The Civil War. Eps. 4-6

Episode of Series “The Civil War”.
SIMPLY MURDER: The war is in its third year and enthusiasm for the fighting has fled. In their awful camps men are dying of disease at the rate of two for every one slain in combat. Yet the struggle goes on. Robert E. Lee devastates the Union at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville but at great cost. At Vicksburg Ulysses S. Grant lays siege to the rebel stronghold, slowly throttling the South’s lifeline. Meanwhile General Lee prepares to invade Maryland and Pennsylvania, thereby setting the stage for the war’s greatest battle. THE UNIVERSE OF BATTLE: Feeling invincible after the spring’s great victories, Lee drives north to Gettysburg and three of the most crucial days of the war. 51,000 men fall, one in every three, and when the firing dies, General Lee is in retreat, never again to threaten the North. Grant seizes Vicksburg and the rebels are soundly defeated in Tennessee, but the first military draft provokes a series of anti-war, anti-black riots. Scarcely noticed in all the hubbub is Lincoln’s visit to Gettysburg and the address in which he defines the Union and the war in a mere 269 words. VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH: For three years Robert E. Lee has met, measured and defeated a string of Union generals, but now Lincoln elevates Ulysses S. Grant to commander of all Union armies and brings him east to face the brilliant Lee. In a month-long series of battles, Grant’s army loses an appalling 50,000 men, but, heedless of the carnage he drives his superior numbers towards Richmond until halted at Petersburg. Meanwhile, Sherman relentlessly advances to Atlanta, until he too is halted. Time is running out for Lincoln. Narrated by David McCullough.