User Reviews

The premise of this episode is that a man (Richard Basehart) is hired to take the place of another man (Richard Anderson) who has been drafted into the Civil War. In reality, that was not unusual at all. In fact, wealthier men, who could afford to pay a $300 (equivalent to $5,746 in 2014) commutation fee to hire a substitute to go to war in their place, were spared from the draft...This is what led to the Draft Riots (July 13–16, 1863) in New York. At least 120 civilians were killed, and at least 2,000 people were injured...The Draft Riots were a major part of Martin Scorsese's film "Gangs of New York." So, the entire premise of this episode is phony. There would have been no reason for Basehart to use Anderson's name when taking his place in the military. It was perfectly legal (and even expected among the wealthy) for this to occur.

As usual for this series, the episode is entertaining, but its lack of historical accuracy is more than a bit annoying.