WAR IS ALL HELL – 1865

THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE – 1865

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 @ 7:00PM & 12:00AM

Episode Eight: War Is All Hell (1865)

The episode begins with William Tecumseh Sherman’s brilliant march to the sea, which brings the war to the heart of Georgia and the Carolinas and spells the end of the Confederacy. In March, following Lincoln’s second inauguration, first Petersburg and then Richmond finally fall to Grant’s army. Lee’s tattered Army of Northern Virginia flees westward toward a tiny crossroads town called Appomattox Court House. There the dramatic and deeply moving surrender of Lee to Grant takes place. The episode ends in Washington, where John Wilkes Booth begins to dream of vengeance for the South.

Episode Nine: The Better Angels of Our Nature (1865)

This extraordinary final episode of The Civil War begins in the bittersweet aftermath of Lee’s surrender and then goes on to narrate the horrendous events of five days later when, on April 14, Lincoln is assassinated. After chronicling Lincoln’s poignant funeral, the series recounts the final days of the war, the capture of John Wilkes Booth, and the fates of the Civil War’s major protagonists. The episode then considers the consequences and meaning of a war that transformed the country from a collection of states to the nation we are today.

FIND OUT MORE »

THE CIVIL WAR

VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH

MOST HALLOWED GROUND

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 @ 10:00pm

Episode Six: Valley of the Shadow of Death (1864)

Episode Six begins with a biographical comparison of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee and then chronicles the extraordinary series of battles that pitted the two generals against each other from the wilderness to Petersburg in Virginia. In 30 days, the two armies lose more men than both sides have lost in three years of war. With Grant and Lee finally deadlocked at Petersburg, we visit the ghastly hospitals north and south and follow General Sherman’s Atlanta campaign through the mountains of north Georgia. As the horrendous casualty lists increase, Lincoln’s chances for reelection begin to dim, and with them the possibility of Union victory.

Episode Seven: Most Hallowed Ground (1864)

The episode begins with the presidential election of 1864 that sets Abraham Lincoln against his old commanding general, George McClellan. The stakes are nothing less than the survival of the Union itself: with Grant and Sherman stalled at Petersburg and Atlanta, opinion in the North has turned strongly against the war. But 11th-hour victories at Mobile Bay, Atlanta, and the Shenandoah Valley tilt the election to Lincoln and the Confederacy’s last hope for independence dies. In an ironic twist, poignantly typical of the Civil War, Lee’s Arlington mansion is turned into a Union military hospital and the estate becomes Arlington National Cemetery, the Union’s most hallowed ground.

FIND OUT MORE »

VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH

MOST HALLOWED GROUND

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 @ 7:00PM & 12:00AM

Episode Six: Valley of the Shadow of Death (1864)

Episode Six begins with a biographical comparison of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee and then chronicles the extraordinary series of battles that pitted the two generals against each other from the wilderness to Petersburg in Virginia. In 30 days, the two armies lose more men than both sides have lost in three years of war. With Grant and Lee finally deadlocked at Petersburg, we visit the ghastly hospitals north and south and follow General Sherman’s Atlanta campaign through the mountains of north Georgia. As the horrendous casualty lists increase, Lincoln’s chances for reelection begin to dim, and with them the possibility of Union victory.

Episode Seven: Most Hallowed Ground (1864)

The episode begins with the presidential election of 1864 that sets Abraham Lincoln against his old commanding general, George McClellan. The stakes are nothing less than the survival of the Union itself: with Grant and Sherman stalled at Petersburg and Atlanta, opinion in the North has turned strongly against the war. But 11th-hour victories at Mobile Bay, Atlanta, and the Shenandoah Valley tilt the election to Lincoln and the Confederacy’s last hope for independence dies. In an ironic twist, poignantly typical of the Civil War, Lee’s Arlington mansion is turned into a Union military hospital and the estate becomes Arlington National Cemetery, the Union’s most hallowed ground.

FIND OUT MORE »

SIMPLY MURDER – 1863

THE UNIVERSE OF BATTLE – 1863

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 @ 9:00PM

Episode Four: Simply Murder (1863)

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 home front. As the episode ends, Lee decides to invade the North again to draw Grant’s forces away from Vicksburg.

Episode Five: The Universe of Battle (1863)

This episode opens with a dramatic account of the turning point of war: the Battle of Gettysburg, the greatest ever fought in the Western Hemisphere. For three days, 150,000 men will fight to the death in the Pennsylvania countryside, culminating in George Pickett’s legendary charge. This extended episode then chronicles the fall of Vicksburg, the New York draft riots, the first use of black troops, and the western battles at Chickamauga, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. The episode closes with the dedication in November of a new Union cemetery at Gettysburg, where Abraham Lincoln struggles to put into words what is happening to his people.

FIND OUT MORE »

A VERY BLOODY AFFAIR – 1862

FOREVER FREE – 1862

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 @ 10:00PM

The year 1862 saw the birth of modern warfare and the transformation of Lincoln’s war to preserve the Union into a war to emancipate the slaves. Episode Two begins with the political infighting that threatened to swamp Lincoln’s administration and then follows Union General George McClellan’s ill-fated campaign on the Virginia Peninsula, where his huge army meets a smaller but infinitely more resourceful Confederate force. During this episode we witness the battle of ironclad ships, partake of camp life, and watch slavery begin to crumble. We meet Ulysses S. Grant, whose exploits come to a bloody climax at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee. The episode ends with rumors of Europe’s readiness to recognize the Confederacy.

FIND OUT MORE »

MUHAMMAD ALI

THURSDAY, MARCH 8 @ 7:00PM

The film follows Ali’s rise from the Columbia Gym in Louisville to international fame, as he transcended his great athletic achievements to become one of the most influential Americans of his time: how this once polarizing figure ultimately became a beloved and honored national hero. Key events include Ali’s stunning Islamic conversion and name change, his dramatic stand against the Vietnam-era draft, his 3-year exile from the ring, his legendary comeback fights, his battle with Parkinson’s disease, and his inspirational reemergence on the world stage at the Atlanta Olympics.

FIND OUT MORE »