and they are fighting against the North and the South during the Civil War"! "I never watched many westerns until I spent time with Grandma and some are pretty cool". So, I had to buy him his own copy. My sister told me he made her watch it with him when he received it. She said he kept saying, "ooh this is a really cool part, watch this Mom".

An individualist who finds himself unwillingly at war
This Jimmy Stewart star vehicle was released in 1965, so I could have seen it as a kid. But I didn't. Usually we attended blockbuster musicals and comedies.

When I say this is a star vehicle for Stewart, I mean that he gets more lines than anyone else, and he gets all the good lines. There are a fair number of good lines in this movie, which tells the story of a Virginia farmer who tries to keep himself and his sons out of the Civil War raging all around him. He is successful at tending his own business exclusively (he doesn't believe in slavery and finds no reason he or any of his should fight for it) until the war finds him. The South tries to requisition ("steal") his animals, which leads to an altercation. His youngest boy is carried off by mistake by the North as a prisoner of war. Dad sets off to find his son. The family does not remain unscathed, due to bad men and bad luck.

Shenandoah is probably one of the last Hollywood films that is unabashedly religious in underlying orientation, in the old style of the 1940s and 50's. Though Stewart's character has, shall we say, a strained relationship with God, he keeps his family tied to the church -- to fulfill his wife's final wishes. There's a very effective scene at the end where he talks to his wife Martha at her grave, longing for her to be there to give him some comforting words to help him deal with the tragedy he has just endured.

It's a simple story, effectively told. You could say it was an anti-war movie, but without the trappings of modern anti-war films, which tend to end up being anti-American. This film is more anti-government, in my opinion. Libertarian in outlook.

A fine film that is true to its era and still holds up today. Stewart knew how to pick his projects.