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 The
nightmarish Union disaster at Fredericksburg comes to
two climaxes that spring: at Chancellorsville in May,
where Lee wins his most brilliant victory but loses
Stonewall Jackson; and at Vicksburg, where Grant’s
attempts to take the city by siege are stopped. During
the episode we learn of fierce Northern opposition to
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the miseries
of regimental life and the increasing desperation of
the Confederate homefront. As the episode ends, Lee
decides to invade the North again to draw Grant’s
forces away from Vicksburg.
Detailed Episode Description with time code:
Prologue :00 -:01:43
Historian Shelby Foote explains the rebel yell.
4.1 Chapter 1 - THE CIVIL WAR Series Title
:01:44 - :05:00
Despite the Northern victory at Antietam, despite emancipation,
and despite the Union's superiority in men and material,
the North is coming close to fumbling all it has. But
the fragile Confederate coalition is also coming apart.
4.2 Chapter 2 - 1863 Simply Murder
:05:01 - :08:13
In the Northern winter camp, "the Union's Valley
Forge," morale is low as hundreds die from disease
due to unsanitary conditions.
4.3 Chapter 3 - Northern Lights :08:14
- :21:32
The Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, December 1862
- where entrenched rebel forces under Robert E. Lee
kill or wound 12,600 Union soldiers under Ambrose Burnside
- it is another debacle for the Union.
4.4 Chapter 4 - Oh! Be Joyful :21:33
- :31:46
Humorous section on the food and drink of soldiers,
North and South. Introduction to John Singleton Moseby,
a brilliant Southern General. Frederick Douglass pressures
the government to arm the free blacks and former slaves.
In the North, soldiers desert over Emancipation, and
the Copperhead movement tries to undermine Lincoln and
the war effort.
4.5 Chapter 5 - The Kingdom of Jones
:31:47 - :42:11
On the home front, Southerners cope with terrible inflation
and lack of basic consumer goods. In Richmond, women
riot over the price of bread, and in the rebel army
morale is very low. Interlude on the music of the war,
North and South.
4.6 Chapter 6 - Under the Shade of the Trees
:42:12 - :51:22
Lincoln appoints Joseph Hooker to lead the Union army.
He faces Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia
and loses 17,000 men to Lee's 13,000. But Lee's most
brilliant victory is also his costliest; Stonewall Jackson
dies from a battle wound on May 10th.
4.7 Chapter 7 - A Dust-Covered Man
:51:23 - :57:21
U. S. Grant daringly sneaks up from behind on the crucial
Southern city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and settles in
for a siege, trapping 31,000 Confederates. Lee decides
to invade Union soil again to force Grant to move north
to defend Washington.
Click here for the Educator's
Index PDF (208k)
[The Educator's Index is an alphabetical and timecode specific listing of topics covered in each episode.] |
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