Ride with the Devil "awful"?!
Maybe you you saw a different film by that name to the one I saw? RwtD is excellent I thought. Tobey Maguire is ok in it and I thought the story was generally well told. I'd definitely add it to a DVD collection ...though maybe only if I picked up a bargain copy of it.
I don't think there are too many films about the ACW to have much of a list of bad ones. A lot of them have the Civil War as a backdrop to a human drama ...say Gone with the wind for example. Most of the civil war westerns are Westerns foremost with the war again serving as an afterthought. Actually, that brings to mind "Alvarez Kelly" starring William Holden that I saw late last year. Now I thought that was bad. I rarely quit watching a film once I've sat down to it but I gave up half way through that.
In fact, even the "good" civil war films are far from perfect? I thought Gettysburg had great moments but was ultimately an uneven piece of work. Too long for a popular feature and too short as a historical presentation. I felt the musical score was terrible and the over-reliance on re-enactors a mistake.
Don't get me started on Gods & Generals. That takes a very long time getting anywhere though Stephen Lang is excellent as Jackson.