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This soon-to-be classic documentary mini-series traces the causes, courses as well as the major events and personalities of the American Civil War. Between 1861 and 1865, this epic American story of struggle and survival was written in blood, and in this series is told mostly from first-hand accounts and in the spoken words of the participants themselves, through their diaries, letters, and memoirs. The series concludes with Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House and the surrender of the western Confederate Army to Sherman in North Carolina in the spring of 1865. It then explores the legacy of slavery and the consequences and meaning of a war that transformed the country forever.
Seasons
Episode 1
Sins of the Fathers
52m
The Road to Civil War, battles over Slavery turn violent in Kansas and Harper's Ferry; the election of Lincoln, Secession, Fort Sumter and the First Battle of Manassas.
Episode 2
A Deep, Steady Thunder
49m
The first battles of the war end poorly for the North; the rise of General Lee, and the 1862 invasion of Maryland.
Episode 3
Days of Infamy
48m
The Battle of Antietam; Northern troops fail at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville; Lee marches toward Gettysburg.
Episode 4
The Turning Points
48m
The Battle of Brandy Station sees a massive cavalry battle, with the epic struggle at Gettysburg following soon after, along with the fall of Vicksburg.
Episode 5
Not War, but Murder
49m
Grant takes command and begins attacking Lee in Virginia; battles take place at Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Cold Harbor, The Wilderness and Petersburg.
Episode 6
The Killing Fields
54m
Battles for Petersburg - The Crater. The futile fights of Franklin and Nashville in Tennessee. The Battle of Five Forks shatters Lee’s Army.
Episode 7Latest episode
New Birth of Freedom
52m
April 2, 1865 and the fall of Petersburg and Richmond; Lee surrenders to Grant and Sherman takes the surrender of the western Confederate Army; Lincoln's assassination and the second war over reconstruction and the citizenship of former slaves.
