The American Civil War Explained In 3+ Hours

1:10

another series of campaigns were fought.

1:15

These on the great expanse of lands

1:17

between the Appalachian and the

1:19

Mississippi River,

1:22

[music]

1:23

lands then considered to be the West.

1:28

I think in our popular memory of the

1:31

civil war, we tend to focus a lot on the

1:33

east, on some of the battles in the

1:35

east, but in fact, one could easily

1:38

argue that the civil war was won in the

1:41

west.

1:44

It was where this Union Army managed to

1:48

bisect the Confederacy, taking the

1:50

Mississippi River.

1:52

So if we want to understand the full

1:54

impact of this war on the people,

1:58

you have to understand what went on in

2:00

the west. [music]

2:05

[music]

2:11

[music]

2:20

It is a nation born

2:23

of war.

2:31

Emboldened by the idea that all men are

2:35

created equal, American colonists unite

2:40

to fight their British rulers.

2:45

In a world dominated by kings and

2:47

tyrants, [music]

2:48

the American Revolution gives birth to a

2:51

noble experiment in democracy. [music]

2:55

SHAW THESE UP. SHAW THESE UP. PACK THAT

2:57

DOWN. DIG THAT DIRT. TOTE THAT BAR. LIFT

3:00

THAT BAIL. BETTER. BETTER. BUT I'M GOOD

3:02

ENOUGH.

3:04

Slavery is [music] the ugly exception to

3:06

the cries of liberty

3:08

at the country's founding.

3:10

Move along now. Move along. Break your

3:12

backs. I'll break them for you. save it.

3:15

David,

3:16

one way [music] to understand the irony

3:18

or the paradox of how this could be a

3:21

nation built on freedom [music] and yet

3:24

keep people in unfreedom or in slavery

3:27

is to realize that many of these white

3:30

Americans didn't [music] see that as any

3:32

sort of conflict at all. In fact, uh in

3:35

their mind, these revolutionary

3:37

principles only applied to white people.

3:46

The idea that all men are created

3:47

[music] equal was not a jarring

3:49

contradiction for slaveholders and for

3:52

most Americans in the 18th as well as

3:55

the 19th century. [snorts]

3:59

To our sensibilities [music] today, it's

4:01

something that almost impossible for us

4:04

to imagine [music] how people could

4:06

reconcile or live with that. But they

4:08

did. and they did so really with with

4:11

ease.

4:13

Many slaveholders regard their property

4:16

as childlike, [music]

4:21

although we think of [music]

4:22

African-Ameans as human beings. Now, in

4:26

the 18th century, there was scientific

4:28

[music] evidence that proved they were

4:31

the missing link between [music] animals

4:34

and human beings.

4:37

By the 1800s,

4:39

Americans could point to the research of

4:41

French scientist George Cuvier, then

4:44

considered one of the world's great

4:46

minds in the field of zoologology.

4:50

Cuier was fascinated with a woman from

4:52

South Africa named Sarah Bartman.

4:56

Known throughout England and France as

4:58

the hot and tot Venus, the large woman

5:02

is displayed in a traveling sideshow

5:04

that describes her as a phenomenon of

5:06

nature.

5:08

Upon her death, QVA's autopsy report

5:11

concludes that Bartman was a species

5:14

closer to the great apes than humans.

5:18

And so when you have science that proves

5:22

through evidence, through experimental

5:24

research that African people are in fact

5:27

subhuman or at least inferior, it gives

5:31

the contradiction of democracy and

5:34

slavery some weight because these people

5:36

are not citizens. These people are not

5:38

full human beings.

5:44

The first Africans landed on the shores

5:46

of North America in 1619,

5:49

a year before the arrival of the

5:51

pilgrims.

5:54

By the time the Constitution was

5:56

ratified in 1789,

5:58

the new United States had a [music]

6:00

slave population of almost 700,000.

6:05

Yet many, particularly northern

6:08

religious and political leaders,

6:10

recognized the moral conflict between

6:12

slavery and liberty.

6:15

In 1808,

6:17

Congress [music] bans the importation of

6:19

slaves.

6:21

At the time of the writing of the

6:23

Declaration of Independence and [music]

6:25

the Constitution,

6:27

it was relatively easy to for the

6:28

founders to think that slavery was going

6:31

to go away because [music] slavery as an

6:33

institution was declining. Well, then in

6:36

the [music] 1790s, the cotton gin was

6:39

invented.

6:44

Suddenly from the institution [music]

6:46

declining as it had been before it began

6:49

to increase.

6:52

The international slave trade is

6:55

replaced with a thriving domestic slave

6:57

trade. It becomes the [music] lifeblood

7:00

of the cotton economy.

7:03

The rise of cotton changes the face

7:05

[music] of the nation. It changes the

7:09

conditions of [music] life for black

7:11

people across the United States.

7:16

[music]

7:18

75% of the South's cotton is shipped

7:20

abroad,

7:23

most of it to England and France.

7:26

Cotton is the [music] white gold of the

7:28

transatlantic economy. Cotton was for

7:31

the 19th century economy, for the

7:32

industrial revolution, what oil is today

7:35

for the world economy that we live in.

7:39

Southerners needed to make the profits

7:42

that they needed to make from that

7:44

cotton. But how to do it? You need a

7:46

cheap labor force. If you can enslave

7:49

that labor force, then you're getting it

7:51

at the cheapest rates possible.

7:55

By the time of the Civil War, the

7:57

enslaved [music]

7:58

people providing that labor are valued

8:00

at about $3 billion.

8:03

That's more than the combined value of

8:05

all the railroads, factories, and banks

8:08

then in America.

8:11

And yet, it is not only Southerners who

8:13

benefit from the cotton windfalls.

8:17

Northern banks have a strangle hold on

8:19

many southern planters.

8:21

Cotton mills, shipping interests, even

8:25

insurance companies in the [music] north

8:26

reap great profits from America's white

8:29

gold.

8:31

The nation's economy was built on the

8:34

back of slaves.

8:38

This was not a [music] southern issue.

8:41

It was a national issue and it was an

8:44

issue that was not [music] a problem

8:46

because the economy of slavery and the

8:49

economy of wage labor in the north were

8:52

compatible. They worked brilliantly

8:54

together. The raw materials [music]

8:57

produced by the hands of slaves fueled

8:59

not just the rural south, [music] but it

9:02

also helped energize a growing

9:05

industrial north.

9:06

All right, boys. We got a fresh load of

9:08

brick. As soon as you done that break

9:10

up, we need

9:10

Let's tell a terrible truth that most

9:13

northern whites, although they lived in

9:15

where what were legally ostensibly free

9:18

states, were thoroughly committed to

9:20

white racial supremacy. as any random

9:24

sampling you might take of slave holders

9:25

in the southern states where slavery was

9:27

legal.

9:29

Take a census of black people in the

9:32

north, free black people in the north,

9:34

and you will find that only in a handful

9:36

of locations did they have anything even

9:38

approaching civil equality.

9:41

For northern whites, slavery was a

9:44

problem. Not because it was an act of

9:46

racial injustice, but because slavery

9:48

had permitted black people into North

9:51

America. Northern whites wanted a nation

9:55

that was in effect a sandbox for white

9:58

people only.

10:00

Northern states might be free states,

10:02

they were also anti-lack states.

10:05

A powerful minority called abolitionists

10:08

preach of the evils of slavery.

10:11

Most northerners denounce the

10:13

abolitionists as paras and extremists.

10:17

But by the 1850s, the abolitionist

10:19

message begins to resonate with many who

10:22

begin to rally around the anti-slavery

10:24

[music]

10:24

cause.

10:26

And so faced with that challenge, these

10:28

southern slaveholders begin to develop

10:32

their own moral justification for

10:34

slavery beginning in the 1830s. And they

10:37

start talking about slavery as a

10:38

positive good. that slavery is something

10:41

that is redeeming the people of African

10:44

descent and that we as southern

10:46

slaveholders are taking care of and

10:49

civilizing these people.

10:52

So it's it's a it's a moral issue for

10:55

them. It's an economic issue for them

10:57

and we also can't forget it's a social

11:00

racial issue for them. If you get rid of

11:04

slavery, you get rid of the structure

11:07

that is guaranteeing all white people in

11:10

southern society status.

11:14

And yet the catalyst for civil war comes

11:16

not from north or south, but rather

11:20

west.

11:23

The United States is expanding. And so

11:26

you there's a need for more land, for

11:29

more cotton, and also for more slaves.

11:34

By 1850, a nation of 13 original

11:36

colonies has grown to 31 states.

11:40

America stretches westward, not only to

11:43

the Mississippi River, but all the way

11:45

to the Pacific Ocean.

11:48

A newspaper [music] editor actually

11:50

coined the term and he said it was the

11:52

manifest destiny of [music] the United

11:54

States to overspread the continent to

11:56

spread liberty. But wait a minute, what

11:58

about slavery? Is slavery going to

12:00

spread? We spread liberty. Are we going

12:02

to spread slavery, too? Does slavery

12:04

follow the flag?

12:07

Southern politicians demand to not only

12:09

preserve slavery, but to expand it.

12:14

Political compromises in 1820, 1850, and

12:17

then again in 1854 provide temporary

12:20

solutions. But in the end, western

12:23

expansion disrupts the balance [music]

12:25

in Congress between free and slave

12:28

states.

12:30

A prelude of the bloodletting to come

12:33

erupts in Kansas territory, where voters

12:35

battle over whether their new state will

12:37

be free or slave.

12:41

Suddenly in 1860, a candidate is elected

12:45

to the presidency who is unashamedly,

12:49

unapologetically

12:50

opposed to slavery. And when Southerners

12:53

hear this, they hear the death nail

12:56

ringing for them.

12:59

Abraham Lincoln from Illinois is the

13:03

candidate of the newly formed Republican

13:05

party. He is elected without receiving a

13:08

single electoral vote from the South.

13:12

Lincoln's priority is to preserve the

13:15

Union.

13:17

The president-elect vows to not

13:19

interfere with slavery in states where

13:21

it already exists.

13:24

That does little to comfort those in the

13:26

South who fear Lincoln will use the

13:28

federal government to trample states

13:30

rights.

13:32

For white southerners, with Lincoln's

13:34

election, they saw the beginning of the

13:36

end. They believed that a Republican

13:38

party committed to stopping the

13:40

expansion of slavery in the territories

13:42

would spell their demise.

13:47

They saw Lincoln as a wolf in sheep's

13:50

clothing.

13:53

Lincoln is [music] an arrow pointed at

13:55

the heart of their entire social and

13:57

economic system.

14:06

[music]

14:09

Come on now. Nice and tight. Yeah, I

14:11

[music] got it. All right, that's good.

14:13

That's good.

14:23

Well, there were about 3.9 million

14:25

enslaved people in uh the US in 1860.

14:28

And that ended up being about 40% of the

14:31

Confederate population. So, that's a

14:34

significant proportion.

14:36

I'm thirsty. I want some water.

14:37

I'm going to tell you something right

14:39

now. You remember what happened? The

14:40

last one of y'all that got up here

14:41

running your mouth at me. Do you

14:43

remember that?

14:44

Now, if you break the Confederacy down

14:46

by region, you can see that it's in the

14:48

deep south. uh where you see the

14:51

greatest percentage of that slave

14:53

population.

14:55

Now you stop right there. I told you you

14:58

was last.

15:00

And so it's not really a coincidence

15:02

that you see in those deep southern

15:04

states are the first to secede.

15:06

Yeah. You go ahead and you take you a

15:07

drink this time.

15:12

That's what I'd expect out of you, boy.

15:13

Just wasting water. That'll be the last

15:16

water you get today.

15:20

[music]

15:21

Just 2 months after Lincoln's election,

15:24

Mississippi, the largest cotton [music]

15:26

producing state, join South Carolina and

15:29

secedes from the Union. Within a month,

15:33

five more states from the Deep South

15:35

follow.

15:37

Jefferson Davis, [music]

15:38

who recently resigned his US Senate

15:40

seat, is chosen president of the new

15:44

[music]

15:45

Confederate States of America.

15:49

Davis agrees with the official

15:50

declaration made by the Mississippi

15:52

secession delegates who defend secession

15:55

by stating,

15:58

"Our position is thoroughly identified

16:00

with the institution of slavery, the

16:03

greatest material interest in the world.

16:05

Its labor supplies the product which

16:08

constitutes by far the largest and most

16:10

important portions of the commerce of

16:12

the earth."

16:14

These products are peculiar to the

16:16

climate. verging on the tropical regions

16:19

and by an imperious law of nature. None

16:22

but the black race can bear exposure to

16:24

the tropical sun. These products have

16:27

become necessities of the world and a

16:29

blow at slavery is a blow at commerce

16:31

and civilization.

16:34

That blow has been long aimed at the

16:36

institution and was at the point of

16:38

reaching its consummation.

16:41

There was no choice left us but

16:43

submission to the mandates of abolition

16:45

or a dissolution of the union whose

16:48

principles had been subverted to work

16:50

out our ruin.

16:56

One of the most poignant lines says we

16:59

are thoroughly interested in maintaining

17:02

the institution of slavery

17:05

because it's one of the greatest

17:06

benefits of mankind.

17:11

And so that's an important

17:14

acknowledgment of how vital slavery was

17:18

not just to the state but also to that

17:21

region that they made no bones about it.

17:24

Slavery was the central issue of the

17:28

civil war.

17:33

The belief that liberty should be

17:35

extended to all people regardless of

17:37

class, color, or gender. that simply was

17:39

not within thinking of most antibellum

17:42

Americans and for slaveholders.

17:45

They believed that liberty and freedom

17:47

was actually depended upon the

17:50

enslavement of African-Americans.

17:53

So, uh, for white southerners on the eve

17:56

of the Civil War, they could make the

17:59

bold claim that they were fighting for

18:01

their liberty and feel no remorse and

18:04

feel no tension, feel no contradiction

18:07

in the fact that they thought that that

18:09

liberty was depended upon fighting and

18:12

dying for the enslavement of

18:14

African-Americans.

18:18

If we're talking about uh politics, the

18:20

political tensions uh that erupted uh

18:24

sectional tensions and whatnot are

18:26

rooted in slavery. The economic

18:29

differences were rooted in slavery. And

18:33

the states [clears throat] right

18:34

argument, well, we're talking about a

18:35

state's right to do what? The southern

18:37

state seceded to protect slavery.

18:42

[music]

18:42

85 years after declaring itself

18:44

independent from Great Britain,

18:47

America's grand experiment in democracy

18:50

is about to be put to its greatest test.

18:57

April 12th, 1861,

19:01

Charleston, South Carolina.

19:05

Carrying out instructions from Jefferson

19:07

Davis, Confederate forces bombard Fort

19:10

Sumpter, forcing the surrender of the

19:12

Union garrison. The next day,

19:15

President Lincoln responds by calling

19:17

for 75,000 troops. That order convinces

19:21

Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and

19:25

Tennessee to join the Confederacy.

19:28

Lincoln refuses to recognize the

19:30

Confederate government and instead

19:33

considers the seceding states to be in

19:35

rebellion.

19:37

As an Illinois congressman, Lincoln had

19:40

said, "A house divided cannot stand."

19:46

Now, as president, Lincoln must use

19:49

force to unite a divided nation or watch

19:52

the United States be dissolved.

19:56

There was the belief by many that um

20:00

that there would not be um be a war and

20:03

that certainly if there was going to be

20:05

any sort of bloodshed um it would not be

20:09

uh very extended.

20:11

One or two engagements and both sides

20:14

would come to their senses.

20:17

Both sides believe the war would be over

20:19

within 90 days. There would be little

20:21

bloodshed. Uh, one politician stated

20:24

that the amount of blood shed could be

20:25

mopped up with a handkerchief.

20:31

So when the war begins, you have men who

20:33

are fighting for [music]

20:34

preservation of the Union and you have

20:36

men who are fighting for their homes,

20:38

defending it from an what they perceive

20:40

as an invasion.

20:42

But they had no idea.

20:45

They thought that it was going to be an

20:46

adventure. Be home by Christmas. Oh,

20:49

Brown Rosie, the rose of Alabama, the

20:53

sweet tobacco pos.

20:56

And what they found out is they ended up

20:58

in camps

21:00

dying of disease. Um,

21:04

in incredible boredom,

21:07

loneliness, hot and cold, punctuated by

21:11

these incredible conflicts.

21:19

The Union hopes to bring a quick end to

21:21

the war by attacking a Confederate force

21:23

near a crossroad in Virginia called

21:25

Manasses Junction.

21:30

Instead,

21:31

federal troops led by Brigadier General

21:34

Irvin McDow are routed.

21:38

[screaming]

21:41

The Union force scurries back to

21:43

Washington only 30 m to the north.

21:51

The battle of Bull Run is the first

21:54

major battle in the east.

21:57

But Union leaders realize that the

21:59

ultimate defeat of the Confederacy means

22:02

taking the fight beyond [music] the

22:04

Appalachian.

22:06

We underestimate the importance of the

22:08

western theater at our peril because in

22:11

the west [music] you have the single

22:14

most important economic highway of the

22:17

North American continent and that is the

22:20

great Mississippi Valley. [music]

22:23

If you wanted to put a finger on the

22:25

most important commercial confluence,

22:28

[music]

22:29

the most important economic lifeline of

22:32

the American Republic, then it flowed

22:35

through the West.

22:37

In Virginia, the [music] east west

22:40

flowing rivers are obstacles. But in the

22:43

West, they are avenues.

22:46

One Union general writes, "Whatever

22:48

nation gets control [music] of the Ohio,

22:50

Mississippi, and Missouri rivers will

22:53

control the continent." [snorts]

22:59

In February 1862,

23:02

15,000 Union soldiers land along the

23:05

banks of the Tennessee River.

23:10

It is an invasion to end a rebellion.

23:16

[music]

23:17

The 652mm Tennessee runs parallel to the

23:21

Mississippi further to the west.

23:24

[music]

23:25

It cuts through the heart of the western

23:27

Confederacy

23:29

from the Ohio [music] River through the

23:31

crucial border state of Kentucky and

23:33

into the state of Tennessee.

23:36

For nearly 200 miles, it even flows

23:39

through northern Alabama.

23:43

[music]

23:44

Like the Mississippi and Ohio rivers,

23:46

the Tennessee is wide enough for

23:48

transport steamers [music] to quickly

23:50

deliver troops and supplies.

23:53

For the Union, this campaign will be a

23:56

test for [music] the Navy's ironclad

23:58

gunboats, state-of-the-art warships.

24:06

The coming battle will also be a test

24:08

for a littleknown graduate of West

24:10

Point.

24:12

A soldier with an average record whom

24:14

many have unfairly branded a drunk.

24:19

General Ulissiz S. Grant is the

24:22

unlikeliest of heroes.

24:24

Yet he will emerge from the west as the

24:27

greatest soldier and general in the

24:29

entire Union Army.

24:32

Grant's orders, seize two strategic

24:36

forts guarding the Confederate interior.

24:39

Fort Henry overlooks the Tennessee

24:41

River. 12 mi east, Fort Donaldelsson

24:44

guards the Cumberland, a river leading

24:47

to the Tennessee capital of Nashville.

24:50

Those

24:52

forts are important because it was hoped

24:56

[music] by the Confederates that they

24:58

would stop Union gunboats,

25:00

Union [music] River boats carrying

25:02

troops and supplies from penetrating

25:04

farther up the Tennessee River and up

25:07

the Cumberland River.

25:13

On February 6th, naval gunboats pound

25:16

Fort Henry into submission,

25:19

but the Confederate defensive position

25:20

at Fort Donaldelsson is much stronger.

25:22

[music]

25:24

Two river batteries containing more than

25:26

a dozen heavy guns [music]

25:28

point northward toward a sharp bend of

25:30

the Cumberland.

25:33

On February [music] 14th, Union

25:36

ironclads fire hundreds of iron

25:39

Valentines into Fort Donaldelsson.

25:42

But this time, the Navy is decisively

25:45

repulsed.

25:48

Meanwhile, Grant's force of 27,000 moves

25:52

overland and approaches the landward

25:55

side of Fort Donaldelsson.

25:58

Grant later summed up his idea of the

26:01

art of war

26:03

in a rather pathy way. He said, "Get at

26:06

the enemy as quick as you can. Hit him

26:09

as hard as you can, and keep moving on."

26:14

The next morning, Grant's art of war

26:16

philosophy is put to a serious test.

26:23

Confederates inside Fort Donaldelsson

26:25

attempt to break out and bust through

26:28

Grant's lines.

26:33

After furious fighting in the ravines

26:35

and the steep terrain surrounding the

26:36

fort, Grant forces the Confederates back

26:40

inside Fort Donaldelsson.

26:45

Confederate Brigadier General Simon

26:46

Buckner asks for terms of surrender.

26:50

Grant's response

26:52

unconditional

26:54

and immediate.

26:56

I think what it what this unconditional

26:58

surrender demand tells us about Grant is

27:02

his determination.

27:04

We've got a general here who's not going

27:06

to fool around, who's going to prosecute

27:08

this [music] war and is going to end it

27:10

in a way that it ought to be ended.

27:14

At Fort Donaldelsson, 12,000

27:16

Confederates surrender and the Northern

27:19

Press anoints a national hero.

27:23

But Grant with his initials US Grant,

27:27

unconditional surrender Grant, it came

27:29

together brilliantly. Ulissiz Srant's

27:32

victories, Fort Henry and Fort

27:35

Donaldson, they captivated a northern

27:38

nation craving good news, especially in

27:41

the wake of what had happened at First

27:43

Manasses.

27:48

Just 9 days after the Confederate

27:49

surrender, Nashville, the capital of

27:52

Tennessee, falls to Union troops.

27:56

More importantly, the victory enables

27:59

Union forces to [music] seize control of

28:01

the lower Tennessee River, the strategic

28:04

pathway leading into the Confederate

28:05

[music] heartland.

28:08

Confederate forces in the West respond

28:10

by abandoning Kentucky and Middle

28:12

Tennessee, retreating [music] south into

28:14

West Tennessee, northern Alabama, and

28:17

Mississippi.

28:21

You have to wonder how soon Confederates

28:23

in deep south states like Mississippi

28:25

and Alabama thought that they would have

28:28

Union troops on their soil.

28:31

March 1862,

28:34

the Federals lease a fleet of steamboats

28:36

to transport Grant's troops deeper into

28:38

Tennessee.

28:40

Over 12 dozen steam southward, equipped

28:43

with everything an army needs to mount a

28:45

major campaign.

28:47

A journey requiring weeks overland now

28:50

takes only days on the Tennessee.

28:54

The Union forces unload at Pittsburgh

28:56

Landing, where roads provide easy access

28:59

to rail lines crucial to the Confederate

29:01

war effort.

29:08

By early April 1862,

29:11

Grant's force of 48,000 stretches across

29:15

a high wooded plateau in southwest

29:17

Tennessee.

29:21

Grant's most inexperienced troops camp

29:23

over 2 miles from Pittsburgh Landing

29:26

near a simple Methodist meeting house

29:28

named Shiloh. Roughly translated the

29:32

Hebrew word Shiloh means a place of

29:36

peace.

29:38

Grant's mission sever two vital western

29:42

Confederate railroads which intersect at

29:44

the small town of Corinth, Mississippi.

29:48

A lot of the the federal high command

29:50

will talk about how we have to go down

29:51

to Corinth. CF Smith talks about we have

29:54

to route them out like you would a

29:55

badger out of a hole.

29:57

Running through Corinth is the South's

30:00

only complete rail connection linking

30:02

the Mississippi to the Atlantic.

30:05

One Confederate official called it the

30:07

vertebrae of the Confederacy. So that

30:10

that's what makes Shiloh, I think, so

30:13

important.

30:13

[music]

30:13

And if you're a Confederate,

30:16

you know that if the Union captures

30:20

Corinth and captures control of those

30:22

railroads, [music] your supply situation

30:25

is difficult. Your movement of troops is

30:27

difficult. Your railroad system, which

30:30

isn't very good anyway, is going to be

30:32

even worse.

30:37

Grant knows a large enemy force has

30:40

gathered to defend the Corinth Railroad

30:41

junction, but he is unaware those same

30:44

Confederates [music] are now marching

30:46

forward to attack him.

30:52

General Albert Sydney Johnston [music]

30:55

commands the Western Confederate Army.

30:57

President Jefferson Davis boasts, "If

31:00

Johnston is not [music] a general, then

31:02

we have no general.

31:07

For Johnston, it is a race against the

31:09

clock.

31:11

He has received intelligence that more

31:13

Union troops will soon be joining Grant

31:15

at Pittsburgh Landing.

31:20

Marching Overland from Nashville to

31:22

Shiloh is a [music] second Union Army,

31:26

35,000 soldiers under the command of

31:28

General Don Carlos Buell.

31:33

The opportunity that is presented to

31:35

[music] Johnson, of course, is to hit

31:37

one at a time. And this is not rocket

31:38

science. You don't need a military

31:39

academy education to figure out that you

31:41

want to fight one army instead of two.

31:44

Johnston has a bold plan to destroy

31:47

Grant's army before Bule's forces

31:50

arrive.

31:51

Surprise and turn Grant's left flank.

31:55

Cut off his line of retreat to the

31:56

Tennessee River. Pin his army against

31:59

the swampy lowlands of Owl Creek. force

32:02

Grant to surrender.

32:08

The Confederate advance toward Shiloh is

32:11

troubled from the start.

32:17

A spring storm turns crude roads into

32:20

rivers of mud.

32:24

A march which should have taken a single

32:26

day to accomplish consumes three.

32:32

In a coming battle, this delay will

32:34

haunt Johnston and his Confederate army.

32:47

[music]

32:47

US Grant is under explicit orders from

32:50

the Union Command. Do not advance

32:52

[music] until Buell and his army arrive.

32:56

Grant is convinced Johnston lacks the

32:59

resolve and ability to attack.

33:04

If Grant has a weakness at at this time

33:06

in the war, it's that he doesn't always

33:10

consider what his opposition will do.

33:14

Johnston wouldn't be stupid enough to to

33:17

leave those entrenchments at Corinth and

33:20

march 20 miles and attack us in the

33:22

open. Never happened. Never happened.

33:27

16-year-old Thomas Duncan from

33:29

Mississippi is a courier for the

33:32

Confederates.

33:34

Riding out to a high point in front of

33:36

our center,

33:38

I hear the Union troops drilling in

33:40

their encampment. The drum and F and the

33:42

commands of the officers are plainly

33:44

heard.

33:47

It suddenly struck me.

33:50

The Union Army is absolutely unaware of

33:53

the presence of our army.

34:08

[music]

34:09

Brigadier General William Tecumpsa

34:11

Sherman receives reports of large groups

34:14

of Confederates, but he dismisses them

34:16

as mere scouting parties. What the hell

34:19

is this garbage? You people are staring.

34:21

[music]

34:21

The preceding year, Sherman had gotten

34:23

in trouble for overestimating the number

34:25

of Confederates he was facing. The

34:28

newspapers had even reported that he was

34:29

insane.

34:33

So, in the days leading up to Shiloh,

34:35

Sherman was very determined that he was

34:38

not going to have that happen again.

34:42

Just a mile beyond Sherman's camp is the

34:45

leading edge of Johnston's 43,000

34:48

[music]

34:48

Confederates

34:52

and they camp there [music] and some of

34:54

them are even firing their weapons

34:56

testing them and yet nobody pays that

34:59

much attention to it. [music] And he

35:01

said unto them, "When you pray, say, Our

35:06

Father, which art in heaven,

35:09

hallowed [music] be thy name. Thy

35:11

kingdom come, thy will be done, as in

35:14

heaven [music] so and on earth.

35:17

Give us day by day."

35:18

Most of the Confederates are like Thomas

35:20

Duncan.

35:21

Forgive us our sins. [music]

35:23

Raw recruits who have never tasted

35:26

battle. We also forgive everyone.

35:30

As night came [music] home, we lay down

35:32

in line of battle to rest and slumber,

35:35

realizing the danger of the coming mourn

35:38

[music]

35:40

and the certainty that for many the next

35:43

sunrise would be their [music] last on

35:45

earth.

35:58

Colonel Everett Peabody [music] commands

36:00

a brigade on the Union front line.

36:04

Unlike his superiors,

36:06

Peabody believes the Confederate

36:08

presence is more than scouting parties.

36:12

Despite orders not to engage the enemy,

36:15

Peabody [music] orders 250 men out on a

36:18

pre-dawn patrol.

36:26

Just after 5:00 a.m. they step onto the

36:29

farm of James Freilley, some 2 mi

36:32

southwest of Shiloh Church.

36:54

They are the opening shots

36:56

of what will become the first epic

36:59

battle of the Civil War.

37:05

After an hour,

37:07

Peabody's troops withdraw from Freighy

37:10

Field.

37:14

[music]

37:15

It wasn't really until about sunrise

37:19

that it really became clear on the Union

37:22

side that they were up against

37:24

Johnston's whole army.

37:27

[cheering]

37:30

Johnston realizes that he has the

37:33

opportunity to alter the course of the

37:35

war. He says to his men, "Today we must

37:38

conquer or perish.

37:43

And there had been warning signs for

37:45

days that the Confederates were were not

37:48

just up to something. There was

37:49

something big in the works.

38:01

And when it exploded,

38:04

I mean, just all hell breaks loose.

38:08

And the Confederate attack

38:11

is really like a sledgehammer.

38:21

Colonel Peabody's superior is General

38:23

Benjamin Apprentice.

38:25

Colonel Peabody, report.

38:27

Sir, all indications are that there's a

38:29

sizable force of Confederates that are

38:31

coming up from the Coran.

38:32

Apprentice accuses the young colonel of

38:34

violating orders and bringing on the

38:37

engagement. I didn't bring on an

38:39

engagement. The whole Confederate army's

38:40

marching on me, sir.

38:42

Prenice was furiously

38:45

on your shoulder.

38:45

This had been contrary to orders and

38:48

Peabody had not gotten permission. And

38:50

Prentice confronted Peabody and scolded

38:53

him very severely for bringing on a

38:56

fight.

38:59

[cheering]

38:59

Apprentice's heavily outnumbered

39:01

division puts up stubborn resistance.

39:05

But by 900 a.m.

39:07

their defense crumbles.

39:12

Killed while trying to rally his troops

39:15

is Colonel Everett Peabody.

39:18

In 4 hours of fighting at Shiloh, the

39:22

Union suffers over 2,000 casualties.

39:25

Half of Grant's soldiers at Shiloh have

39:27

never been in combat.

39:38

[music]

39:43

There's that first time you get shot at

39:48

and there's that [music] first time you

39:49

realize that this is for real

39:53

and that you could die. [music]

39:58

You're seeing what artillery fire does

40:00

to the [music] human body.

40:04

You're seeing blood spilled in ways that

40:07

that [music] you can't imagine.

40:11

Those moments that really haunt men for

40:15

the rest of their lives.

40:18

This is some of the [music] experience

40:20

in the woods around the Shiloh Church

40:23

that morning is they're experiencing all

40:26

the horrors of combat [music] for the

40:28

first time. And you're seeing things

40:30

that really violate all sense of

40:33

decency.

40:45

18-year-old Leander Stillwell is a

40:48

private with the 61st Illinois.

40:51

I was astonished at our first retreat in

40:53

the morning.

40:55

It seemed to me we were forever

40:57

disgraced. I keep thinking to myself,

41:01

what will they say about this at home?

41:11

Instead of advancing, many of the

41:13

Confederates break ranks to ransack

41:16

Union camps.

41:18

Some have not eaten since leaving

41:20

Corinth, Mississippi 3 days earlier.

41:23

For many of the raw recruits, the spoils

41:26

of war are too tempting to pass up.

41:30

Johnston is infuriated [music] when he

41:32

catches an officer plundering.

41:35

Cut that down.

41:37

To rally his men, Johnston [music] takes

41:39

his own plunder, a simple tin cup.

41:42

Let this be my fortune of the poor

41:45

today.

41:52

By midm morning, the Confederate advance

41:55

reaches Shiloh Church.

42:01

It is the scene of some of the most

42:02

savage fighting for battle.

42:07

Horses are screeching. Horses are dying.

42:09

People are getting hit. They're

42:11

screaming.

42:14

They're calling for their mothers.

42:16

They're calling on God.

42:18

It just it's just mass confusion.

42:23

Most soldiers engaged at Shiloh are

42:26

between 18 and 30 years old. At a battle

42:30

like Shiloh, they realize it's not all

42:33

about adventure. It's not all about

42:36

lofty concepts like honor and

42:39

independence. They realize it's about

42:42

killing. And for many of them, this is

42:46

an uncomfortable to say the least

42:49

realization.

42:51

They don't easily transition into

42:53

becoming killing machines. They have a

42:56

great deal of ambivalence about

42:58

shouldering these weapons and actually

43:00

killing people.

43:04

16-year-old musician John Cocker arrived

43:07

with his father, the commander of the

43:10

70th Ohio Infantry.

43:14

John and his father become separated

43:16

near Shiloh Church.

43:25

Young cockro soon finds himself aiding

43:27

the wounded.

43:30

Near Shiloh Church, passing soldiers

43:32

called for me to assist them.

43:37

We carried the poor fellow to the rear

43:39

and found there a scene of disorder.

43:41

Have to say panic.

43:48

The enemy began pressing closely and

43:50

Shiloh Church was no more a desirable

43:52

place for my military observations. I

43:55

started towards the Tennessee River.

43:59

[music]

44:02

I had not proceeded more than a mile

44:04

when I encountered General John

44:06

MacArthur's Highland Brigade of Illinois

44:08

troops.

44:09

A chipper young lieutenant stopped me

44:11

and asked where did I belong? I replied

44:14

that [music] I belonged to Ohio. He said

44:17

that Ohio was making a bad show of it,

44:20

then asked if [music] I wanted to fight

44:21

with them. I responded I was willing to

44:24

take a temporary birth in his regiment.

44:27

Thus, I became attached to company B of

44:30

the 9th Illinois regiment.

44:33

John Cochrell doesn't realize it, but he

44:36

has joined a unit that will have the

44:37

highest casualty rate of all Union

44:40

regiments at Shiloh.

44:43

In 5 hours of brutal fighting, the

44:45

Confederates managed to overrun the

44:47

forward Union camps. Fresh Union

44:50

divisions move forward from Pittsburgh

44:53

landing to help stop the onslaught.

44:56

Johnston [music] personally supervises

44:58

the Confederate right while General PGT

45:02

Bogard oversees the left.

45:05

By 11:00 a.m., the battle rages along a

45:08

crooked 3mile front.

45:13

US Grant has completely underestimated

45:16

the Confederates.

45:18

It is a mistake he will never make

45:20

again.

45:22

At noon, Grant orders Sherman to

45:24

counterattack.

45:34

You begin to see the Confederate attack

45:36

start to splinter.

45:42

They're not able to deal that that final

45:45

lethal blow.

45:48

The Confederate attack

45:51

is beginning to lose a lot of its steam.

45:54

After some of the most severe fighting

45:56

at Shiloh, Sherman grudgingly gives

45:59

ground.

46:01

But their decimated divisions have

46:03

bought Grant what he needs most,

46:06

precious time.

46:13

Adding to the Confederates woe at Shiloh

46:16

is the hellish terrain itself.

46:19

A morass of dense woods, thick

46:22

undergrowth, and deep ravines through

46:24

which they must advance.

46:28

Most serious is the awful carnage.

46:37

Earlier in the day at Rave Field, the

46:40

Sixth Mississippi marched straight into

46:42

a murderous Union crossfire.

46:49

In mere moments, 300 of the regiment's

46:53

425 soldiers were cut down.

46:57

The slaughter of the Sixth Mississippi

47:00

is one of many such scenes repeated

47:02

again and again at Shiloh.

47:07

I think that the reason for the

47:10

extremely high casualty list at Shiloh

47:13

was simply that you had two sides that

47:16

were very similar

47:18

in the motivation

47:20

and they were simply very determined to

47:23

prevail and and not to be beaten.

47:29

I think if they had been using short

47:32

swords, they probably would have stood

47:34

up against each other and hacked at each

47:36

other until they had killed about that

47:38

many of each other.

47:42

Though staggered, the majority of

47:44

Johnston's army continues to engage the

47:46

Union left and right.

47:49

Meanwhile, another fight erupts. This

47:52

one in an oak thicket choking the center

47:54

of the battlefield.

48:00

Since midm morning, Union soldiers have

48:03

been putting up a stubborn defense in

48:05

the thick underbrush.

48:09

And the Confederate soldiers hearing the

48:11

Union bullets whistling through the

48:12

thicket referred to the area as the

48:15

Hornets's Nest.

48:28

Over the course of 4 hours,

48:31

Confederate troops repeatedly storm the

48:34

Hornets's nest. Each time they are

48:37

driven back,

48:40

Colonel Randall Lee Gibson commands a

48:42

brigade from Louisiana and Arkansas.

48:47

Four times the assault proved [music]

48:49

unavailing.

48:51

the strong and almost inaccessible

48:53

position of the enemy. His infantry

48:56

well-coveted an ambush and his [music]

48:57

artillery skillfully posted and

48:59

efficiently served was found to be

49:02

impregnable to infantry alone. [music]

49:05

We were repulsed.

49:10

It's one of those situations where the

49:13

geography plays a role. The hornets nest

49:16

is a very difficult place to get to. So

49:19

it does come down to geography and just

49:21

sheer determination.

49:26

Johnston [music] is determined to crush

49:28

the federal stronghold.

49:31

Stubborn over there.

49:33

The Confederate commander will

49:34

personally rally a group who has refused

49:36

to [music] charge.

49:39

The Yankees were stubborn, he said. And

49:40

and you're going to have to give them

49:42

the bayonet. Johnston leaned out and

49:44

tapped their bayonets with [music] his

49:45

tin cup. We're going to have TO USE THE

49:48

BAYONET.

49:49

AS he got to the middle of their line,

49:51

he turned his horse toward the enemy and

49:52

he said, "I will lead you." [cheering]

49:59

They are advanced by Johnston into a

50:01

peach orchard just east of the Hornets's

50:03

nest.

50:07

At the peach orchard is some of the most

50:09

bitter fighting of Shiloh, Private Sam

50:12

Watkins of the First Tennessee.

50:15

I had heard and read of battlefields,

50:18

seen pictures of battlefields,

50:21

horses and men, cannon and wagons all

50:24

jumbled together while the ground was

50:26

strewn with dead and dying and wounded.

50:29

But I must confess that I never realized

50:34

the pomp and circumstance of the thing

50:37

called glorious war till I saw this.

50:42

It all seemed to me

50:46

a dream. [music]

50:50

With the battle raging around the peach

50:52

orchard, an aid to General Johnston

50:55

finds the Confederate commander

50:58

reeling in his saddle.

51:00

Said, "General, are you wounded?"

51:02

Johnston said, "Yes, [music] and I fear

51:04

seriously."

51:06

This subornet led Johnston into a place

51:08

that was sheltered and held him off his

51:09

horse.

51:12

General, [music] sir, please respond to

51:14

us. I see nothing.

51:15

He began looking for the wound. He

51:17

couldn't find it.

51:18

I don't see anything else, Captain

51:19

myself.

51:20

He's poking around in Johnston's

51:22

clothes. Where's the wound? He couldn't

51:23

find it.

51:24

We don't know what's wrong with him.

51:25

Johnston had quickly lost consciousness

51:27

completely.

51:28

You know me? Do you know me? Justin.

51:31

Justin.

51:33

Johnston.

51:34

Behind Johnston's knee, a bullet has

51:37

lacerated a large artery.

51:40

In less than 20 minutes, he bleeds to

51:43

death.

51:46

[music]

51:47

General Albert Sydney Johnston will be

51:50

the highest ranked officer killed in the

51:52

Civil War.

51:55

The day that began with so much promise

51:58

ends with [music] the death of the man

52:00

Jefferson Davis considered to be the

52:02

finest officer in the Confederacy.

52:06

Word of Johnston's death slowly makes

52:08

its way through the Confederate ranks at

52:10

Shiloh.

52:15

A soldier from Louisiana remarks,

52:18

"A chilliness of gloom crept over our

52:22

entire command."

52:25

[music]

52:33

I think for the Confederate forces, you

52:36

know, east and west, because this is a

52:38

two-f frontont war, there are several

52:41

episodes early on where they had a

52:43

legitimate chance to really drive a a a

52:47

knife into the heart of the US war

52:50

effort. And I would say that in the west

52:52

that Shiloh's that first that first day,

52:56

that was their chance to totally alter

52:59

the course of the war.

53:03

[music]

53:19

In the hellish terrain surrounding a

53:21

simple log structure known as Shiloh

53:24

Church

53:26

rages the first epic battle of the Civil

53:29

War.

53:42

In a dawn attack, nearly 44,000

53:46

Confederates, led by General Albert

53:48

Sydney Johnston, [music]

53:50

surprised the Union Army.

53:55

The federal troops had boldly advanced

53:57

into southwest Tennessee. with the hopes

54:00

of winning a grand battle that they

54:02

believe will end the war.

54:07

A few hours into the Battle of Shiloh,

54:10

those hopes are all but dashed.

54:16

By midday,

54:17

Union generals Ulyses Srant and William

54:20

Tecumpsa Sherman rally their stunned

54:22

troops.

54:25

The Confederate attack loses steam. For

54:28

most, Shiloh is their first taste of

54:31

battle. The casualties are unimaginable.

54:36

Even Johnston, considered by many to be

54:39

the best of the Confederate generals,

54:41

lies dead.

54:42

Johnston. Johnston, do you know me? Do

54:45

you know me?

54:46

Now, Shiloh becomes the first of the big

54:50

slaughters of the Civil War. The loss of

54:53

life, the [snorts] wounds at Shiloh are

54:56

on a scale that the United States had

54:58

not previously encountered.

55:01

By midafternoon,

55:03

the fight shifts from the Union flanks

55:06

to a dense thicket in the center of the

55:08

battlefield.

55:10

At a place survivors would later dub the

55:13

Hornets's nest, 6,000 stubborn Union

55:17

soldiers repulsed attack after attack.

55:22

[music]

55:29

After hours of failed peacemeal

55:32

assaults, Confederate leaders begin

55:34

shifting every available cannon on the

55:36

Shiloh battlefield,

55:39

the batteries now take aim at the

55:41

Hornets's Nest just 300 yd away.

55:45

[screaming]

55:56

For more than an hour,

55:58

Confederate guns pound away at the

56:00

Hornets's nest.

56:03

The barrage pins down the Union forces.

56:10

The brutal combat at Shiloh marks the

56:12

first Titanic battle of the Western

56:14

campaign.

56:16

The federal armies have invaded,

56:18

intending to sever a crucial railroad

56:20

junction just 20 mi south at Corinth,

56:23

Mississippi.

56:25

The railroad is the Confederacy's only

56:27

complete line connecting the Mississippi

56:29

Valley to the Atlantic Ocean.

56:35

In the East, the Union has already been

56:38

humiliated at Bull Run, a battle just 20

56:41

m from the White House. Another defeat,

56:45

this time in lands then known as the

56:47

West, will be a crushing blow to Abraham

56:50

Lincoln's hope of reunifying a divided

56:53

nation.

56:56

The Western Theater, I argue, is the

56:59

most significant part of the war. Had it

57:02

not been for that activity in the

57:05

Western theater, that war might have

57:07

gone on forever and the number of

57:09

casualties would have been greater. It's

57:11

clear to me in any way that that the

57:13

western theater is where the war war was

57:16

either won if you're a Union supporter

57:18

or lost if you're a Confederate.

57:22

A Confederate victory at Shiloh would be

57:24

a giant step toward the goal of southern

57:27

independence.

57:29

Steady, boys. Steady.

57:31

While the battle rages in the Hornets's

57:33

Nest, another fight is about to explode

57:36

in the steep terrain overlooking the

57:38

Tennessee River.

57:40

We can do it, boys.

57:41

There, a frightened John Cocherel stands

57:44

among the ranks of the 9inth Illinois.

57:46

Rebels are coming, but we're going to

57:48

hold our ground. You understand that?

57:51

Ohio, you're going to stick with us.

57:53

We'll get you through this today. We

57:55

will be victorious, boys. We'll get you

57:57

back to your family and to your unit.

58:06

Earlier in the day, the 16-year-old from

58:09

Ohio became separated from his father's

58:11

regiment during the fierce clash near

58:14

Shiloh Church.

58:20

A lieutenant with the 9inth Illinois

58:23

convinced the young Ohio to fight with

58:25

them.

58:28

Now Cochril and the others wait for an

58:32

attack that is sure to come.

58:35

Everything looked weird and unnatural.

58:38

The leaves on the trees, though scarcely

58:40

out of [music] the bud, seemed greener

58:42

than I had ever seen leaves and larger.

58:51

[cheering and screaming]

59:06

With a suddeness, there came from all

59:08

along our front a crash of musketry.

59:13

Actions took the grotesque form of

59:15

nightmares.

59:19

The roar and den of the battle and all

59:21

its terror outstripped my most fanciful

59:24

dreams of pandemonium.

59:27

For nearly 3 hours, Confederates deliver

59:30

what Cocharo calls a dreadful baptism of

59:33

fire.

59:40

Among those killed is Frederick E.

59:42

Voggler, the chipper young lieutenant

59:44

who invited young Cocharel to fight with

59:46

his regimen. [music]

59:51

The enemy fire became so terrible, we

59:54

were driven into the ravine. We kept

59:56

firing as long as cartridges lasted.

59:59

Let's go. Let's go.

1:00:06

It was at this point our blue line

1:00:09

wavered. Out of the ravine we survivors

1:00:12

poured, pursued [music] by the howling

1:00:14

enemy.

1:00:17

I remember my horror at the thought of

1:00:19

being shot in the back as I retreated

1:00:22

from the top of the bank and galloped as

1:00:25

gracefully as I could.

1:00:29

Interestingly, the soldiers referred to

1:00:32

first experience of combat as seeing the

1:00:34

elephant.

1:00:36

And when you think about the the what an

1:00:39

elephant looks like and what an elephant

1:00:42

might do to you, it gives you, I think,

1:00:45

kind of a good insight into the into the

1:00:47

[music] way these people felt.

1:00:50

In this blood bath, the 9inth Illinois

1:00:53

loses more men killed and wounded than

1:00:56

any Union regiment at Shiloh.

1:00:59

Cochel somehow survives the slaughter.

1:01:04

He joins a line of Union stragglers

1:01:06

retreating back to the Tennessee River.

1:01:10

The crowd of fear stricken and dejected

1:01:12

soldiers. I met a man who belonged to my

1:01:15

father's regiment.

1:01:16

Have you seen my dad?

1:01:17

Inquiring of the fate of the regiment.

1:01:19

He told me

1:01:21

it had been an entirely cut to pieces

1:01:24

and he had personally witnessed the

1:01:27

[music] death of my father.

1:01:29

Seen him shot from his horse.

1:01:31

Sorry, son.

1:01:32

This filled me with dismay and I

1:01:35

determined, non-combatant that [music] I

1:01:37

was, to retire from the battlefield.

1:01:48

For federals in the Hornets's Nest, the

1:01:51

situation has grown desperate.

1:01:54

In late afternoon, both flanks of the

1:01:56

Confederate army press forward,

1:01:58

tightening the noose.

1:02:01

The stubborn Union soldiers are

1:02:03

surrounded.

1:02:14

Some federal troops managed to slip out

1:02:17

of the trap.

1:02:19

But for many, there is no escape.

1:02:22

Take him up the hill. Leave him up the

1:02:24

hill. General Benjamin Apprentice, who

1:02:27

survived the opening Confederate assault

1:02:29

some 10 hours earlier,

1:02:31

finds himself surrounded in a wooded

1:02:33

ravine.

1:02:36

Apprentice surrenders along with more

1:02:38

than 2,200 Union soldiers.

1:02:41

You're a prisoner now.

1:02:47

Union commander Ulissiz S. Grant hastily

1:02:50

establishes a two-mile long last line of

1:02:53

defense.

1:02:56

The Confederates mount one final

1:02:58

assault, but the Union line stands firm.

1:03:03

After 13 hours of fighting, the

1:03:06

exhausted Confederate troops [music]

1:03:07

pull back to the captured Union camps.

1:03:13

With Albert Sydney Johnston dead,

1:03:16

General PGT Bogard assumes command.

1:03:19

Take him to a team. Yes, sir.

1:03:22

At his headquarters near Shiloh Church,

1:03:25

he dispatches a message to Confederate

1:03:27

President Jefferson Davis describing a

1:03:30

complete victory.

1:03:33

16-year-old Thomas Duncan is a

1:03:35

Confederate courier.

1:03:37

With a seeming victory in our grasp, and

1:03:40

with the brave, though depleted, and

1:03:42

disorganized, Army of the Blue [music]

1:03:44

at bay at River's Brink,

1:03:47

we saw the battle cease for the day.

1:03:51

But US Grant is not ready to concede

1:03:54

defeat.

1:03:57

He knows reinforcements are on the way.

1:04:00

Not beaten by a damn sight, [music] he

1:04:03

mutters. Though bloodied, Grant's army

1:04:07

had survived to fight another day.

1:04:11

And Grant was at the moment of crisis.

1:04:14

And even the great commanders have

1:04:16

moments of crisis. He always, I think,

1:04:18

believed in himself in that capacity. I

1:04:21

don't think there a man like Grant ever

1:04:22

had a doubt that he would win.

1:04:25

All of the high officers, with one

1:04:27

exception, seemed to believe that they

1:04:29

would pull out, that they would cross

1:04:32

the river during the night and escape.

1:04:35

The one exception to all this, of

1:04:36

course, was Grant himself.

1:04:41

Night comes

1:04:44

and Sherman comes up to him really to

1:04:47

see, well, what's going to happen? What

1:04:48

are we going to do in the next day?

1:04:50

And Sherman says to him, "Well, Grant,

1:04:53

we've had the devil's own time today,

1:04:55

haven't we?"

1:04:56

And Grant looks at Sherman and says,

1:05:00

"Yep,

1:05:02

we'll lick him tomorrow, though."

1:05:05

And Sherman is just taken back. This

1:05:08

guy's not going to retreat. He's going

1:05:10

to go on the offensive the next day. And

1:05:13

this is an incredible

1:05:16

thing to do.

1:05:19

I I think that certain people are placed

1:05:21

in certain places by luck or by fate and

1:05:26

Grant was in the right spot.

1:05:29

I cannot think of any general at this

1:05:33

time in the history of the war who would

1:05:36

have done the same thing.

1:05:44

Late that night, a violent storm engulfs

1:05:48

the Shiloh battlefield.

1:05:52

Thunder and lightning combined with

1:05:54

cannon fire from Union gunboats

1:05:57

to create a night no soldier at Shiloh

1:06:00

will ever forget.

1:06:04

The woods

1:06:06

that first night especially are filled

1:06:08

with sounds that we could never

1:06:12

accurately reproduce.

1:06:18

There were soldiers who wrote on that

1:06:19

first night of hearing the wild hogs

1:06:23

feeding on the wounded

1:06:30

and having to listen to that all night.

1:06:33

And there's no button you can push to

1:06:35

shut it off. And then when the sun comes

1:06:38

up, you know it's going to start all

1:06:40

over again.

1:06:50

When the sun comes up that second day,

1:06:53

Borugard believes that he's won the

1:06:56

great victory and it's just a matter of

1:06:58

mopping up.

1:06:58

Three cheers for General Borard.

1:07:01

[cheering]

1:07:03

The Union Army was in terrible shape.

1:07:05

They've been driven back. Their

1:07:07

confidence is broken. They're they're

1:07:09

finished.

1:07:13

Defeat is the last thing on Grant's

1:07:16

mind. Overnight, 13,000 soldiers

1:07:20

commanded by General Don Carlos Buell

1:07:22

have finally arrived from Nashville.

1:07:25

General Lou Wallace reinforces Grant

1:07:28

with another 5800 Union soldiers.

1:07:32

According to a soldier from Louisiana,

1:07:35

federal troops sprouted from the ground

1:07:37

like mushrooms.

1:07:40

Courier Thomas Duncan.

1:07:42

A small squad of us were preparing

1:07:44

breakfast when firing began suddenly on

1:07:47

the line.

1:07:55

A wildeyed rider proclaimed the arrival

1:07:57

of Bule,

1:08:00

warning us to run for our lives.

1:08:09

[music]

1:08:21

It's apparent [music] that counterattack

1:08:23

has power to it. It has power. It has

1:08:25

purpose and it's mass. And it's totally

1:08:29

unexpected.

1:08:31

April 7th is like day one at Shiloh, but

1:08:34

in reverse.

1:08:36

Bogard's stunned Confederates rally,

1:08:39

fighting desperately to hold the

1:08:40

onslaught of the reinforced Federals.

1:08:46

It's no longer a sense of

1:08:49

getting up and finding something to eat

1:08:51

this morning. It's getting up and

1:08:52

finding something to put in my musket so

1:08:54

I can fight this battle because this

1:08:55

battle has come back and it's come back

1:08:57

into my face.

1:08:59

A continued breakdown in the Confederate

1:09:01

chain of command only makes matters

1:09:03

worse.

1:09:05

[music]

1:09:08

Colonel John Moore commands a makeshift

1:09:11

brigade of three regiments which

1:09:13

includes his own second [music] Texas

1:09:15

Infantry.

1:09:18

Moore is ordered to advance his brigade

1:09:19

across a peach orchard but to hold his

1:09:22

fire.

1:09:26

Captain

1:09:28

on [music] the other side of the fence.

1:09:29

Get over there and stretch your lights

1:09:31

quickly. In the woods ahead of him,

1:09:33

Moore [music] is told, waits another

1:09:36

Confederate force.

1:09:38

And it's apparent they don't know who's

1:09:39

in front of them, but they've been told

1:09:41

who's in front of them. And they've been

1:09:42

told they're friends.

1:09:49

The soldiers located in front of Moore's

1:09:51

approaching men are not friends.

1:09:56

They are from Indiana and Ohio.

1:10:08

John Cine more.

1:10:10

Even after the enemy opened fire, my

1:10:12

officers reported the order was still

1:10:14

given not to fire on our supposed

1:10:16

friends.

1:10:19

In one instance, after a private

1:10:21

returned the fire of the enemy, a staff

1:10:24

officer drew his pistol

1:10:26

and threatened to blow off the man's

1:10:28

head if he fired again.

1:10:34

There's no way for anybody really to get

1:10:37

a handle on it except maybe in the

1:10:39

decision that Moore makes after the

1:10:41

ambush

1:10:43

when he's ordered to attack and he

1:10:45

refuses.

1:10:48

The chaos Moore and his men face is

1:10:51

experienced by many Confederates on

1:10:53

Shiloh's second day.

1:11:00

The fighting is every bit as fierce and

1:11:02

bloody as the day before.

1:11:06

Confederates under General Bogard's

1:11:08

leadership fight bravely.

1:11:11

But now, outnumbered and overwhelmed,

1:11:14

they are steadily driven back to Shiloh

1:11:16

Church.

1:11:18

An aid to General Bogard sums up the

1:11:20

situation by saying, "The fire and

1:11:23

animation has left our troops.

1:11:32

Shortly after [music] 2:00 p.m.,

1:11:35

Bo Regard issues an order unthinkable

1:11:38

just 8 hours earlier.

1:11:42

Withdrawal. [music]

1:11:45

They came so very close to be so [music]

1:11:48

close to victory so many times and never

1:11:51

quite be able to achieve it. It was

1:11:52

almost like it was something that they

1:11:54

were reaching out for and could never

1:11:56

they never could quite [music] get it.

1:12:00

General Grant remains under orders to

1:12:02

not engage the Confederates.

1:12:05

For now, he [music] is content to have

1:12:06

recovered Union camps lost the previous

1:12:08

day.

1:12:16

The Confederates endure a bitter 20-mile

1:12:18

march back to Corinth, Mississippi.

1:12:22

There they'll dig in to [music] defend

1:12:24

the town's vital rail junction.

1:12:31

After Shiloh [music]

1:12:32

laments one New Orleans resident,

1:12:35

the South never smiled again. [music]

1:12:40

Shiloh illustrates

1:12:43

that the war is [music] here

1:12:47

and it's deadly.

1:12:52

They're going to have to invest

1:12:53

everything into the war to win their

1:12:56

cause. [music]

1:13:05

How could anyone smile

1:13:07

with [music] that vision of the future?

1:13:13

[music]

1:13:25

For the next few days,

1:13:28

Union soldiers undertake the gruesome

1:13:30

task of burying the dead.

1:13:35

Even the hardbitten General Sherman is

1:13:38

moved.

1:13:41

The battlefield was a heartsickening

1:13:43

sight.

1:13:46

The dead were lying in every conceivable

1:13:48

shape.

1:13:52

Some had fallen, their guns fast in

1:13:54

their hands.

1:13:58

Others had received the messenger of

1:14:00

death

1:14:02

and with their life blood ebbing away

1:14:05

had sought the shelters of logs and

1:14:07

trees

1:14:10

and laid down to die.

1:14:25

It's impossible, I think, for us to

1:14:27

imagine what it must have looked like.

1:14:32

The smell is awful.

1:14:36

There are burial details every place.

1:14:39

And maybe the biggest horror of all is

1:14:43

as the Union Army is trying to

1:14:46

reorganize itself and wagons are going

1:14:48

back and forth across the battlefield,

1:14:51

they will the wheels of the wagons will

1:14:53

will dig up shallow graves and you will

1:14:57

see corpses lying there being run over

1:15:01

by wagons and by horses. What a horrible

1:15:04

thing. You have to think to yourself, is

1:15:06

this what's going to happen to me?

1:15:12

At Shiloh, the total casualties,

1:15:17

a staggering 24,000 men.

1:15:25

A single battle claims more casualties

1:15:28

than all of America's previous wars

1:15:31

combined.

1:15:39

They did arithmetic. All of a sudden

1:15:41

they could realize hell that's more

1:15:42

people lost in two days

1:15:45

than we've lost in all the wars we

1:15:47

fought to date.

1:15:51

That's becomes apparent [music] to

1:15:53

everyone. Golly,

1:15:55

in two days

1:15:58

we've amassed,

1:16:00

you know, the same amount of killed,

1:16:02

wounded, and missing personnel in our

1:16:04

military bodies as we've accomplished

1:16:06

[music] in nearly a century of

1:16:08

existence.

1:16:10

Uh, that's shocking.

1:16:15

You think about the connections of that

1:16:18

24,000.

1:16:20

This begins to affect homes. It affects

1:16:22

communities. It affects

1:16:25

loved ones, friends.

1:16:28

Entire communities end up having a bad

1:16:30

day because a sizable prepoundonderance

1:16:33

of their young men 18 to 29 are gone.

1:16:39

They're no longer or they're totally

1:16:42

torn to pieces and maimed for life. And

1:16:45

it's just reverberates.

1:16:48

The great battle General Grant and

1:16:50

others hoped would end the war is in

1:16:53

fact just the beginning of a brutal war

1:16:57

no one could have imagined.

1:17:02

When the battle began, John Cocherel was

1:17:05

a young musician.

1:17:07

Now in the aftermath of Bloody Shiloh,

1:17:11

the 16-year-old Cocharel is a combat

1:17:14

veteran.

1:17:17

Near dusk, He wanders through the

1:17:19

ransacked camp of the 70th Ohio.

1:17:26

The last place he saw his father alive.

1:17:34

Through the haze is a sight Cochel can

1:17:36

hardly believe.

1:17:42

The 70th regiment came back after the

1:17:44

most terrible fighting and campaigning.

1:17:48

At its head rode my father, whom I

1:17:51

supposed to be dead.

1:17:55

He was pale, haggarded, and worn,

1:17:57

[music] but unscathed.

1:18:00

My father had not seen me, nor heard

1:18:02

from me for more than 60 hours.

1:18:06

[music]

1:18:13

[music]

1:18:16

He took me into his arms and gave me the

1:18:19

most affectionate embrace my life had

1:18:22

ever [music] known.

1:18:27

7 months after Shiloh, John Cocherel

1:18:30

returned to the Ohio home he dreamed of

1:18:33

during the battle.

1:18:36

He would become an accomplished

1:18:37

journalist, writing for the Cincinnati

1:18:40

Inquirer and the Washington Post.

1:18:44

Years later, he would write about 2 days

1:18:47

in April 1862

1:18:50

when the world appeared to turn upside

1:18:52

down in the thick woods along the

1:18:55

Tennessee River.

1:19:06

Two weeks after their defeat at Shiloh,

1:19:08

the Confederacy suffers another blow in

1:19:11

the West.

1:19:12

A fleet of Union warships under the

1:19:15

command of Admiral David Farragut

1:19:17

captures New Orleans, the South's

1:19:20

largest city and most important port.

1:19:24

And for [music] Confederate troops over

1:19:25

a thousand miles away in Virginia, the

1:19:28

war effort begins to falter.

1:19:40

Union General George [music] Mlen,

1:19:42

nicknamed Little Napoleon,

1:19:45

has a bold plan to take the Confederate

1:19:47

capital of Richmond, Virginia. In March

1:19:50

1862,

1:19:52

Mlelen landed [music] more than 100,000

1:19:54

troops at Fort Monroe and begins to

1:19:57

fight his way up the peninsula towards

1:20:00

Richmond.

1:20:01

At Seven Pines, Confederate commander

1:20:04

[music] Joseph Johnston is severely

1:20:06

wounded and replaced with a rising star

1:20:09

named Robert E. Lee.

1:20:13

4 months after it began, Lincoln orders

1:20:16

Mlelen to return his army to Washington.

1:20:19

For the Union, the Peninsula campaign is

1:20:23

a military disappointment.

1:20:27

Yet, it was a seemingly minor incident a

1:20:30

year earlier on the tip of the very same

1:20:32

Virginia peninsula that ignites a

1:20:35

sweeping chain of events that would

1:20:37

alter the course of the war.

1:20:41

[music]

1:20:42

May 1861,

1:20:45

three runaway slaves row a stolen boat

1:20:49

and surrender to the Union occupied Fort

1:20:51

Monroe.

1:20:54

Their arrival creates a legal dilemma

1:20:56

for the fort's commander and for the

1:20:58

United States Army.

1:21:01

President Abraham Lincoln refuses to

1:21:03

recognize the Confederate [music]

1:21:05

government. He considers the southern

1:21:07

states to be in rebellion.

1:21:10

Therefore, federal law still applies in

1:21:13

the South.

1:21:15

Legally, the escaped slaves are the

1:21:17

property of their southern owner and

1:21:19

must be returned.

1:21:21

The fugitive slave law of 1850 is still

1:21:23

on the books. It's still the law of the

1:21:26

land. And strictly speaking, the United

1:21:29

States Army is obligated to live up to

1:21:32

the tenants of the fugitive slave law.

1:21:34

Those soldiers are after all obliged to

1:21:38

enforce the law.

1:21:40

The next day, a Confederate officer

1:21:43

under a flag of truce, arrives at Fort

1:21:45

Monroe and demands the property back.

1:21:50

The Union fort's commander, General

1:21:53

Benjamin Franklin Butler, quickly

1:21:55

rejects the request.

1:21:59

The runaways had earlier revealed that

1:22:01

they were going to help construct

1:22:03

Confederate gun imp placements. Guns to

1:22:06

be aimed directly at Fort Monroe. Butler

1:22:10

curtly dismisses the Confederate

1:22:12

officer, calling the escaped slaves

1:22:15

contrabands of war. Contraband means uh

1:22:20

property. And so there's this legal term

1:22:23

that enters the lexicon and it is lashed

1:22:26

on to and used throughout the end of the

1:22:28

Civil War.

1:22:31

And what Butler's thinking is that they

1:22:35

are still property, but they are enemy

1:22:37

property and therefore it is lawful in a

1:22:40

time of war for the Union to seize them.

1:22:43

So he justifies allowing these slaves to

1:22:46

stay in Union Army lines as contraband.

1:22:53

And within a few days [music] he had 200

1:22:56

uh fugitive slaves at the fort door and

1:22:59

he took them all in confiscating [music]

1:23:02

them as contraband of war. He realized

1:23:04

by taking this this source of labor, the

1:23:06

source of aid that it would [ __ ] the

1:23:08

Confederacy.

1:23:09

[music]

1:23:10

In Washington DC, President Lincoln and

1:23:13

his cabinet follow the unfolding [music]

1:23:15

drama.

1:23:16

He takes no formal action.

1:23:19

for now.

1:23:22

It took the Union [music] Army by

1:23:23

surprise and it took the Union um

1:23:26

government by surprise. It took [music]

1:23:28

Lincoln by surprise. They were not

1:23:31

expecting this. They did not plan for

1:23:33

it. They had not encouraged it. They had

1:23:36

not put out a [music] welcome mat for

1:23:38

the enslaved to come into Union Army

1:23:40

lines, but they came anyway.

1:23:44

Although Lincoln was not going to

1:23:45

encourage people overtly to break the

1:23:48

law, he certainly was [music] not going

1:23:50

to see slaves who did run away returned

1:23:53

to their slavery, to their bonds, to

1:23:56

their cattle status. [music]

1:23:58

To the contrary, he said, I'd be damned

1:24:00

in time and eternity if I ever allowed

1:24:03

that [music] to happen. slaves. He said

1:24:05

to Congress, "Slaves who have achieved

1:24:08

their actual freedom are not going to be

1:24:11

molested in that." [music] That was as

1:24:13

much as waving a very large flag that

1:24:16

said, "Come hither and find safety."

1:24:23

The news of the contrabands at Fort

1:24:25

Monroe quickly spreads throughout the

1:24:27

Union.

1:24:30

The news also spreads among the enslaved

1:24:33

themselves.

1:24:35

What powers the need for freedom for

1:24:38

enslaved people is they don't want to be

1:24:42

degraded anymore. They don't want to be

1:24:44

brutalized anymore. They don't want to

1:24:46

exist as property.

1:24:52

So all of a sudden you have

1:24:55

government officials, you have military

1:24:58

officers who are confronted with the

1:25:00

fact that we have to take black concerns

1:25:04

seriously.

1:25:07

At this point now, you have growing

1:25:08

refugee camps uh within Union lines and

1:25:11

in all of the border states.

1:25:15

They don't wait for Lincoln to free

1:25:18

them. They are agents in their own

1:25:21

emancipation.

1:25:28

Lincoln hoped at the beginning of the

1:25:30

war to keep the opposition to slavery

1:25:34

and [music] the restoration of the Union

1:25:36

running on two separate but parallel

1:25:39

tracks.

1:25:41

One problem, the problem of the

1:25:42

rebellion, he wanted to solve

1:25:43

militarily. The other problem, the

1:25:46

problem of slavery, he wanted to solve

1:25:47

politically. What he found though a year

1:25:50

into the war was that these two tracks,

1:25:53

as much as he was trying to keep them

1:25:54

separate, insisted on converging.

1:25:57

The contraband [music] issue triggers a

1:25:59

fundamental question.

1:26:01

Are the contraband still slaves

1:26:06

or are they now free?

1:26:11

There is a dynamic, a collision of

1:26:14

people on the ground, slaves running to

1:26:18

Union armies, Union armies, not knowing

1:26:20

how to handle this problem, but knowing

1:26:22

that if they sent those slaves back,

1:26:23

that they simply would be abetting the

1:26:26

Confederate war effort. That step that

1:26:28

slaves took toward Union lines, it

1:26:31

triggers a process.

1:26:34

Congress [music] passes a series of

1:26:35

largely ineffective laws called the

1:26:38

Confiscation Acts. It is legislation the

1:26:41

president opposes. [music] Lincoln's own

1:26:44

views on abolishing slavery continue to

1:26:46

evolve. Early in the war, he favors a

1:26:50

plan to remove freed slaves [music] to a

1:26:52

colony outside of the United States.

1:26:55

In summer 1862,

1:26:57

he writes to newspaper editor Horus

1:26:59

Gley. [music]

1:27:02

Lincoln says, "If I could save the Union

1:27:05

without freeing any slave, I would do

1:27:07

[music] it."

1:27:09

And yet, that very summer, in a secluded

1:27:12

cottage on a hill overlooking

1:27:13

Washington,

1:27:15

Lincoln begins [music] to pen a document

1:27:18

that will do exactly that.

1:27:21

And it's in the aftermath of the [music]

1:27:22

Peninsula campaign that Lincoln realizes

1:27:26

that they need to move toward a policy

1:27:28

that wages war not just on [music] the

1:27:30

Confederate army but on Confederate

1:27:32

society. And the first step in that

1:27:34

direction, [music] he decides, is to

1:27:37

begin emancipating the slaves.

1:27:41

[music] In the wake of a string of

1:27:42

devastating defeats on the eastern

1:27:44

theater, Lincoln now sees emancipation

1:27:47

as a military necessity.

1:27:50

He says, [music] "We must free the

1:27:52

slaves or be ourselves subdued."

1:27:58

Lincoln's coming action will test the

1:28:00

constitutional limits of the office of

1:28:02

the presidency.

1:28:05

The Constitution provides that the

1:28:08

president of the United States be the

1:28:09

commander-in-chief

1:28:12

in time of war or rebellion, but it

1:28:15

doesn't describe what the powers of the

1:28:17

commander-in-chief are.

1:28:19

I mean, what is it to be a

1:28:20

commander-in-chief? No one was really

1:28:23

sure within those war powers. What is he

1:28:25

allowed to do? Well, he should be

1:28:28

allowed to do some things which will

1:28:30

[ __ ] the enemy's ability to carry on

1:28:33

war. What will [ __ ] the Confederacy's

1:28:36

ability to carry on war? Free their

1:28:39

slaves. Free them. Give them every

1:28:42

incentive possible to desert and run

1:28:44

away to the Union lines. Give them every

1:28:46

reason to expect that the advance of the

1:28:48

Union armies into the South will mean

1:28:51

their freedom, subvert, undermine,

1:28:55

weaken the Confederate ability to carry

1:28:57

on the rebellion.

1:29:00

To his stunned cabinet, Lincoln unveils

1:29:03

a preliminary emancipation proclamation

1:29:06

on July 22nd, 1862.

1:29:11

Secretary [music] of Treasury Salmon

1:29:12

Chase thinks it's too extreme.

1:29:16

Secretary of Interior Caleb Smith

1:29:18

strongly objects and threatens to

1:29:20

resign.

1:29:22

Postmaster General Montgomery Blair

1:29:25

fears it will cost the Republicans the

1:29:27

full elections.

1:29:28

Lincoln [music] pushes to release his

1:29:30

proclamation immediately,

1:29:32

but Secretary of State William [music]

1:29:34

Seard cautions the proclamation will be

1:29:37

perceived as an act of desperation

1:29:39

[music] in the aftermath of the failed

1:29:41

peninsula campaign.

1:29:43

So, the president agrees to hold the

1:29:45

announcement until after a federal

1:29:47

victory on the battlefield.

1:30:15

The slaughter at Antidum is hardly the

1:30:18

decisive victory Lincoln desired.

1:30:21

On September 17th, 1862,

1:30:24

along Antidum Creek near Sharpsburg,

1:30:27

Maryland,

1:30:29

more than 22,000 Union and Confederate

1:30:31

soldiers are killed, wounded, or

1:30:34

missing.

1:30:37

That's nearly as many casualties as

1:30:39

there were in two days of fighting at

1:30:41

Shiloh.

1:30:44

The Battle of [music] Antidum ranks as

1:30:46

the bloodiest day in American military

1:30:48

history.

1:30:52

Because the Confederates are forced to

1:30:54

[music] retreat into Virginia, the Union

1:30:56

claims victory, but tactically the

1:31:00

battle is a draw.

1:31:05

5 days after Antidum on September 22nd,

1:31:08

[music] 1862,

1:31:10

Lincoln issues what he calls a

1:31:12

preliminary emancipation proclamation.

1:31:17

The presidential order is a threat

1:31:19

pointed directly at the Confederacy.

1:31:23

The rebelling [music] states have until

1:31:25

January 1st to cease hostilities or else

1:31:29

on that date slaves in the rebelling

1:31:32

states [music] will be forever free.

1:31:36

Delivering the preliminary emancipation

1:31:39

proclamation was a revolutionary moment.

1:31:42

It was a terrific blow against the

1:31:45

Confederacy

1:31:47

for white southerners. When Lincoln

1:31:49

issued it after the Battle of Antidum,

1:31:53

they recognized that this war for Union

1:31:56

now was a war for Union and the

1:31:59

destruction of slavery. The North had

1:32:02

now raised the stakes of the game. No

1:32:05

longer just a war for Union, but a war

1:32:07

for Union and for black freedom.

1:32:11

That turned a war of consiliation into a

1:32:14

revolutionary struggle.

1:32:24

The Confederates turned the proclamation

1:32:26

into a rallying point.

1:32:30

800 m from Washington in the woodlands

1:32:33

outside of Corinth, Mississippi. They

1:32:36

are determined to avenge the losses at

1:32:38

Shiloh.

1:32:41

Following their victory at Shiloh, Union

1:32:43

forces had advanced 22 mi south to

1:32:46

Corinth and seized its prized railroad

1:32:49

junction. For more than 4 months, a

1:32:52

large garrison has occupied [music] the

1:32:54

strategic town. But in October 1862,

1:32:58

the Confederates are determined to take

1:33:00

[music] Corinth back.

1:33:05

22,000 Confederate soldiers led by Major

1:33:09

General Earl Van Dornne storm through

1:33:12

the Union defenses northwest of town,

1:33:14

pushing the Federals back nearly 2

1:33:16

miles.

1:33:19

The next day, Union artillery delivers a

1:33:21

punishing blow to Van Dorne's men. After

1:33:25

a savage two-day fight, the Confederate

1:33:27

attack is repulsed.

1:33:31

Corinth once and for all is under Union

1:33:35

control.

1:33:38

The desperate gamble to retake Corinth

1:33:40

costs the Confederates over 5,000

1:33:43

casualties,

1:33:45

nearly twice that of the Union

1:33:46

defenders.

1:33:50

One Confederate division alone loses

1:33:53

2500 out of 3,900 of its men.

1:33:59

Just as devastating as the loss of human

1:34:01

life is the permanent loss of the vital

1:34:03

rail junction

1:34:07

in the fight for control of the

1:34:08

Mississippi Valley. It is a blow from

1:34:11

which the Confederacy will never

1:34:13

recover.

1:34:17

Still,

1:34:23

[singing and music]

1:34:27

the timing of the Union victory at

1:34:29

Corenth and Lincoln's preliminary

1:34:31

emancipation proclamation unleashes a

1:34:34

movement throughout the Mississippi

1:34:36

River Valley.

1:34:39

[singing]

1:34:42

[music]

1:34:45

3 months before emancipation is

1:34:46

official, thousands escape plantations

1:34:49

and farms,

1:34:51

taking their first precarious steps

1:34:53

toward freedom.

1:34:56

[singing]

1:34:57

[music]

1:35:01

One Union officer complains, "They will

1:35:04

not even wait for January 1st. I do not

1:35:07

know what we shall do with them.

1:35:10

[singing]

1:35:11

For the enslaved, the Union garrison at

1:35:14

Corinth has become a beacon of hope.

1:35:18

[singing]

1:35:20

Corinth is just a short

1:35:24

2 or three days walk from the bread

1:35:27

basket of Mississippi.

1:35:30

There were large plantations and there

1:35:32

were large farms and a significant

1:35:33

number of slaves. Same is true along the

1:35:36

Tennessee River Basin in northern

1:35:38

Alabama. There's a significantly large

1:35:40

number of slaves. It's a sizable

1:35:43

prepoundonderance of of slaves present.

1:35:46

Therefore, they're in close proximity to

1:35:48

what the lynch pin of Union control in

1:35:50

northeast Mississippi, which is Corinth,

1:35:53

once it falls and is occupied by Union

1:35:56

forces.

1:36:06

In the years leading up to the war,

1:36:08

small bands of escaping slaves sought

1:36:10

freedom along an underground railroad

1:36:13

leading north.

1:36:20

But this mass movement towards Corinth

1:36:22

and other areas in the south is unlike

1:36:25

anything before.

1:36:28

Before the war, we tended to see men

1:36:31

running on their own. We did not see

1:36:34

whole families. We did not see couples

1:36:37

[clears throat] bringing their children.

1:36:39

This time around, they did because they

1:36:42

calculated in their minds that this was

1:36:45

the [music] moment when freedom was

1:36:46

going to come. So, this was the moment

1:36:49

to get the entire family out of slavery

1:36:52

[music]

1:36:53

because it was actually going to happen

1:36:55

this time.

1:36:57

[music]

1:36:58

By war's end, some 500,000 to 1 million

1:37:02

of the South's 4 million slaves will

1:37:05

have escaped to Union lines.

1:37:10

The very presence of a contraband camp,

1:37:13

I think, speaks to the testimony of

1:37:17

black people's ability to create power

1:37:21

even in the most powerless situation.

1:37:26

The Union [music] garrison in Corinth is

1:37:29

in fact illequipped to deal with the

1:37:31

thousands of refugees.

1:37:35

For many soldiers, it is the first time

1:37:38

they come face to face with the sheer

1:37:40

magnitude of the institution of slavery.

1:37:44

I mean, if you grew up in Michigan, you

1:37:46

had a good chance you had never seen an

1:37:47

African-American

1:37:50

ever.

1:37:51

If you grew up in Iowa, you had a real

1:37:53

good chance you'd never seen an

1:37:55

African-American ever in your entire

1:37:58

life.

1:37:59

Then you start you start experiencing it

1:38:04

and you seeing the conditions in which

1:38:07

they exist within this society.

1:38:15

For temporary shelter, the Union Army

1:38:18

issues the contraband's old army tents.

1:38:21

But at Corinth, the former slaves are

1:38:23

determined to transform a refugee camp

1:38:26

into a community.

1:38:29

They lay out streets, build a church,

1:38:32

hospital, and school.

1:38:35

They plant and harvest crops. Most

1:38:38

importantly,

1:38:40

they plant seeds of hope.

1:38:43

We've escaped. So now let us do what we

1:38:45

have always been trained to do. We will

1:38:47

set up our own camps. We will live in

1:38:50

these spaces. We will grow food. We will

1:38:53

try to heal each other. We will try to

1:38:56

live out some semblance of life as free

1:38:59

people or at least quasi free people.

1:39:02

And so they did what they had always

1:39:05

done. They served each other. They

1:39:07

served white people because that's what

1:39:09

slaves are trained to do.

1:39:12

except they now for the first time are

1:39:15

paid for their labor. It is just part of

1:39:18

the transition from slave to freed men

1:39:21

and women.

1:39:23

Do you know any words that start with I?

1:39:26

In the south, it is illegal to teach

1:39:29

slaves how to read and write.

1:39:33

At Corinth,

1:39:34

volunteers from the American Missionary

1:39:36

Association arrive to instruct the

1:39:39

refugees. They do this because they

1:39:41

recognize that freedom is not going to

1:39:45

mean much until these men, women, and

1:39:48

children learn to read and write and are

1:39:51

educated. And so this becomes a focus of

1:39:54

life there in this Corinth contraband

1:39:57

camp. And the numbers increase. By March

1:40:01

1863,

1:40:03

there are about 3,600

1:40:05

men, women, and children there. Almost

1:40:07

half of them are children.

1:40:10

In just a few months, Corinth becomes a

1:40:12

model contraband camp in the Union

1:40:14

occupied south.

1:40:17

But the success is short-lived.

1:40:22

Inevitably,

1:40:24

the Union force at Corinth [music] is

1:40:25

ordered to move on

1:40:29

and so are the contrabands.

1:40:34

They are forced to leave the community

1:40:36

they had helped to build.

1:40:41

and travel 100 miles to a refugee center

1:40:45

in Memphis.

1:40:48

And that's the end [music] of the

1:40:50

Corinth contraband camp. It disappears.

1:40:52

It's done. So, its life is short. It has

1:40:56

a lot of hope and a lot of promise, but

1:40:59

it is blown away in some ways by the

1:41:02

military, the changes in the military

1:41:04

situation. [music] And in some ways that

1:41:06

really is representative of what happens

1:41:08

in a lot of places and tells us

1:41:11

something about what it means to become

1:41:13

free in the middle of a war. The

1:41:16

military situation [music] is constantly

1:41:18

creating upheavalss in the lives of

1:41:21

these men, women, and children trying to

1:41:23

become free. So the story of Corinth is

1:41:25

in some ways the story of what happens

1:41:27

everywhere.

1:41:33

The Corinth Contraband camp was at once

1:41:36

a glimpse into a life of freedom

1:41:40

and a harbinger of the struggles ahead.

1:41:44

Its brief success is a glimmer of hope

1:41:46

in a year [music] that has seen North

1:41:48

and South spiral into an abyss of hard

1:41:51

war. [music]

1:42:04

In December at Fredericksburg, Virginia,

1:42:07

is still another colossal blunder by a

1:42:09

Union general.

1:42:11

This time, Ambrose Burnside.

1:42:15

In a series of ill-advised frontal

1:42:17

assaults, Burnside's men are slaughtered

1:42:20

by Roberty Lee's Confederates positioned

1:42:23

along the heights above the town.

1:42:26

One Confederate at Fredericksburg stated

1:42:29

the charging Federals melted like snow

1:42:32

coming down on a warm ground.

1:42:35

The Union debacle at Fredericksburg

1:42:38

results in 12,000 [music] senseless

1:42:40

casualties.

1:42:44

2 weeks later in the Western Theater is

1:42:47

another Titanic battle. This one near

1:42:50

the Tennessee town of Murreey'sboro.

1:42:54

Along the Stones River on the final day

1:42:57

of 1862,

1:42:59

Union and Confederate forces square off

1:43:01

for control of Middle Tennessee.

1:43:05

For 2 days, the massive armies collide

1:43:08

at places aptly named Hell's Halfacre

1:43:11

and the Slaughter Pen.

1:43:14

Union forces led by General William Rose

1:43:17

Cray force the Confederate [music] army

1:43:20

to retreat.

1:43:22

It is a victory Lincoln desperately

1:43:24

needs,

1:43:26

but the cost in human lives is

1:43:28

staggering.

1:43:31

At the Battle of Stones River, Union and

1:43:34

Confederate armies lose a stunning

1:43:36

[music] 31% of their men.

1:43:42

The casualties exceed even those of

1:43:44

Bloody Shiloh.

1:43:48

The shocking death tolls are another

1:43:50

nightmare to a public now growing numb

1:43:52

to the bloodbaths of the Civil War.

1:43:58

Lincoln says, "If there is a worse place

1:44:01

than hell,

1:44:03

I am in it."

1:44:08

went through

1:44:10

fiery trials.

1:44:14

In the dying light of 1862,

1:44:19

America's fiery trial now seems to be a

1:44:22

war

1:44:24

without end.

1:44:26

The flame

1:44:28

shall not hurt thee.

1:44:32

I won't be designs

1:44:39

to consume

1:44:42

and I go to find

1:44:59

when Lincoln issued the Emancipation

1:45:01

proclamation. It's hardly an inspiring

1:45:03

document, but there are two words in

1:45:06

that document,

1:45:08

forever free.

1:45:11

And those two words, they set in motion

1:45:14

a chain of revolutionary events. The

1:45:17

people at the time, northerners and

1:45:19

southerners, they understood that the

1:45:21

stakes of the game had been raised and

1:45:24

that this would be a death match to the

1:45:26

finish. Everything's hanging in the

1:45:29

balance.

1:45:33

[music]

1:45:39

[music]

1:45:43

[bell]

1:45:45

It is a date abolitionist Frederick

1:45:47

Douglas Cole's greater than July 4th,

1:45:50

1776. [music]

1:45:53

In midafter afternoon on the first day

1:45:55

of 1863,

1:45:57

President Abraham Lincoln has just

1:46:00

penned his name to the Emancipation

1:46:03

Proclamation.

1:46:06

With his signature,

1:46:08

Lincoln [music] proclaims more than 3

1:46:11

million slaves in the rebelling states

1:46:14

[music] to be forever free.

1:46:20

When Lincoln [music] issued the

1:46:21

Emancipation Proclamation, he now

1:46:24

fundamentally brought together the cause

1:46:26

of union and the cause of ending

1:46:28

slavery. [music]

1:46:29

These two causes that he had not fused

1:46:31

at the beginning of the war now came

1:46:33

together. And so what this meant for the

1:46:36

North and for these northern soldiers

1:46:38

that when they said they were fighting

1:46:40

for the Union, they are now fighting to

1:46:42

end slavery. So the meaning of the war

1:46:45

changed in a pretty dramatic way.

1:46:53

[cheering]

1:46:54

Lincoln's signature is a history-making

1:46:56

exclamation point to nearly 2 years of

1:46:59

civil war. When the war began,

1:47:04

Americans in the North and South

1:47:07

believed it could be decided by a single

1:47:09

grand battle.

1:47:11

By the end of 1862,

1:47:14

it seemed as if the very gates of hell

1:47:16

had been pried open.

1:47:22

The battle casualties were numbers no

1:47:24

American, north or south, could ever

1:47:27

have imagined.

1:47:30

A two-day battle in western Tennessee

1:47:32

[music] in a place known as Shiloh left

1:47:35

more than 24,000 killed, wounded, or

1:47:38

missing. In Maryland, the Battle of

1:47:41

Antidum yielded 22,000 casualties to

1:47:45

both armies in a single day.

1:47:52

[music]

1:48:00

The enslaved have been seizing their own

1:48:02

destiny.

1:48:04

Thousands of men, women, and children

1:48:07

have already escaped from plantations

1:48:09

and have found refuge with Union forces.

1:48:13

[singing]

1:48:18

By law, the escaping slaves were still

1:48:20

the legal property of their southern

1:48:22

owners. Their actions in the midst of a

1:48:25

rebellion have forced the US government

1:48:28

to revisit a fundamental question.

1:48:31

Were the escaping slaves free?

1:48:35

The simple fact that slaves have fled

1:48:38

and slaves have been protected

1:48:40

in essence taken in as contrabands of

1:48:43

war has altered the shape of things

1:48:45

because we have a fugitive slave act

1:48:47

that says by law they're supposed to be

1:48:48

returned to their rifle owners. And that

1:48:52

of course had been challenged in the

1:48:53

Supreme Court. And guess what? The court

1:48:56

of land said the law is the law.

1:49:00

So here the wars altered that the wall

1:49:02

the war has said the law don't mean

1:49:04

squat.

1:49:06

And it says

1:49:10

that on first day of January in the year

1:49:14

of our Lord 1,863

1:49:19

all persons held as slaves.

1:49:22

Word of the Emancipation Proclamation

1:49:24

spreads among the over 3 million people

1:49:26

in bondage.

1:49:28

The news is met with a combination of

1:49:31

joy, relief,

1:49:34

and trepidation.

1:49:37

My brothers and sisters, do you realize

1:49:40

what that means?

1:49:42

We free.

1:49:44

We free.

1:49:46

So they were they were happy but

1:49:48

cautiously optimistic.

1:49:50

Signed Abraham Lincoln in Washington DC.

1:49:55

At least they knew that the Emancipation

1:49:57

Proclamation

1:49:59

symbolized the promise of freedom, that

1:50:02

there was now hope because their own

1:50:04

needs were legitimized by the president

1:50:07

of the United States.

1:50:13

And yet Lincoln's proclamation only

1:50:17

applies to slaves within the rebelling

1:50:19

states.

1:50:22

Here's one for mama.

1:50:25

Under the proclamation, [music] some

1:50:28

800,000 remain enslaved in four border

1:50:31

states and [music] areas in the south

1:50:34

under Union control.

1:50:37

Lincoln's birth state of Kentucky alone

1:50:39

has a [music] quarter of a million

1:50:40

slaves within its borders.

1:50:47

Kentucky,

1:50:48

Delaware, Maryland, and Missouri are

1:50:52

slave states that have reluctantly

1:50:54

remained loyal to the Union.

1:50:57

Since the war began, one of Lincoln's

1:50:59

greatest fears has been losing the

1:51:01

border states to the Confederacy.

1:51:06

Lincoln is reputed to say, "I hope to

1:51:09

have God on my side,

1:51:12

but I must also have Kentucky.

1:51:21

What are you What are you doing sitting

1:51:22

on the ground?"

1:51:24

In truth, the Emancipation Proclamation

1:51:27

does not immediately free those still

1:51:29

enslaved in the Confederacy. [music]

1:51:31

Tired, huh?

1:51:32

You're tired. You're tired. Don't you

1:51:35

think I'm tired standing out [music] in

1:51:37

this field all day?

1:51:39

For Emma Stevenson and millions of

1:51:41

others,

1:51:42

1863 will be just another year of hard

1:51:46

labor, drudgery, and humiliation.

1:51:49

[music]

1:51:51

What you doing in my way, boy? Get up

1:51:53

off. [music]

1:51:54

Lincoln's proclamation is an empty

1:51:57

promise without the power of the United

1:51:59

States Army to [music] enforce it.

1:52:03

Well, the reaction of the South would be

1:52:05

initially one of, oh, this is desperate

1:52:08

major. It's laughable.

1:52:10

What do you mean that you're freeing the

1:52:12

slaves that we have?

1:52:15

You know, cuz you're not freeing

1:52:17

anything. They're still our slaves.

1:52:20

Uh, and you know, and as long as we

1:52:22

resist and your armies aren't present,

1:52:26

they're still slaves. So, in that sense,

1:52:29

it was viewed as a desperation.

1:52:35

For many in the North, [music] Lincoln

1:52:37

included, the situation in early 1863 is

1:52:41

one of desperation.

1:52:44

We must change our tactics [music]

1:52:46

or lose the game. Lincoln says

1:52:50

the president publicly positions the

1:52:52

Emancipation Proclamation as a war

1:52:55

measure to reunify [music]

1:52:57

the nation.

1:53:00

He also believes it's an act of justice.

1:53:03

He could not satisfy the constitutional

1:53:07

debate or [music] criticism or concerns

1:53:09

about emancipation by simply saying it's

1:53:11

morally right. He had to have a

1:53:13

constitutional argument. And the

1:53:16

argument in his mind becomes that this

1:53:18

is a military necessity.

1:53:21

and northerners as they saw this, it

1:53:23

began to dawn on them that the use of

1:53:26

slavery as a Confederate military asset

1:53:29

was what was prolonging and supporting

1:53:31

the Confederate effort to destroy the

1:53:33

Union. So for northern imaginations,

1:53:36

this business of slavery and rebellion

1:53:38

also began to converge.

1:53:41

And eventually, northerners were

1:53:42

beginning to be persuaded that if they

1:53:44

were going to restore the Union, they

1:53:46

would have to pull up slavery by the

1:53:49

roots because slavery was what was

1:53:51

nourishing rebellion.

1:53:54

The Emancipation Proclamation does more

1:53:57

than make people free. It gives all

1:54:00

black men the freedom to fight.

1:54:05

One of the greatest articles in the

1:54:06

Emancipation Proclamation is the one

1:54:09

that allows African-American men to

1:54:11

enlist in the United States Army. At

1:54:14

this point now, not only are you only

1:54:15

taking the aid, the labor that aids the

1:54:18

Confederate cause, but you're enlisting

1:54:20

that labor in [music] the armed forces

1:54:22

to be used against the Confederacy.

1:54:27

[singing]

1:54:32

Over the next two years of the war, some

1:54:35

200,000 African-Ameans will enlist in

1:54:39

the army and navy. [cheering]

1:54:42

[singing]

1:54:44

In the eyes of skeptical northerners,

1:54:46

these new soldiers must prove they can

1:54:49

kill before they are considered men.

1:54:52

to let [singing] my people.

1:54:56

[music]

1:54:58

The war effort and the enlistment of

1:55:01

black men into the war is so vital

1:55:03

because black men now have the

1:55:05

opportunity to not just say we're men,

1:55:08

but to prove their manhood.

1:55:15

And so now African-Amean men can wear

1:55:18

uniforms. they can work alongside white

1:55:23

men.

1:55:25

[singing and music]

1:55:29

And also, this is a way for Africanamean

1:55:32

men to show how you can live out and

1:55:36

perform freedom. This is how it looks to

1:55:40

be free.

1:55:42

[singing]

1:55:45

Ready. [music]

1:55:50

[music]

1:56:01

Aim.

1:56:02

FIRE.

1:56:05

Freedom to the newly emancipated

1:56:08

ultimately depends on Union victory.

1:56:13

In the spring of 1863,

1:56:16

the Union hopes to reverse a series of

1:56:18

stunning defeats at the hands of General

1:56:20

Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern

1:56:23

Virginia.

1:56:28

In spring, the Union Army of the PTOAC,

1:56:32

now commanded by Joseph Hooker, readies

1:56:35

to avenge the humiliating defeat to Lee

1:56:38

at Fredericksburg, Virginia.

1:56:40

Hooker's bold plan is to lure Lee out of

1:56:43

his defenses at Fredericksburg, then

1:56:46

destroy his Confederate army.

1:56:48

Just before the battle, Hooker boasts,

1:56:51

"May God have mercy on General Lee, for

1:56:55

I will have none."

1:57:02

About 10 miles west of Frederick'sburg

1:57:05

at a wilderness crossroads named

1:57:08

Chancellor'sville,

1:57:10

Hooker's bravado quickly fades.

1:57:14

The Battle of Chancellor'sville in May

1:57:17

1863

1:57:19

is yet another Union failure in the

1:57:22

Eastern Theater.

1:57:25

Though outnumbered 2 to1, Lee once again

1:57:28

outgenerals his Union counterpart.

1:57:32

Many consider Chancellorsville Lee's

1:57:34

greatest triumph. [music]

1:57:38

But the Confederate victory comes with a

1:57:40

heavy price.

1:57:42

Lee's most trusted lieutenant, Stonewall

1:57:44

[music] Jackson, is mortally wounded

1:57:47

from a bullet fired by one of his own

1:57:49

men.

1:57:56

With [music] nation's eyes on the fight

1:57:58

in Virginia, few in America are aware of

1:58:01

the unfolding drama emerging in the

1:58:04

West.

1:58:07

The lands between the Appalachians

1:58:08

[music]

1:58:09

and the Mississippi River.

1:58:16

Victories in Tennessee, at Shiloh,

1:58:21

and at Corinth in northern Mississippi

1:58:24

have Union forces poised to capture what

1:58:27

many consider [music] to be the biggest

1:58:30

prize in the Western campaign.

1:58:35

The Mississippi River is likened to the

1:58:37

trunk of the American tree with limbs

1:58:40

and branches reaching to the Alaganis,

1:58:43

[music] the Canadian border, and the

1:58:45

Rocky Mountains.

1:58:48

For northern farmers who need to get

1:58:50

their crops to market, the Mississippi

1:58:53

is their economic lifeblood.

1:58:56

During the past two years of war, that

1:58:59

lifeblood has been blocked by the

1:59:00

Confederates.

1:59:02

Lincoln had to look at the entire north

1:59:05

and when he looked across the

1:59:06

Appalachians, he saw Ohio, Indiana,

1:59:10

Illinois, Wisconsin, all of them

1:59:13

ultimately dependent on the commercial

1:59:16

traffic of the Mississippi Valley.

1:59:18

[music] When that is stopped up by the

1:59:22

secession of the Confederate states,

1:59:24

then the western states immediately

1:59:26

begin looking to their own self-interest

1:59:28

as the farmers, as the economies of

1:59:30

those states begin to hurt. If they

1:59:32

continue to hurt, if no measures are

1:59:34

taken to reopen the Mississippi Valley,

1:59:37

then the inhabitants of those states are

1:59:40

going to lose any kind of enthusiasm or

1:59:42

heart for the war. They may simply fold

1:59:45

their arms, refuse to cooperate.

1:59:49

[music]

1:59:49

Indiana is one of those states.

1:59:53

Governor Oliver Perry Morton strongly

1:59:56

backs Lincoln, but fears a civil war

1:59:58

within his own divided state.

2:00:02

Morton is convinced Indiana Democrats

2:00:05

will vote to secede [music] unless the

2:00:07

Mississippi River is reopened.

2:00:12

By the spring of 1863,

2:00:15

General Ulissiz S. Grant is determined

2:00:17

to do just that. [music]

2:00:20

Grant's sights are set on Vixsburg,

2:00:23

Mississippi, the most formidable

2:00:25

Confederate stronghold on the

2:00:27

Mississippi River.

2:00:29

The bustling river town [music] has a

2:00:31

population of 4600 and is the second

2:00:34

largest city in Mississippi.

2:00:37

Vixsburg is home to a large [music]

2:00:39

group of immigrants from Ireland,

2:00:41

Germany, and Great Britain. The home of

2:00:44

Confederate President Jefferson Davis is

2:00:46

just 20 m to [music] the south. The

2:00:49

symbol of Vixsburg's importance is the

2:00:52

recently completed Warren County

2:00:54

Courthouse, a magnificent brick

2:00:56

structure constructed using slave labor.

2:01:00

The Union controls the river just north

2:01:02

of [music] Vixsburg and to the south

2:01:05

from Baton Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico,

2:01:08

but Vixsburg guards a critical stretch

2:01:10

of the Mississippi, [music] still under

2:01:12

Confederate control.

2:01:15

Lincoln said, "Vixsburg is the key." He

2:01:17

said, "I've got to have that key in my

2:01:18

pocket." Jefferson Davis said, "Vixsburg

2:01:21

[music] is the nail head that holds the

2:01:23

two halves of the Confederacy together."

2:01:26

If that river falls into Union hands,

2:01:28

the [music] South is split in half. It

2:01:30

loses the father of waters, this this

2:01:33

great channel for for supplies and and

2:01:36

and and food and ammunition. Uh

2:01:39

something that [music] gives blood to

2:01:41

the Confederacy.

2:01:44

Called the Gibralar of the Confederacy,

2:01:47

Vixsburg is perched at top steep bluffs

2:01:50

overlooking a hairpin curve of the

2:01:53

Mississippi.

2:01:55

Batteries protect a river crossing where

2:01:57

cargo essential to the Confederate war

2:01:59

effort is transported to railroads on

2:02:01

either side. They are the only remaining

2:02:05

railroads connecting the western

2:02:07

Confederacy to the east. The

2:02:10

Confederates [music] are prepared to

2:02:11

defend Vixsburg at all costs.

2:02:16

Vixsburg is is so important because of

2:02:19

its geography, I think, and it's

2:02:21

surrounded by swamps.

2:02:25

So, how do you get control of Vixsburg?

2:02:34

Grant's ill-advised plan is to approach

2:02:37

through the swamps from the north.

2:02:43

Grant's subordinate, General William

2:02:45

Tecumsa Sherman, [music] is routed just

2:02:48

north of Vixsburg at Chickasaw Bayou.

2:02:52

[music]

2:02:56

Sherman's repulse is followed by a

2:02:58

series of failed advances by land and

2:03:00

naval forces.

2:03:03

The Union forces battle swamps and bayus

2:03:06

as much as they do the Confederates.

2:03:08

[music]

2:03:11

By April 1863,

2:03:13

Grant is no closer to Vixsburg than he

2:03:15

was 6 months earlier. [music]

2:03:22

Grant's next series of risky moves will

2:03:24

baffle the Confederates and astound even

2:03:27

his own men.

2:03:29

He orders the Union force to march south

2:03:32

through the soggy lands on the Louisiana

2:03:35

side of the river, safe from the big

2:03:37

[music] guns at Vixsburg.

2:03:40

Next, the Union forces do the

2:03:43

unthinkable. [music]

2:03:49

During a moonless night on the evening

2:03:51

of April 16th,

2:03:54

a fleet of Union ironclad warships and

2:03:57

unarmored transports led by David Dixon

2:04:00

Porter

2:04:02

attempts to sneak by the Confederate

2:04:04

defenses at Vixsburg.

2:04:07

As the batteries roar,

2:04:10

the Union ships run the gauntlet.

2:04:14

Somehow the battered Union flotilla

2:04:16

slits by Vixsburg.

2:04:21

Meanwhile, Grant's Overland Force in

2:04:23

Louisiana has marched to a point 40 m

2:04:26

south of Vixsburg. Along the

2:04:29

Mississippi, they are joined by Porter's

2:04:32

naval fleet and transported to the

2:04:34

Mississippi side of the river.

2:04:38

Instead of advancing to Vixsburg, Grant

2:04:40

boldly moves east.

2:04:44

The rails linking Jackson to [music]

2:04:46

Vixsburg are the only lifeline to the

2:04:48

Confederate Citadel.

2:04:50

In a bold [music] dash through West

2:04:52

Central Mississippi, Grant overwhelms

2:04:55

Confederate forces at Port Gibson, then

2:04:58

at Raymond.

2:05:00

On May 14th, Grant arrives at Jackson

2:05:04

and defeats another Confederate army.

2:05:05

[music]

2:05:06

This one led by General Joseph Johnston.

2:05:10

After destroying the military resources

2:05:12

at Jackson, Grant now turns back towards

2:05:16

Vixsburg.

2:05:18

That leads Confederate General John

2:05:20

Peton to march 23,000 men out of

2:05:24

Vixsburg to stop Grant's advance.

2:05:34

Peton's Confederates take positions

2:05:36

above a crossroads connecting Jackson to

2:05:39

Vixsburg.

2:05:41

A top Champion Hill, they deploy along a

2:05:45

threemile front.

2:05:48

The Confederate force is all that stands

2:05:50

between Grant and Vixsburg.

2:05:54

Ready, aim, [screaming] fire.

2:06:01

Shortly after 10:00 a.m.,

2:06:04

the vanguard of Grant's 32,000 men

2:06:06

advances up the hill.

2:06:09

The Battle of Champion Hill becomes the

2:06:12

bloodiest of the Vixsburg campaign.

2:06:17

One Confederate wrote, "The battle here

2:06:20

raged fearfully. One unbroken roar of

2:06:23

musketry was all that could be heard.

2:06:30

After a desperate struggle,

2:06:34

the Confederates withdraw from Champion

2:06:36

Hill.

2:06:38

Their retreat quickly becomes a route.

2:06:42

Pursued by Grant's army, the

2:06:44

Confederates race back towards Vixsburg

2:06:46

in panic and confusion.

2:06:51

At the Big Black River,

2:06:54

some put up a brief fight, but are

2:06:56

overwhelmed.

2:06:59

From there, Peton's humiliated army

2:07:02

limps back [music] to Vixsburg.

2:07:05

One resident wrote that an anxious doom

2:07:09

seemed to hang over the faces of the

2:07:11

men. A sorrowful tiding that all knew

2:07:15

would tell of disaster.

2:07:19

In the past 17 days, Grant's force has

2:07:23

moved 200 miles, met the enemy five

2:07:26

times, and been victorious in every

2:07:30

fight.

2:07:31

Grant's Vixsburg campaign is one of the

2:07:34

major campaigns in all of military

2:07:37

history. Not just [music] American, but

2:07:39

military history as a whole, because of

2:07:41

what he was able to achieve. [music]

2:07:43

I mean, he did things that nobody's

2:07:46

supposed to be able to do. People still

2:07:49

study this battle in modern times as to

2:07:52

how a general, an audacious general, a

2:07:55

general that has determination can

2:07:57

[music] get things done.

2:08:00

But what Grant hasn't done is take

2:08:03

Vixsburg.

2:08:07

The Confederate force of 35,000 works

2:08:10

feverishly to ready the 8 miles of

2:08:13

fortifications encircling the town. Pull

2:08:16

that down. Get it down. Get it down.

2:08:18

To the west, Union gunboats [music] now

2:08:21

control the river. To the east, more

2:08:24

than 40,000 Union troops quickly [music]

2:08:27

surround the city.

2:08:29

On May 19th,

2:08:33

then again on May 22nd,

2:08:36

Grant's troops attack,

2:08:40

but fail in their attempt to break

2:08:42

through the Confederate earthworks.

2:08:47

Grant's next and final move

2:08:51

to lay siege to Vixsburg.

2:08:54

In his memoir, Grant stated his goal was

2:08:57

to simply out camp the enemy.

2:09:01

In reality, Grant's plan is to starve

2:09:04

the defenders of Vixsburg into

2:09:06

submission.

2:09:12

Emma Balffor and [music] her husband, a

2:09:14

prominent physician,

2:09:17

live in a home overlooking the river.

2:09:21

Like many civilians in Vixsburg, the

2:09:24

Balffors refuse [music] to leave.

2:09:27

In her diary, Emma defiantly writes,

2:09:31

"The general [music] impression is that

2:09:32

they fire at this city in that way,

2:09:34

thinking they will wear out the women

2:09:35

and children.

2:09:38

General Peton will be impatient to

2:09:40

surrender the place on [music] that

2:09:41

account,

2:09:43

but they know little the spirit of

2:09:45

Vixsburg women and children if they

2:09:48

expect this

2:09:52

for protection from the relentless

2:09:54

shelling.

2:09:56

Many of the civilians dig caves into the

2:09:59

hillsides.

2:10:01

Mary Webster [ __ ] arrived in Vixsburg

2:10:04

in April with her husband, a Confederate

2:10:07

officer.

2:10:08

With her husband on the front line, Mary

2:10:11

is left to fend for herself and their

2:10:13

2-year-old daughter.

2:10:20

Terrorstricken, we remained crouched in

2:10:23

the cave while shell after shell

2:10:26

followed each other in quick secession.

2:10:32

I endeavored by constant prayer to

2:10:34

prepare myself for the sudden death I

2:10:37

was almost certain awaited me.

2:10:41

My heart stood still as we would hear

2:10:43

the reports from the guns.

2:10:46

Cowering in a corner, holding my child

2:10:49

to my heart. The only feeling of my life

2:10:53

being the choking throbs of my heart

2:10:55

that rendered me almost breathless.

2:11:06

Day

2:11:07

after day after day, Grand's artillery

2:11:11

tries to pound Vixsburg into submission.

2:11:29

Even the righteousness of God, which is

2:11:31

by faith in Christ,

2:11:34

for all have sinned.

2:11:38

Reverend William Lord, his wife and

2:11:41

young daughter, endure the siege of

2:11:43

Vixsburg in a cave just yards from the

2:11:46

forward lines.

2:11:48

God will protect us.

2:11:50

God will protect us.

2:11:54

I'm afraid they got killed, too.

2:12:13

Confederate Secretary of War James

2:12:15

Seddin exhorts, "Vixsburg must not be

2:12:18

lost without a desperate struggle."

2:12:22

He orders General Joseph Johnston to

2:12:24

march his army from Jackson and attack

2:12:26

Grant from the east.

2:12:29

Johnston stalls, saying he does not have

2:12:32

enough men.

2:12:37

By June, the situation at Vixsburg is so

2:12:39

desperate [music] that Confederate

2:12:41

President Jefferson Davis considers

2:12:42

sending Roberty E. leave and part of the

2:12:44

Army of Northern Virginia a thousand m

2:12:47

westward to relieve enemy pressure on

2:12:50

the besieged [music]

2:12:51

city.

2:12:53

Instead,

2:12:55

Lee and Davis decide to invade the

2:12:57

North.

2:12:59

At the sleepy town of Gettysburg,

2:13:01

Pennsylvania, Lee's army of Northern

2:13:04

Virginia collides with the Union [music]

2:13:06

Army of the PTOAC, commanded by yet

2:13:09

another general. George me is its fourth

2:13:13

commander since the war began. Me says

2:13:17

Gettysburg will determine the fate of

2:13:19

our country and our cause.

2:13:23

All eyes in the summer of [music] 1863

2:13:25

were on two military situations. Lee's

2:13:29

raid into Pennsylvania and [music]

2:13:31

Grant's investment of the Confederate

2:13:34

bastion at Vixsburg. Both of those

2:13:37

military campaigns were crucial to the

2:13:41

fortunes of both sides.

2:13:51

After 3 days of savage fighting at

2:13:54

Gettysburg, Lee and his army of Northern

2:13:57

Virginia are defeated. [music]

2:14:00

The loss of life is catastrophic, even

2:14:03

by Civil War standards.

2:14:07

Some 50,000 [music] from north and south

2:14:10

are killed, wounded, or missing.

2:14:13

A New Jersey infantryman [music]

2:14:16

helping to bury the dead spoke of

2:14:20

the stench of decaying humanity hugging

2:14:22

the earth like a fog,

2:14:25

poisoning [music] every breath.

2:14:30

After the battle, Lee and his battered

2:14:33

army retreat back into Virginia.

2:14:36

For the remainder of the war, most of

2:14:38

the fighting will take place in and

2:14:40

around [music] Richmond.

2:14:47

While the battle at Gettysburg was

2:14:49

raging in Pennsylvania,

2:14:52

the siege of Vixsburg was entering its

2:14:54

final act.

2:14:57

For more than six weeks, the Gibralar of

2:15:00

the Confederacy has been cut off from

2:15:02

the outside world.

2:15:10

No food or supplies have reached the

2:15:12

30,000 soldiers and the thousands of

2:15:14

civilians inside.

2:15:19

Soldiers rations consist of a handful of

2:15:22

peas and rice per day.

2:15:31

Disease runs rampant.

2:15:34

The water supply is almost depleted.

2:15:38

The stifling midsummer heat only adds to

2:15:41

the misery.

2:15:44

I think that Grant saw the war in a

2:15:49

different way. And this is another

2:15:50

reason why Grant is ultimately so

2:15:53

successful.

2:15:55

Grant was fighting a war for a future

2:15:59

time.

2:16:01

It wasn't a gentleman's war.

2:16:09

On the very day Lee orders the

2:16:11

disastrous Pickicket's [music] charge at

2:16:13

Gettysburg, Confederate General John

2:16:16

Peton decides to surrender Vixsburg.

2:16:22

The next day, July [music] 4th, 1863,

2:16:26

Peton hands over his entire army to

2:16:29

Ulissiz Srant.

2:16:33

After 47 days,

2:16:36

the siege of Vixsburg is over.

2:16:43

At the Warren County Courthouse, the

2:16:45

Confederate flag is lowered

2:16:50

and the stars and stripes raised.

2:16:54

The victory at Vixsburg knocks [music]

2:16:57

open the lock that the Confederacy had

2:17:00

placed on the great commercial highway

2:17:02

of the Mississippi River [music] Valley.

2:17:05

A relieved Abraham Lincoln says,

2:17:09

"The father of waters flows again.

2:17:13

unvexed to the sea.

2:17:17

The defeat of Confederate forces at

2:17:20

Vixsburg, the defeat of [music] Leah

2:17:22

Gettysburg. together. The eyes of many

2:17:25

southerners, this was an irreversible

2:17:28

turn to defeat.

2:17:31

The loss of Pimton's force, significant,

2:17:35

and especially significant in terms of

2:17:38

how it affected the psyche of white

2:17:41

southerners.

2:17:50

Vixsburg is a crushing defeat. Yet, it

2:17:53

hardly sounds the death nail of the

2:17:54

Confederacy.

2:17:57

More than 300 m to the northeast [music]

2:18:00

in the rugged highlands of eastern

2:18:01

Tennessee, another campaign is underway.

2:18:07

The coming fight will help determine the

2:18:10

final outcome [music] of the war.

2:18:15

2 days after the fall of Vixsburg,

2:18:18

Secretary [music] of War Edwin Stanton

2:18:20

issues this challenge to Union General

2:18:22

William Stark Rose Crayons.

2:18:26

You and your noble army now have the

2:18:28

chance to give the finishing blow to the

2:18:31

rebellion.

2:18:38

Rose Cran commands the Army of the

2:18:41

Cumberland,

2:18:42

some 70,000 strong.

2:18:47

Standing in his way is the Confederate

2:18:50

Army of Tennessee, commanded by General

2:18:53

Braxton Bragg.

2:18:58

9 months earlier, Bragg's invasion into

2:19:01

Kentucky had ended in his defeat at

2:19:03

Perville.

2:19:06

In January, [music] his army was again

2:19:08

defeated near Murphy'sboro, Tennessee.

2:19:12

This time at the Battle of Stones River.

2:19:16

Now, the fate of the Deep South and some

2:19:19

say the Confederacy itself

2:19:22

lies with Bragg's ability to stop the

2:19:24

Union advance.

2:19:28

Of course, now Vixsburg has fallen.

2:19:31

Gettysburg has turned into a crushing

2:19:34

defeat for Lee. And so all the weight,

2:19:38

all the responsibility is on Brag

2:19:40

shoulders.

2:19:42

Since the beginning of the war, the

2:19:44

South has feverishly worked to create a

2:19:46

network of arsenals and factories that

2:19:49

now feed the Confederate war machine.

2:19:52

And by the summer of 1863,

2:19:56

the South industrial heartland was the

2:19:59

central Georgia and central Alabama

2:20:02

area.

2:20:04

It was essentially the very essence

2:20:07

inards and being of the south's bid for

2:20:10

independence. And as that complex had

2:20:12

grown in capacity, there was a growing

2:20:15

realization on the part of leaders in

2:20:18

the north that that military-industrial

2:20:21

complex was going to have to be

2:20:22

disrupted.

2:20:25

The Union invasion comes at a time when

2:20:28

civil unrest has [music] been spreading

2:20:30

throughout the Confederacy.

2:20:32

So-called bread riots in Richmond and

2:20:35

other southern cities are the byproducts

2:20:37

of massive inflation and food shortages.

2:20:42

But the most serious problem affecting

2:20:44

the home front [music] in the South

2:20:45

during the summer of 1863

2:20:48

is the loss of its men to the war.

2:20:56

[music] Joshua Callaway reluctantly

2:20:58

responds to the Alabama governor's call

2:21:01

for volunteers.

2:21:03

Callaway, [music]

2:21:04

a 28-year-old school teacher from a

2:21:06

small town near Selma, does not own any

2:21:09

slaves.

2:21:12

In April 1862, [music]

2:21:14

the Confederate government had issued an

2:21:16

order calling for men between the ages

2:21:18

of 18 and 35 to enlist for a 3-year

2:21:22

term.

2:21:23

It is the [music] first conscription act

2:21:25

ever imposed in America.

2:21:28

By volunteering,

2:21:30

Callaway avoids the stigma [music] of

2:21:32

being drafted.

2:21:34

He leaves behind two small children and

2:21:37

wife, [music] Dulania.

2:21:41

For a man like Joshua [music] Callaway,

2:21:44

the decision to fight involves a number

2:21:47

of different considerations. He's

2:21:49

[music] not one of the younger men. He's

2:21:51

not single. He's not without children.

2:21:54

He's got a wife and two children. and

2:21:58

he's been [music] working as a teacher

2:22:00

to support them and what's going to

2:22:03

happen to them when he goes off to

2:22:05

fight. So it's a difficult struggle in

2:22:09

his mind and in the minds of many other

2:22:11

men like him

2:22:16

[music]

2:22:22

battalion charge bayonet. [screaming]

2:22:26

By August 1863,

2:22:29

Joshua Callaway has become an officer in

2:22:31

the 28th Alabama.

2:22:34

Right shoulder shift arm.

2:22:36

He is amongst the thousands of

2:22:38

Confederates ready to defend the town

2:22:40

that has become the Union target [music]

2:22:42

in the coming campaign.

2:22:46

Nestled on the south bank of the

2:22:48

Tennessee River and surrounded by the

2:22:50

rugged southern Appalachians,

2:22:53

Chattanooga, Tennessee is the gateway to

2:22:55

the deep south.

2:22:58

Intersecting in Chattanooga are

2:23:00

railroads vital to the Confederate war

2:23:02

effort. They are the key to the

2:23:05

distribution of the war material

2:23:07

produced in central Georgia and central

2:23:10

Alabama.

2:23:11

The Chattanooga [music] region becomes

2:23:13

that doorway gateway passageway through

2:23:16

the protecting mountain barrier between

2:23:20

the northern armies and this ever

2:23:22

growing military-industrial complex in

2:23:25

central Georgia and central Alabama. So

2:23:28

anyone looking at a map didn't have to

2:23:30

be a Napoleon in the rough to be able to

2:23:32

look at Chattanooga and to appreciate

2:23:35

immediately its grand strategic

2:23:38

significance.

2:23:41

Lincoln states that taking Chattanooga

2:23:44

is as important as taking [music] the

2:23:46

Confederate capital of Richmond.

2:23:49

In spite of the strong objection of

2:23:51

Roberty E. Lee, Confederate President

2:23:53

Jefferson Davis orders James Longreet

2:23:56

and two divisions of the Army of

2:23:58

Northern Virginia southward to

2:24:01

Chattanooga

2:24:05

to face the Union threat. Bragg will

2:24:07

amass a force of 68,000.

2:24:12

Outside of Chattanooga is Joshua

2:24:15

Callaway.

2:24:20

August 27th, 1863.

2:24:27

My dear wife,

2:24:30

we are now on the west side of Lookout

2:24:32

Mountain,

2:24:34

guarding the road that leads across the

2:24:35

corner of it to Chattanooga.

2:24:41

Everything is quiet now, but no one

2:24:43

knows how soon, what moment the conflict

2:24:46

will begin.

2:24:52

a Confederate soldier like Joshua

2:24:54

Callaway. [music] Yes, he was a

2:24:56

Confederate, but he was also a husband.

2:24:59

He's also a son, a father. And [music]

2:25:02

those relationships were a big part of

2:25:05

why he was fighting in this war. [music]

2:25:07

He may have been fighting to protect

2:25:10

slavery, but why did that matter?

2:25:12

[music]

2:25:13

It mattered because his family's

2:25:15

interests and future depended on it. And

2:25:18

his family [music]

2:25:19

was also uh his emotional lifeline, what

2:25:24

kept his morale up, what supported him

2:25:27

and kept him going on a daily basis. And

2:25:30

you can see that in Joshua's letters to

2:25:32

Doulsonia. He needs that [music]

2:25:34

correspondence. He craves that

2:25:36

correspondence.

2:25:39

Let me hear from you soon and often.

2:25:42

Kiss the children for me. God bless you,

2:25:45

my darling.

2:25:48

Joshua Callaway.

2:25:55

In mid August, Rose Cran moves directly

2:25:59

towards Chattanooga.

2:26:01

Three columns spread across a 40-mile

2:26:04

front advance over the rugged Cumberland

2:26:06

Mountains.

2:26:08

But Rose Cran's now separated army of

2:26:11

the Cumberland is vulnerable to attack.

2:26:15

Just south of Chattanooga at

2:26:17

Mcleammore's [music]

2:26:18

Cove, Bragg orders an attack on a

2:26:21

portion of Rose Cran's splintered army.

2:26:26

High command in Bragg's army was

2:26:29

dysfunctional. [music]

2:26:30

The top subordinates of Bragg simply

2:26:34

would not obey his orders. [music]

2:26:36

The Federals are falling back that way.

2:26:37

We need to be moving that way.

2:26:39

You have your orders. You will hold this

2:26:40

ground. According to General Mano, you

2:26:42

will hold this ground. Let's go.

2:26:46

Bragg had it within his power to destroy

2:26:50

most of the middle column of Rose Cran's

2:26:54

army.

2:26:56

The lost opportunity to destroy part of

2:26:59

the army of the Cumberland will haunt

2:27:01

Bragg and his subordinates for the

2:27:03

[music] rest of the war.

2:27:12

For the next week, more than 100,000

2:27:15

soldiers from two opposing armies

2:27:18

maneuver in northern Georgia.

2:27:21

In the words of one Confederate, Bragg

2:27:24

and Rose Crans are playing a game of

2:27:26

chess among these mountains and valleys.

2:27:28

[music]

2:27:35

Everyone on both sides realizes [music]

2:27:37

a clash is inevitable.

2:27:40

It's only a matter of where and when.

2:27:45

[music]

2:27:47

when

2:27:49

is September 18th, 1863.

2:27:53

Where is 8 mi south of Chattanooga along

2:27:57

the banks of the Chikamaga, a creek the

2:28:00

Cherokee called the river of death.

2:28:05

Bragg's plan turned the Union Army to

2:28:08

the south, cutting rose crayons off from

2:28:11

Chattanooga,

2:28:13

then pin the army of the Cumberland

2:28:16

against the eastern wall of Lookout

2:28:18

Mountain.

2:28:20

But if Bragg got between Rose Cran and

2:28:22

Chattanooga, he could cut off Rose

2:28:24

Cran's supplies. He could cut off Rose

2:28:27

Cran's retreat and he potentially could

2:28:29

drive Rose Cran's back against the

2:28:32

mountains in such a way that Rose Cran

2:28:34

might have to surrender his army.

2:28:38

Bragg launches the battle with a move to

2:28:40

control two bridges crossing the

2:28:42

Chikamaga.

2:28:45

A small Union force, some armed with

2:28:47

Spencer repeating rifles, puts up a

2:28:50

stubborn fight.

2:28:55

The Union forces withdraw

2:29:00

and the Confederates [music] finally

2:29:01

begin crossing the Chikamaga.

2:29:06

The unexpected Union resistance results

2:29:08

in yet another missed opportunity for

2:29:11

Bragg.

2:29:13

His main attack will have to [music]

2:29:14

wait one more day.

2:29:18

The delay gives Rose Cran's precious

2:29:20

time to consolidate the scattered forces

2:29:22

of his main army.

2:29:26

That evening, he extends the Union line

2:29:29

northward along the Lefayet Road.

2:29:37

At dawn the next day,

2:29:40

Bragg's men prepare to attack.

2:29:44

A soldier from Tennessee remarks,

2:29:46

[music]

2:29:47

"The day was bright and beautiful, and

2:29:49

the world never seemed half so [music]

2:29:51

attractive before.

2:29:54

now that there was a good chance of

2:29:56

leaving it soon.

2:30:03

A little after 7 a.m.

2:30:09

Confederate cavalry stumble upon a few

2:30:11

Union soldiers filling their cantens.

2:30:16

It is an area where the Confederates

2:30:17

expect no contact.

2:30:22

In pursuit of the canteen detail,

2:30:27

the Confederate cavalry themselves

2:30:28

encounter a superior force.

2:30:31

There's an enemy in there, sir.

2:30:34

2300 men of John Croxton's [music]

2:30:37

brigade.

2:30:40

What begins as a skirmish almost

2:30:42

immediately escalates

2:30:44

into what becomes known

2:30:49

as the battle of Chikamaga.

2:30:58

At Chikamaga, the dense canopy of trees

2:31:02

causes the battle smoke to hang like a

2:31:04

thick deadly fog.

2:31:08

With the limited visibility of

2:31:10

Chikamaga, the enemy is going to be able

2:31:12

to close um to a very short distance

2:31:15

before engaging at a distance where the

2:31:18

artillery and its longer range is not

2:31:21

going to have an advantage.

2:31:24

[screaming]

2:31:24

It was something that was not really

2:31:26

anticipated by the leaders on both

2:31:28

sides.

2:31:40

Almost without warning, a line of

2:31:42

Confederate infantry appears on [music]

2:31:44

the right flank of Batterya A First

2:31:47

Michigan Light Artillery.

2:31:50

Get this gun.

2:31:55

The Michigan soldiers are ordered to lie

2:31:57

down with their knapsacks still on.

2:32:00

[cheering]

2:32:04

This makes it a struggle for the men to

2:32:06

roll over and reload.

2:32:12

The battery is commanded by George

2:32:14

Vanpelt, the former town constable of

2:32:17

Cold Water, Michigan.

2:32:19

Hurry up, boys. You're right on top of

2:32:21

us.

2:32:27

Michigan men fire 64 rounds.

2:32:35

Most sail over the heads of the charging

2:32:38

Confederates.

2:32:39

[screaming]

2:32:41

[cheering]

2:32:44

There they come.

2:32:48

We got to get out of here.

2:32:52

The Michigan battery is routed.

2:32:59

Van Pelt refuses to abandon his guns.

2:33:19

The confusion and bloodletting of

2:33:21

Vanpelt's fight is typical of the Battle

2:33:24

of Chikamaga.

2:33:27

By late in the afternoon, neither side

2:33:30

has gained or conceded much ground.

2:33:34

In the thick of the fight at Chikamaga

2:33:37

is the 15th Wisconsin Infantry.

2:33:40

This Union regiment is composed entirely

2:33:43

of Scandinavians.

2:33:46

Almost all were born in Norway.

2:33:51

The decade before the Civil War had seen

2:33:54

a huge wave of Europeans immigrating to

2:33:56

the United States.

2:33:59

The vast majority [music] settled in the

2:34:00

North. The new Americans understood

2:34:04

political oppression [music] and

2:34:05

religious persecution because many had

2:34:08

experienced it firsthand.

2:34:11

When the war comes, about 25% of the

2:34:15

Union Army will be immigrants.

2:34:18

They believe in the promise of America

2:34:21

and they [music] stand firm in the right

2:34:23

to die for it.

2:34:25

This is the only freestanding popular

2:34:28

government left in the world. Every

2:34:31

other experiment in popular government

2:34:33

either fell apart or was crushed

2:34:36

brutally

2:34:37

so that by 1860 the United States is the

2:34:40

last major stronghold of this thing

2:34:44

called democracy. If the United States

2:34:48

proceeds to blow its brains out through

2:34:50

secession, what are we saying to the

2:34:53

rest of the world? We're saying

2:34:55

democracy is a chimera. Democracy is a

2:34:59

Greek drollery that will never work. If

2:35:03

you want the proof, say the kings and

2:35:05

aristocrats, if you want the proof of

2:35:07

how unstable democracy is, just look at

2:35:09

what the Americans are doing to

2:35:11

themselves right now.

2:35:15

Right now in northern Georgia, they are

2:35:17

fighting what will become the biggest

2:35:19

battle of the western campaign.

2:35:26

Sam Watkins of the First Tennessee

2:35:29

has survived Shiloh and Stones River.

2:35:32

Now in the midst of Chikamaga, he

2:35:35

stumbles upon his badly wounded friend

2:35:38

Billy Webster.

2:35:41

Come on.

2:35:42

Billy's arm had been dressed and he

2:35:44

seemed to be quite easy. He wished to

2:35:47

dictate a letter to his parents. Get my

2:35:50

shirt. Get my shirt. I want a clean

2:35:51

shirt.

2:35:51

Where's your shirt?

2:35:52

He asked me to please look into his

2:35:54

knapsack and get him a clean shirt.

2:35:58

I went to look for the knapsack and

2:36:00

found it.

2:36:12

But when I got back to where he was,

2:36:15

poor good Billy Webster was dead.

2:36:20

He had given his life for his country.

2:36:25

His spirit is with the good and the

2:36:27

brave.

2:36:29

No better or braver man than Billy

2:36:32

Webster ever drew Breath of Life.

2:36:36

His bones lie yonder today upon the

2:36:39

battlefield of Chikamoga.

2:36:45

Through the haze of the battle at

2:36:47

Chikamaga, one thing is clear. The

2:36:51

bloodbath along the river of death is

2:36:54

thus far a draw.

2:36:58

Both Bragg and Rose Crans are determined

2:37:00

to continue the fight the next morning.

2:37:05

[music]

2:37:12

And there are moments in this war when

2:37:14

the entire republic is at stake.

2:37:19

When everything could have changed, when

2:37:21

everything could have turned on a dime

2:37:24

and sometimes did.

2:37:26

What is being forged is our

2:37:29

national story.

2:37:32

Your Iliad in our odyssey is playing

2:37:34

out.

2:37:46

[music]

2:37:56

At dawn near a creek in northern Georgia

2:37:59

called the Chikamaga,

2:38:02

Union forces desperately prepare for an

2:38:04

attack

2:38:05

that is imminent.

2:38:12

Confederate General Braxton Bragg

2:38:15

imagines the second day of the Battle of

2:38:17

Chikamaga to bring destruction to the

2:38:20

Union Army.

2:38:23

But once again, a breakdown in

2:38:25

communication plagues the Confederates.

2:38:28

The southern assault will not begin

2:38:30

until 9:30 a.m.

2:38:35

One Union general who commanded one of

2:38:36

the divisions on that perimeter said if

2:38:39

the attack, the Confederate attack, had

2:38:41

happened [music] at 6:00 a.m., it

2:38:43

wouldn't have lasted an hour.

2:38:46

After the war, a bitter brag will write.

2:38:49

If not for that 3-hour delay, our

2:38:52

independence might have been won.

2:39:02

The previous day at Chikamaga had been

2:39:05

as savage as any battle in more than 2

2:39:08

years of civil war.

2:39:16

Lord,

2:39:19

the invading Union Army of the

2:39:21

Cumberland, led by General William Stark

2:39:23

Rose Crayons, is determined to gain

2:39:26

control of the critical rail center of

2:39:28

Chattanooga, Tennessee.

2:39:32

Chattanooga is a gateway to the deep

2:39:35

south, the heartland where factories,

2:39:38

farmlands, and railroads are critical to

2:39:40

the Confederate war effort.

2:39:43

Is this going to land?

2:39:46

Braxton Bragg's [music] Army of

2:39:48

Tennessee

2:39:50

hoped to not just stop Rose Crans,

2:39:53

but to destroy his army of 58,000.

2:40:08

We got to get out of here. The two

2:40:10

armies [music] collided just 8 miles

2:40:12

south of Chattanooga on September 19th,

2:40:15

1863.

2:40:20

After the first day of fighting,

2:40:23

the Battle of Chikamaga

2:40:25

[screaming and crying]

2:40:26

is a draw.

2:40:30

[music]

2:40:36

It was an an unbelievably

2:40:39

savage knockdown dragout fight in the

2:40:43

woods. I would say that it's almost like

2:40:45

Shiloh multiplied by two.

2:40:54

They're coming over. [cheering]

2:40:58

Now, less than 3 months after the

2:41:01

devastating Confederate loss at

2:41:02

Gettysburg, the Army of Tennessee

2:41:05

resumes a battle they believe can

2:41:08

reverse the fortunes of the Confederacy.

2:41:12

Among the first to challenge the Union

2:41:14

defenses at Chikamaga

2:41:17

is the Kentucky Orphan Brigade,

2:41:22

commanded by Brigadier General Benjamin

2:41:24

Helm. When the war began, Helm was

2:41:27

offered a position with the Union Army

2:41:29

by his brother-in-law, a high-ranking

2:41:31

official with the US government.

2:41:35

Helm instead chose to fight for the

2:41:38

Confederacy.

2:41:39

Fighting under Helm's command is

2:41:41

22-year-old Johnny Green.

2:41:47

A perfect shower of great tour through

2:41:49

our ranks.

2:41:55

We fired a volley and rushed upon them.

2:42:07

FOR GOD'S SAKE, THE BATTLE.

2:42:10

Our beloved and gallant General Helm

2:42:12

fell mortally wounded.

2:42:13

COME HERE, TRENCHER.

2:42:15

Leading his brigade, which he knew would

2:42:17

never falter.

2:42:21

Surgeons realize Helms's wound is fatal.

2:42:26

The Confederate general clings to life

2:42:28

for several more hours, but dies the

2:42:31

next morning.

2:42:34

Since the battle began, the two forces

2:42:37

have been slugging it out along a

2:42:39

four-mile [music] front a stride the

2:42:42

Lefayet road.

2:42:44

The Confederate attack [music] on

2:42:45

September 20th targets the Union left.

2:42:49

But what will determine the outcome of

2:42:51

Chikamaga [music]

2:42:52

is a hole in the Union center.

2:42:56

Miscommunication, [music]

2:42:58

confusion, and fatigue with Rose Crans

2:43:00

and his generals have left a gap more

2:43:03

than a quarter mile wide.

2:43:06

The one weakness for the Union High

2:43:09

Command was Rose Crans himself. On the

2:43:12

night of the the 19th, Rose Cray had not

2:43:15

gotten any sleep. And as a result, by

2:43:18

the time the action began on September

2:43:20

the 20th, the Union Army commander is on

2:43:23

the verge of physical and mental

2:43:25

collapse. [cheering]

2:43:29

The approaching Confederates are

2:43:30

commanded by none other than James

2:43:32

Longreet, the trusted lieutenant of

2:43:35

Roberty. Lee [cheering]

2:43:39

Long Street and 11,000 soldiers from the

2:43:41

Army of Northern Virginia had arrived

2:43:44

just the night before.

2:43:46

The only time in the war that

2:43:48

significant numbers of troops were

2:43:51

pulled away from Robert E. Le's Army of

2:43:54

Northern Virginia, transferred to the

2:43:55

Western Theater to fight there. And it

2:43:58

shows that this is the Confederacy's big

2:44:00

effort to reverse the tide of the war in

2:44:02

the West.

2:44:06

And now Long Street's core, [music]

2:44:08

eight brigades, rolled straight through

2:44:11

that gap and directly into the rear of

2:44:13

the Union Army.

2:44:16

And for the Confederate troops, it was

2:44:17

thrilling. General Bush Rod Johnson

2:44:20

called it a scene of unsurpassed grander

2:44:22

as they realized that for the first time

2:44:26

in the Western theater, the Confederacy

2:44:28

was on the verge of a magnificent

2:44:30

victory.

2:44:32

The stunning breakthrough effectively

2:44:35

splits the Union army at Chikamaga.

2:44:38

Rose CR and a third of his force leave

2:44:41

the battlefield.

2:44:44

The Union right soon crumbles.

2:44:49

Company, lads.

2:44:56

But not all the Union soldiers leave the

2:44:58

field at Chikamaga.

2:45:00

Troops under the command of General

2:45:02

George Thomas quickly form a defense

2:45:07

on Snodgrass Hill and Horseshoe Ridge.

2:45:11

They stand firm.

2:45:18

Ready to charge at the steep wooded

2:45:19

slope and end the battle are nearly

2:45:22

[music] 3,000 Confederates.

2:45:26

Among them is Lieutenant Joshua Callaway

2:45:29

of the 28th Alabama.

2:45:35

17 months earlier,

2:45:38

Callaway [music] left his wife Dulania

2:45:40

and two small children at their home

2:45:42

near Selma.

2:45:45

Almost onethird of all white households

2:45:47

in the Confederacy own slaves.

2:45:50

Callaway is among those who do not.

2:46:00

Like so many others on both sides of the

2:46:02

battlefield, the Callaways communicate

2:46:05

through a series of letters.

2:46:09

My dear love, I've just passed through

2:46:12

the terrible ordeal of a hard battle.

2:46:16

Our

2:46:19

brigade formed at the foot of a long

2:46:21

hill

2:46:25

at the top of which was the enemy's

2:46:26

line.

2:46:29

The battle was raging all along our line

2:46:32

as if heaven and earth were coming

2:46:34

together. A thousand thunderstorms all

2:46:37

turned loose could not equal the noise.

2:46:45

Doulsonia Callaway is hearing things

2:46:48

she's never heard before. She's never

2:46:52

read letters from a family member in

2:46:54

war.

2:46:57

So, these letters are

2:46:59

obviously going to make her fearful and

2:47:03

very concerned about her husband's

2:47:06

well-being.

2:47:08

How this war was going to turn out was a

2:47:10

big unknown. And that was a source of

2:47:13

daily fear for a mother like Dulceia

2:47:16

Callaway.

2:47:24

The carnage was awful. Men were shot

2:47:28

down all around me. I was indeed in the

2:47:32

very midst

2:47:34

of death.

2:47:39

On Snodg Grass Hill, the Battle of

2:47:41

Chikamaga reaches its culmination.

2:47:45

The attacking Confederates taste

2:47:47

victory,

2:47:48

but Thomas' outnumbered defenders

2:47:51

repulse charge after charge.

2:47:56

Thomas' heroic defense allows the

2:47:58

remaining Union forces to escape. For

2:48:01

that stand, Thomas becomes known as the

2:48:04

rock of Chikamaga.

2:48:07

By day's end, the last of Union troops

2:48:10

withdraw.

2:48:18

The carnage of the battle exceeds even

2:48:20

[music] the bloodbath at Shiloh.

2:48:25

At Chikamaga, more [music] than 34,000

2:48:28

from both armies are dead.

2:48:32

wounded or missing.

2:48:37

The combined casualties are [music] the

2:48:38

second most of any battle in the war.

2:48:42

Only Gettysburg exceeds the butchery

2:48:45

[music] of Chikamaga.

2:48:48

Though victorious,

2:48:49

the staggering number of those lost in

2:48:51

the ranks is a serious [music] problem

2:48:54

plaguing the Confederacy.

2:48:57

The Confederates have a problem.

2:48:58

Confederates realize the arithmetic and

2:49:01

they're not winning the arithmetic.

2:49:04

If they expand more men, even equal to

2:49:07

the loss in the Union armies, they will

2:49:09

eventually cease to have the ability to

2:49:11

put men in the field.

2:49:18

Joshua Callaway somehow makes it through

2:49:20

the battle unscathed.

2:49:23

We now moved to the top of the hill and

2:49:25

slept on the battlefield.

2:49:28

Napoleon's sign of victory.

2:49:33

I have now seen and experienced the

2:49:35

horrors of war

2:49:38

as well as the spoils and glories.

2:49:44

I am very well. Thank God.

2:49:49

A thousand kisses for you and the

2:49:52

children.

2:49:54

your loving JK Callaway.

2:50:03

600 miles to the north in Washington DC,

2:50:07

President Abraham Lincoln receives

2:50:08

[music] a telegram of the Union debacle.

2:50:12

With the report comes devastating news

2:50:15

about an enemy officer.

2:50:19

Killed at Chikamaga is his

2:50:22

brother-in-law,

2:50:23

Benjamin [music] Harden Helm.

2:50:28

Lincoln's trusted friend is Supreme

2:50:30

Court Justice David Davis.

2:50:35

I never saw Mr. Lincoln more moved than

2:50:37

when he heard of the death of his young

2:50:39

brother-in-law.

2:50:41

Davis, he said, I feel like David of old

2:50:45

when he heard of the death of [music]

2:50:47

Abselum.

2:50:50

I saw how griefstricken he was, so I

2:50:54

closed the door and left him.

2:51:05

Lincoln's grief reflects the state of a

2:51:07

nation that is beginning to crack under

2:51:09

the pressure of a civil war.

2:51:14

Two months earlier, in July of 1863,

2:51:17

laborers in New York City reacted with

2:51:20

violence to a law establishing the

2:51:22

nation's first [music] military draft.

2:51:28

Many of the protesters are impoverished

2:51:30

immigrants from Ireland.

2:51:34

They're particularly enraged over a

2:51:36

provision of the law that allows

2:51:38

drafties the option to buy their way out

2:51:40

of service for $300.

2:51:47

Angry mobs roam Manhattan, killing

2:51:49

policemen and setting the city ablaze.

2:51:54

But the protesters venom is particularly

2:51:56

aimed at New York's 12,000

2:51:59

African-Ameans. [music]

2:52:05

An orphanage for black children is

2:52:07

torched.

2:52:11

The 233 children inside escape before

2:52:15

the building burns to the ground.

2:52:19

Ultimately, northerners who descended

2:52:22

against this conflict,

2:52:25

they felt agrieved,

2:52:28

misled, abandoned

2:52:31

by a president who had turned a war for

2:52:35

Union into a war for union and

2:52:38

emancipation.

2:52:40

It wasn't until the arrival of Union

2:52:42

soldiers who just fought at Gettysburg

2:52:45

that 5 days of rioting was finally

2:52:47

quelled.

2:52:49

Hundreds were killed. Some 2,000 were

2:52:52

injured. 11 black citizens were dragged

2:52:55

from their homes and lynched by the

2:52:57

angry mob.

2:53:00

Once they thought that northern boys

2:53:04

going to die for the freedom of

2:53:07

African-Americans,

2:53:08

that was simply more than what they

2:53:10

could stomach. [music]

2:53:12

That class of individuals was seen as

2:53:16

responsible for bringing this war on and

2:53:20

for ultimately taking northern boys from

2:53:22

their homes, sending them to the front

2:53:25

lines where they were dying in droves.

2:53:29

[music]

2:53:31

By September 1863,

2:53:34

northern casualties have eclipsed

2:53:36

400,000. [music]

2:53:41

At the Battle of [music] Chikamaga alone

2:53:43

are 16,000 Union casualties.

2:53:47

[music]

2:53:56

Chikamaga is undeniably a Confederate

2:53:58

victory,

2:54:00

but a hollow one.

2:54:04

Bragg has allowed Rose Cray and his

2:54:06

Union army to [music] escape to

2:54:08

Chattanooga.

2:54:13

Bragg

2:54:15

getting lucky at Chikamaga,

2:54:18

winning the field.

2:54:20

They win a tactical victory, no doubt

2:54:22

about it. But he doesn't have

2:54:25

Chattanooga. Confederates failed to

2:54:29

exercise any strategic potential from

2:54:33

that victory.

2:54:36

Bragg moves his army from the Chikamaga

2:54:38

battlefield to the heights overlooking

2:54:40

Union occupied Chattanooga.

2:54:43

There he plans to lay siege to the city.

2:54:47

Lincoln and his cabinet fear it could

2:54:49

become Vixsburg in reverse.

2:54:54

As summer turns to autumn, the situation

2:54:57

for the Union forces at Chattanooga

2:54:59

grows desperate.

2:55:02

Bragg has in essence cut off all supply

2:55:04

lines into the city.

2:55:07

The trapped and now starving army of the

2:55:09

Cumberland is not just defeated,

2:55:13

it's demoralized.

2:55:15

The army's ineffective commander,

2:55:17

William Stark Rose Crans, is described

2:55:20

by Lincoln as stunned like a duck hit in

2:55:22

the head.

2:55:25

On October 21st, Rose Crays is replaced

2:55:29

and the most familiar face in the

2:55:31

Western [music]

2:55:32

theater assumes overall command.

2:55:37

[music]

2:55:38

Who arrives on the scene, I think, is

2:55:41

arguably one of the greatest soldiers

2:55:42

the Civil War ever produced. And that's

2:55:44

Ulissiz Sgrant. What Grant had was

2:55:48

nothing you could teach. Grant had a

2:55:51

natural ability.

2:55:56

Within days of Grant's arrival,

2:56:00

supplies and reinforcements begin to

2:56:02

slip into Chattanooga through a supply

2:56:05

route called the Cracker Line.

2:56:11

And Grant comes right in and immediately

2:56:14

opens up the supply flow and then begins

2:56:17

as Grant is always thinking, "How can I

2:56:21

take the fight to the enemy?"

2:56:24

[music]

2:56:25

Now it's Grant's enemy that has become

2:56:27

demoralized.

2:56:31

By November 1863, [music]

2:56:34

even the weather seems to be turning

2:56:35

against Bragg and his men.

2:56:38

For the men in the Confederate [music]

2:56:40

trenches, the Civil War is not just

2:56:42

about states rights or the institution

2:56:45

of slavery.

2:56:48

In the war's third year, it's also about

2:56:51

defending your home and your family.

2:56:58

In the gloom of late autumn,

2:57:00

Bragg's men begin to realize that the

2:57:02

victory at Chikamaga has been wasted

2:57:07

and the opportunity to turn the tide of

2:57:09

the western campaign

2:57:11

squandered.

2:57:15

Even more disturbing is this sobering

2:57:18

reality.

2:57:21

The struggle for Chattanooga will mean

2:57:23

yet another battle.

2:57:33

A reinforced grant is ready to go on the

2:57:36

offensive against the Confederates

2:57:37

encircling Chattanooga.

2:57:39

Most are dug in along the crest of

2:57:42

Missionary Ridge, a 7m long spine of

2:57:46

soil and stone extending from just east

2:57:49

of Chattanooga to the Georgia state

2:57:52

line. For Grant, the key to victory

2:57:55

depends on destroying the Confederate

2:57:57

stronghold.

2:58:00

His plan was to cross [music] the

2:58:02

Tennessee River northeast of Chattanooga

2:58:06

and get on the flank of Missionary Ridge

2:58:10

and then advance along Missionary Ridge,

2:58:13

rolling up the Confederate line.

2:58:20

November 19th, 1863. [music]

2:58:25

On the very day Lincoln gives the

2:58:26

Gettysburg address, Joshua Callaway

2:58:29

climbs Lookout Mountain.

2:58:32

[music]

2:58:34

The 2300 ft precipice towers over the

2:58:37

Union forces in Chattanooga.

2:58:40

[music]

2:58:45

[music] Dear Loi, yesterday I got some

2:58:47

fellas to go up to the top of Lookout

2:58:49

Mountain. I could not help [music] but

2:58:51

feel a spark of ambition,

2:58:55

desire to make my name as immortal

2:58:57

[music] as that of Lookout Mountain.

2:59:01

My ambition cooled off and I began

2:59:04

[music] to think how I'd be perfectly

2:59:06

content to be at home with my wife,

2:59:10

never thought of after I die.

2:59:13

You need not be at all surprised [music]

2:59:15

to hear of some demonstration at any

2:59:17

moment.

2:59:21

As ever, you're devoted JK Callaway.

2:59:27

November 24th, 1863.

2:59:31

On a foggy, misty day, Grant's trusted

2:59:35

lieutenant, William Tecumsa Sherman,

2:59:38

leads a Union force of 16,000 from

2:59:41

Chattanooga to the northern tip of

2:59:44

Missionary Ridge.

2:59:48

The assault on the Confederate

2:59:50

stronghold is about to begin.

2:59:56

The same day, General Joseph Hooker and

2:59:59

some [music] 10,000 Union troops attack

3:00:02

1,500 Confederates dug into Lookout

3:00:04

Mountain.

3:00:07

The all day fight becomes known as the

3:00:10

battle above the clouds.

3:00:12

By nightfall, the overwhelmed

3:00:15

Confederates evacuate.

3:00:17

But the fate of Chattanooga will not be

3:00:19

determined at Lookout Mountain, but

3:00:21

rather Missionary Ridge.

3:00:31

The next morning, Sherman's assault on

3:00:33

Missionary Ridge goes nowhere.

3:00:38

A top the height are 4,000 Confederates,

3:00:42

skillfully led by General Patrick

3:00:44

Clayburn.

3:00:48

A Confederate defender remarks, "We feel

3:00:51

we can kill all they send after us."

3:00:55

With Sherman's attack paralyzed, Grant

3:00:58

turns to George Thomas, the Rock of

3:01:01

Chikamaga.

3:01:05

Grant orders Thomas to attack

3:01:07

Confederate rifle pits at the base of

3:01:09

Missionary Ridge.

3:01:12

But Thomas' veterans do not stop there.

3:01:16

They continue up the steep slope with

3:01:19

one thing in mind.

3:01:23

Redemption.

3:01:26

Once Thomas's troops took the trenches

3:01:29

at the base of the ridge. What the hell

3:01:32

were they supposed [music] to do? They

3:01:33

now were exposed to Confederate fire up

3:01:35

the ridge.

3:01:37

They just started moving up the Defiles.

3:01:41

It's not much different than the guys

3:01:42

going the shore at Omaha [music] Beach.

3:01:46

They know they got to take the high

3:01:47

ground eventually.

3:01:53

[screaming]

3:01:55

The Union attack on Missionary Ridge is

3:01:58

one of the most dramatic moments of the

3:02:00

entire war.

3:02:10

Among the Confederate defenders of

3:02:11

Missionary Ridge, the scene was

3:02:13

pandemonium and confusion.

3:02:18

With that, there was nothing left for

3:02:19

the Confederates to do but get away as

3:02:21

quick as they could, and they fled down

3:02:24

the back slope of Missionary Ridge as

3:02:26

fast as they could run.

3:02:30

Colonel C. Irvine Walker of the 10th

3:02:33

South Carolina Infantry.

3:02:36

I don't think any feat of the war can

3:02:39

equal their attack on Missionary Ridge.

3:02:42

If only our men had held their ground,

3:02:44

it would have been child's play.

3:02:46

But instead, they fled panicstricken

3:02:48

before the enemy. When I saw the men

3:02:50

running, I could not believe that these

3:02:52

were the heroes of Shiloh, Pville, Oak

3:02:55

Hills, and Chickamonga.

3:02:57

Bragg orders a retreat into Georgia.

3:03:01

With a Confederate defeat at

3:03:02

Chattanooga, the gateway to the deep

3:03:05

south has [music] been pried open.

3:03:08

A junior officer from Bragg's army later

3:03:10

calls the defeat at Missionary Ridge the

3:03:13

death nail of the Confederacy.

3:03:25

The battles of Chikamaga and Chattanooga

3:03:28

[music] result in 30,000 casualties for

3:03:30

the Army of Tennessee.

3:03:36

Some 2500 give their lives to the

3:03:39

Confederate cause.

3:03:49

Two weeks after the battles for

3:03:50

Chattanooga, Dulania Callaway receives

3:03:53

another correspondence.

3:03:57

Mrs. JK Callaway,

3:04:00

it now falls to my unhappy lot to write

3:04:03

you a short letter letting you know what

3:04:05

has become of your muchbeloved husband,

3:04:08

Lieutenant Joshua K. Callaway,

3:04:11

who fell in the Battle of Missionary

3:04:12

Ridge, mortally wounded.

3:04:16

While rallying his company, he was shot

3:04:18

through the boughels with a mini ball.

3:04:23

We picked him up and started off the

3:04:25

field when he asked us to lay him down

3:04:28

and die.

3:04:32

I have every reason to believe he's gone

3:04:34

to a better land where there's no more

3:04:37

war.

3:04:41

The company and officers deeply

3:04:42

sympathize with you and his loss.

3:04:45

But what is your loss and our loss is

3:04:49

his eternal gain.

3:04:54

WF AOK, Lieutenant Company K, 28th

3:04:58

Alabama Regiment.

3:05:04

With the death of her husband and the

3:05:06

knowledge now that he's not coming home,

3:05:09

Doulsonia Callaway has to begin

3:05:12

envisioning a future that she is going

3:05:15

to create for her children on her own.

3:05:20

And she's just like so many other white

3:05:23

women in the South because 18% of

3:05:26

southern white men of military age died

3:05:29

in this war. That's a significant loss

3:05:31

and it left many widows behind. And

3:05:34

these widows though, what choice do they

3:05:37

have? They have to move on.

3:05:42

By the end of 1863,

3:05:44

the war in the east remains a stalemate.

3:05:48

But the western theater is thus far a

3:05:51

stunning success for Union forces.

3:05:55

Since the war began, the North has been

3:05:58

victorious at forts Henry and

3:06:00

Donaldelsson, Shiloh, Corinth, Stones

3:06:03

River, Vixsburg, and Chattanooga.

3:06:07

To the south, the Union Navy has

3:06:10

captured the major port of New Orleans

3:06:12

and now controls the entire Mississippi

3:06:15

River. Equally important is the naval

3:06:18

blockade along the Gulf Coast [music]

3:06:20

that is squeezing the life out of the

3:06:22

Confederate economy.

3:06:27

And now the armies are poised on the

3:06:29

border of Georgia. And you can push down

3:06:32

into not just Georgia, but Alabama. And

3:06:35

you can you can really strike that final

3:06:37

dagger into the heart of the Western

3:06:39

Confederacy.

3:06:42

That dagger [music]

3:06:43

is now in the hands of Union General

3:06:45

William Tecumsa Sherman.

3:06:48

That's because Lincoln has promoted

3:06:49

Ulysiz S. Grant to Lieutenant General,

3:06:53

making him general and chief of all

3:06:55

Union armies.

3:06:57

Grant chooses to make his field

3:06:58

headquarters with the Army of the PTOAC

3:07:01

in its fight in Virginia.

3:07:04

And so what Lincoln is hoping with based

3:07:08

on his horrible experience with generals

3:07:10

in the east that if he can bring if he

3:07:13

can bring Grant from the west to the

3:07:15

east, Grant is going to do in the east

3:07:17

[music] what he did in the west.

3:07:21

Grant understands what Lincoln's

3:07:22

understood [music] for several years

3:07:25

that to win this war, the Union has to

3:07:28

attack the Confederacy simultaneously

3:07:32

everywhere.

3:07:34

In Virginia, Grant will attempt to do

3:07:37

what no Union general has been able to

3:07:39

accomplish,

3:07:40

except the unconditional surrender of

3:07:43

Roberty Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

3:07:48

People in the North might have sat back

3:07:50

and said, "Well, the war is almost over

3:07:52

now. Victory is within reach. Grant is

3:07:54

ready to move on Richmond. Sherman is

3:07:56

ready to move on Atlanta. We'll just

3:07:58

start counting the weeks now until the

3:08:00

war ends."

3:08:02

And then it all dried up.

3:08:08

May 1864,

3:08:10

a succession of battles in the confused

3:08:12

terrain northwest of Richmond results in

3:08:15

a bloodbath for the Union Army of the

3:08:17

[music] PTOAC.

3:08:21

At the battles of Wilderness,

3:08:24

Spennsylvania Courthouse, and Cold

3:08:26

Harbor,

3:08:27

Grant's forces suffer a staggering

3:08:30

50,000 casualties.

3:08:34

The catastrophic loss of life helps to

3:08:37

fuel a growing anti-war movement in the

3:08:39

North.

3:08:42

A vocal faction of the Democratic Party,

3:08:44

dubbed Copperheads by their Republican

3:08:46

rivals, vehemently [music] denounce

3:08:49

Lincoln's war policies.

3:08:52

One New York copperhead [music] writes,

3:08:55

"The war is murder,

3:08:57

nothing else."

3:09:00

If you look at how politics is being

3:09:01

done on the ground in 1864, what's been

3:09:04

happening

3:09:05

in Ohio?

3:09:07

Clement Leairard Valandigum,

3:09:10

an Ohio Democratic congressman who has

3:09:13

actually been arrested for anti-war

3:09:15

activities and expelled into the ranks

3:09:17

of the Confederacy,

3:09:19

is now running for governor of Ohio from

3:09:21

his vantage point across the border in

3:09:23

Canada.

3:09:25

And he has thousands upon thousands of

3:09:27

people turning out in rallies to support

3:09:30

him. The governor of New York is now a

3:09:33

Democrat. The governor of New Jersey is

3:09:35

now a Democrat. All of them very public,

3:09:40

very vehement in their denunciation of

3:09:42

the Emancipation Proclamation [music]

3:09:43

and the Lincoln administration.

3:09:47

The Copperheads not only demand

3:09:49

Lincoln's ouster, but also an immediate

3:09:52

peace treaty with the Confederacy.

3:09:55

They will become a political force in a

3:09:57

year when Lincoln faces reelection.

3:10:03

While Grant's offensive stalls in

3:10:05

Virginia, Sherman begins to move his

3:10:07

army of 100,000 from Chattanooga into

3:10:11

Georgia.

3:10:12

His mission to capture Atlanta, a major

3:10:16

manufacturing center and industrial hub

3:10:19

of the Confederate war machine. Its four

3:10:22

railroad lines bind together what is

3:10:24

left of the Confederacy.

3:10:26

The purpose of ultimately taking Atlanta

3:10:30

was to also bring [music]

3:10:32

havoc and destruction to the

3:10:35

Confederacy's ability to field troops to

3:10:39

supply them to keep their economy going.

3:10:42

Rail lines run through Atlanta. [music]

3:10:44

Munitions are being produced in Atlanta.

3:10:47

Clothing is being produced in Atlanta.

3:10:49

You have to strike that last not just

3:10:53

vulnerable place. [music] You have to

3:10:55

strike that last important place.

3:11:00

Marching towards Atlanta with 111th

3:11:03

Illinois Infantry is Austin Gilmore, a

3:11:06

former slave from Tennessee who has

3:11:09

volunteered to fight.

3:11:12

Austin, however, will not serve as a

3:11:15

soldier, but rather as a cook.

3:11:19

Like many in the north, Sherman does not

3:11:22

trust the fighting abilities of the

3:11:23

African-Ameans

3:11:25

after the war. He writes, "The Negro

3:11:28

should be a free man, but not put on any

3:11:31

equality with whites.

3:11:42

But hundreds of miles west at places

3:11:45

like Port Gibson, Mississippi and

3:11:47

Milikans Bend, Louisiana,

3:11:50

Africanameans have already proven

3:11:53

Sherman wrong. to let my [singing]

3:11:56

people.

3:12:02

In June 1863,

3:12:05

along the Mississippi River at Milikin's

3:12:07

Bend,

3:12:09

black soldiers put up fierce resistance

3:12:12

to a Confederate attack.

3:12:15

At Milikin's Bend, you have untrained

3:12:17

soldiers from Mississippi who do not

3:12:20

really know how to fire their weapons.

3:12:23

They end up in hand-to-hand combat. They

3:12:25

started using their bayonets and using

3:12:27

their musketss as clubs.

3:12:30

And once you hear the stories of those

3:12:33

who served in combat, how they fought,

3:12:36

then you realize they really are making

3:12:38

a statement. They're making it with

3:12:39

their blood.

3:12:41

Assistant Secretary of War Charles A.

3:12:44

Dana writes of the Battle of Milikin

3:12:46

Bend.

3:12:48

The bravery of the blacks completely

3:12:50

revolutionized the sentiment of the army

3:12:52

with regard to the employment of negro

3:12:54

troops.

3:12:59

But with their service has also come

3:13:01

tragedy and controversy.

3:13:10

As Sherman prepares for the Atlanta

3:13:12

campaign, a detachment of Confederate

3:13:15

cavalry attacks Fort Pillow,

3:13:19

a Union post along the Mississippi

3:13:21

River.

3:13:25

It is 40 m north of Memphis.

3:13:32

The cavalry is under command of Nathan

3:13:35

Bedford Forest.

3:13:39

To this day, Forest is at once reviled

3:13:42

and revered.

3:13:44

Before the war, he made a fortune in the

3:13:47

slave trade.

3:13:49

Enlisting as a private, Forest's [music]

3:13:51

daring battlefield exploits has seen him

3:13:54

rise to the rank of major general.

3:13:57

Among the 500 plus defenders of Fort

3:14:00

Pillow are 262 men of the US Colored

3:14:03

Artillery.

3:14:05

As they attempt to surrender,

3:14:07

many of the soldiers are killed.

3:14:11

Confederate Sergeant Achilles V. Clark

3:14:13

wrote, "The poor, deluded negroes would

3:14:17

run up to our men, fall upon their

3:14:19

knees, and with uplifted hands scream

3:14:22

for mercy,

3:14:24

but they were ordered to their feet,

3:14:27

and shot down.

3:14:32

200 of the 262 black soldiers at Fort

3:14:35

Pillow are killed.

3:14:40

A federal investigation after the war

3:14:42

concludes most were shot after the Union

3:14:45

garrison had surrendered.

3:14:53

The slaughter at Fort Pillow enrages

3:14:55

people throughout the North.

3:14:58

In the South, the Congress of the

3:15:00

Confederate States adopts a resolution

3:15:02

expressing its appreciation for forest.

3:15:06

With thousands of African-Ameans now

3:15:08

fighting for the Union, Confederate

3:15:11

President Jefferson Davis makes it clear

3:15:14

that captured black soldiers will not be

3:15:16

treated as prisoners of war,

3:15:19

but rather as slaves to be returned to

3:15:23

bondage.

3:15:28

which makes the story of Emma Stevenson

3:15:30

all the more remarkable.

3:15:34

Like Austin Gilmore, Emma is

3:15:36

emancipated.

3:15:39

Now marching towards Atlanta with

3:15:41

Sherman's army, Emma is a nurse with the

3:15:44

17th Army Corps.

3:15:47

I think a part of performing that kind

3:15:50

of work is that you want to have a stake

3:15:53

in liberating your people and in

3:15:55

essentially liberating yourself.

3:15:58

That's a powerful message.

3:16:02

And so it's very important for Americans

3:16:05

to know that there were Emma Stevenson's

3:16:07

in the midst of the war.

3:16:11

[crying]

3:16:13

In Sherman's way, 30 mi south of

3:16:15

Chattanooga is a Confederate army of

3:16:18

65,000 men.

3:16:21

Braxton Bragg has been replaced [music]

3:16:23

with General Joseph Johnston. Johnston

3:16:26

knows that the very future of the

3:16:27

Confederacy depends on protecting

3:16:30

Atlanta.

3:16:33

Keep it moving. Keep it moving.

3:16:35

At every opportunity, Johnston's men

3:16:38

build miles of makeshift fortifications.

3:16:46

For the Confederates, outnumbered almost

3:16:48

2 to1, trench warfare is an effective

3:16:51

defensive strategy.

3:16:55

One good man behind earthworks, writes

3:16:57

[music] an officer, should prevail over

3:17:00

four or five opponents advancing in the

3:17:02

open without cover.

3:17:06

The Federals respond with trenches of

3:17:08

their own.

3:17:12

Keep your head down, gentlemen.

3:17:16

Often the opposing earthworks lie within

3:17:19

a few yards of each other.

3:17:20

Keep your head down, Jack.

3:17:24

There he is.

3:17:27

Sergeant Johnny [music] Green is a

3:17:29

Confederate with the 9inth Kentucky

3:17:31

Infantry. Anyone

3:17:34

who shows his head above the trenches is

3:17:37

sure to have two or three mini balls

3:17:38

come singing around his ears. But we

3:17:41

soon got so accustomed [music] to it

3:17:43

that the boys grew very careless.

3:17:49

Keep your heads down, gentlemen. Keep

3:17:51

your heads down, man. Hit your target,

3:17:54

but keep your heads down.

3:17:59

For the past month in northern Georgia,

3:18:01

Sherman and Johnston have been waging a

3:18:04

deadly game of chess.

3:18:06

Time and again, Sherman has tried to

3:18:09

outflank the Confederate army. Each

3:18:12

time, his moves have been checked by

3:18:14

Johnston.

3:18:16

But in the process, the Confederate

3:18:18

general has been forced to yield

3:18:20

precious ground. By midJune 1864,

3:18:24

Johnston's army is [music] backed up to

3:18:26

within 20 miles of Atlanta.

3:18:32

Caught in a crossfire in the campaign

3:18:34

for Atlanta are the people of Cobb

3:18:37

County, Georgia. Population 14,000.

3:18:44

About 1th3 of those are slaves.

3:18:53

Most of the residents [music] are not

3:18:54

wealthy plantation owners, but yman

3:18:57

farmers who do not own slaves.

3:19:00

Hurry, girls. Hurry.

3:19:02

Lucinda Casey is a widow.

3:19:05

That's it. Let's go.

3:19:07

She struggles to keep the family farm

3:19:10

while raising three children.

3:19:13

We need to get her. So, will you help

3:19:16

her, please? Come on, Nancy. As

3:19:18

Sherman's army approaches,

3:19:21

Lucinda

3:19:22

and daughters Louisa, Nancy, and

3:19:26

Hazeline

3:19:29

quickly pack their belongings and flee

3:19:31

to the safety of Atlanta.

3:19:40

In June 1864,

3:19:42

more than 100,000 soldiers from both

3:19:45

Confederate and Union armies ravage Cobb

3:19:48

County.

3:19:52

At Lucinda Casey's home, nothing is

3:19:55

spared.

3:19:59

As Sherman's troops made their way

3:20:01

through Georgia, it showed that this war

3:20:04

had changed.

3:20:06

It had clearly become

3:20:09

closer to the lives of civilians. No

3:20:12

longer was the war something fought at a

3:20:15

distance, [screaming] something that was

3:20:18

on some remote battlefield.

3:20:21

That kind of distance between homeront

3:20:24

and battlefield had collapsed. That

3:20:26

really there wasn't much of a

3:20:28

distinction anymore.

3:20:30

And the war was now literally on

3:20:32

people's doorsteps.

3:20:36

Sherman has begun to craft this new

3:20:38

style of warfare. One of the ways that

3:20:41

you dominate, one of the ways that you

3:20:43

completely control is that everything

3:20:46

has a military objective.

3:20:49

Everything, every jin, every barn, every

3:20:54

horse, every cow, and every civilian,

3:20:59

everything becomes a military objective.

3:21:05

By mid June, Sherman's army has moved

3:21:08

within striking distance of his

3:21:10

objective.

3:21:12

Only one last mountain remains between

3:21:15

Sherman and Atlanta.

3:21:17

Kennesaw Mountain is over 1,800 [music]

3:21:21

ft high and 2 m long. Some call it the

3:21:26

Gibralar [music] of Georgia.

3:21:28

For Johnston, Kennesaw's rocky ridges

3:21:32

are the ideal [music] place to halt

3:21:34

Sherman.

3:21:38

The summit is a 700 ft precipice called

3:21:42

Big Kennesaw. To the south is a [music]

3:21:45

spur named Pigeon Hill. Further south is

3:21:48

a ridge soon to be known as Cheetum

3:21:51

Hill.

3:21:53

With an imposing 7mm line of defense,

3:21:57

the Confederates will dare Sherman to

3:21:59

attack.

3:22:01

Just 20 miles beyond Kennesaw Mountain

3:22:05

is Atlanta.

3:22:07

So, by the time that [music] you get to

3:22:08

Kennesaw, uh Sherman doesn't want to

3:22:10

flank around to the west anymore. It's

3:22:12

getting too far from this rail line. And

3:22:14

and flanking from the east, for whatever

3:22:16

reason, didn't seem to be much of a

3:22:18

discussed option. And so his third

3:22:23

option was to attack.

3:22:29

In the pre-dawn hours of June 27th,

3:22:33

Union officers receive special [music]

3:22:35

field orders. Number 28.

3:22:38

Major General Thomas will assault the

3:22:39

enemy at any point near his center to be

3:22:42

selected by [music] himself. Major

3:22:44

General at Kennesaw Mountain.

3:22:46

Sherman decides on a new tactic. Instead

3:22:49

of flanking,

3:22:51

he orders a frontal assault.

3:22:53

But attack some one point of the enemy's

3:22:55

line is near.

3:22:56

Upon hearing the order, an officer with

3:22:59

the 86th Illinois responds [music] by

3:23:01

saying,

3:23:03

"The stupidity of this order is enough

3:23:05

to paralyze me."

3:23:07

By order of Major General Deput Sherman,

3:23:11

a little after 8:00 a.m., the Battle of

3:23:14

Kennesaw Mountain begins.

3:23:18

5,500 federals surge up the steep slopes

3:23:21

of Pigeon Hill.

3:23:24

A knob just below Kennesaw Mountain.

3:23:35

The attack is doomed from the stars.

3:23:48

The battle of Kennesaw Mountain

3:23:52

goes against

3:23:54

everything that Sherman has been talking

3:23:57

about and has been trying to do.

3:24:02

Why does he do why does he make this uh

3:24:04

you know assault direct assault against

3:24:07

dug in troops

3:24:11

on a high mountain.

3:24:14

But why does he do this when it it's

3:24:16

clear that this is just not going to

3:24:18

work?

3:24:26

Sherman orders old cooks and musicians

3:24:28

to the Kennesaw battlefield to aid the

3:24:30

wounded.

3:24:33

Unarmed, Austin Gilmore attempts to save

3:24:36

a Union soldier wounded on Pigeon Hill.

3:24:43

The former slave is struck in the hip by

3:24:45

a mini bowl.

3:24:49

Yet Gilmore manages to [music] drive the

3:24:51

soldier to safety.

3:24:57

The Union wounded are taken to a field

3:25:00

hospital at the base of Kennesaw

3:25:02

Mountain.

3:25:04

It is a crude open air facility with

3:25:06

little regard to sanitation.

3:25:10

[music] Antibiotics have not yet been

3:25:12

discovered.

3:25:14

Medical instruments go unsterilized.

3:25:18

The overwhelmed surgeons work [music]

3:25:20

courageously

3:25:23

as do battlefield nurses

3:25:25

like Emma Stevenson.

3:25:28

She was in a hospital where there was

3:25:31

probably not enough room for all [music]

3:25:32

of the patients there. So it was

3:25:35

crowded,

3:25:36

it was loud, it was [music] horrifying.

3:25:40

And yet she still chose this line of

3:25:43

work.

3:25:44

It says something about [music] her

3:25:46

determination to become free, her

3:25:49

determination to do what she could to

3:25:51

ensure that the Union Army had the labor

3:25:54

and the resources it needed to win this

3:25:56

war.

3:25:59

Sherman's frontal assault on Pigeon Hill

3:26:02

is a disaster.

3:26:04

Keep ping.

3:26:06

Come on, [screaming] lad. Push it.

3:26:13

An officer with the 53rd Ohio sums up

3:26:16

the fight on Pigeon Hill by saying, "The

3:26:19

rebels fought with a desperation worthy

3:26:21

of a better cause."

3:26:26

Simultaneous to the fight on Pigeon

3:26:27

Hill, Sherman launches the other wave of

3:26:30

his main attack. It occurs not at Big

3:26:34

Kennesaw, but 2 miles south at Chetm

3:26:37

Hill.

3:26:39

In the woods below Chitham Hill are

3:26:42

8,000 Union soldiers.

3:26:45

To embolden his 52nd Ohio, Colonel Dan

3:26:48

Mcook recites a poem about warriors of

3:26:52

ancient Rome.

3:26:54

Outspake brave Horatius, the captain of

3:26:57

the gate. To every man upon this earth,

3:27:01

death cometh soon or late.

3:27:06

And how can man die better

3:27:09

than facing fearful odds

3:27:13

for the ashes of your fathers

3:27:16

and the temples

3:27:18

of your gods.

3:27:26

Easy boys, easy.

3:27:28

To reach the Confederate earthworks on

3:27:30

Chetam Hill.

3:27:34

What?

3:27:36

The Federals must advance across an open

3:27:39

field in battery

3:27:46

and up a steep incline.

3:27:57

Come on.

3:28:00

It is a 400yard march

3:28:03

into certain death.

3:28:07

Aim

3:28:10

close enough to the works.

3:28:14

[music]

3:28:36

Heat. Heat.

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