Scenes I Would Have Liked To Haven Seen

I started watching G&G again last night but because the extended version hasn't been released in Australia yet I have to settle for the "short" version.

Anyway, while others might enjoy it I've always been of the opinion that the movie starts off badly, in that the movie should of had a bold opening like Gettysburg. It should have started, after the opening credits, with the first shot in Fort Sumter before we see Lt.Col Robert E. Lee being offered the opportunity to lead the Union troops then declining.

I also think there should have been a larger back story for Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and would have liked to have seen him go to the Dean of Bowdoin College asking for a leave of abscence to go on a sabbatical before entering the Army.

I also would have liked to have seen spectators show up to the first real battle at Bull Run (or Manassass, depending on who's side your on) and showing its proximity to Washington.

There also appears to be a spot of bad editing as well. I don't know the name of the character but he is show as a preacher before becoming an artillary officer whose troops name the 4 howitzers "Matthew, Mark, Luke and John". A short time afterwards he is seen talking to a crowd about Virginia's secession. Or is this someone else?

Should these scenes have been included?