Trace the roots of the Civil War through the opening stages of the fighting at Bull Run and beyond. In the West, bloody battles are fought at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and Stones River as the Union slowly cuts the South in two along the Mississippi River. In the East, the Confederates outmaneuver the Union armies in their defense of Richmond. An ill-planned invasion of Maryland end in Confederate disaster at Antietam, but Robert E. Lee's army remains unbroken and inflicts a terrible defeat upon the Union Army at Fredericksburg only two months later.

The tide of the war changes decisively against the South as Grant takes Vicksburg. Meanwhile in the East, Robert E. Lee's second invasion of the North is thrown back during three bloody days at Gettysburg. In early 1864, Grant takes supreme command of all Union armies and plans a grand offensive against the Confederates on all fronts. Starting in May, Grant unleashes his campaign against Robert E. Lee, and the two sides suffer tens of thousands of casualties at Wilderness, Spotslyvania and Cold Harbor.

Grant and Lee are locked in siege warfare at Petersburg. With Lee pinned down, Sherman strikes at the heart of the Confederacy and captures Atlanta. In November 1864, Lincoln's re-election dooms Confederate hopes for a negotiated peace. Sherman undertakes his famous March to the Sea then heads north to join with Grant. In the spring, Lee tries to escape from Grant's grip at Petersburg only to see his army disintegrate. In April 1865, he surrenders his tattered force. At war's end, Lincoln stands poised to be benevolent in peace, but an assassination's bullet dooms any hope of easy reconciliation.