Film critic Vincent Canby's review in "The New York Times" stated, "gives his most mature and controlled performance to date...[Washington is an actor clearly on his way to a major screen career...The movie unfolds in a succession of often brilliantly realized vignettes tracing the 54th's organization, training and first experiences below the Mason-Dixon line. The characters' idiosyncrasies emerge". Roger Ebert from the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it "a strong and valuable film no matter whose eyes it is seen through". He believed the production design credited to Norman Garwood and the cinematography of Freddie Francis paid "enormous attention to period detail".