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- [Narrator] This video
was made possible by Honey.
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(ominous music)
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As the Union's struggle
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to take control in the East continued,
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elsewhere, the war raged on.
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The Confederates attempted
an invasion of Kentucky,
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hoping the state as a
whole would join them,
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but they were pushed back.
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The Indian territory saw
Native American tribes ally
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with one side or the other
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in the hopes of securing
rights after the war.
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Along the Mississippi,
General Ulysses S. Grant
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remained one of the few Union generals
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scoring major victories.
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With his best pal General
Sherman by his side,
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Grant led his armies down the Mississippi
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to the Confederate
stronghold of Vicksburg.
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Both sides knew that if Vicksburg fell,
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the Confederacy would be split in two,
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and the Confederates prepared
for an intense defense
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of the city.
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But back in the East,
Lincoln still wanted somebody
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to march south and take Richmond.
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Having given General McClellan the boot,
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he needed a new man in charge.
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All right, Mr. President,
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option one is General Hooker.
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Bit of a nutcase, but a good general.
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Option two, his qualifications
are his name is Burnside,
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and he has freakin' dope-ass sideburns.
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Say no more!
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So General Burnside was put in charge
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of the Army of the Potomac and sent south.
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Lincoln hoped he finally had
a general who could succeed.
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Burnside met General Lee at
the city of Fredericksburg,
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where he intended to
rapidly cross the river
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and take the city.
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But the Union War Department was too slow
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in delivering the pontoon bridges,
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and the two sides were forced to camp
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across from each other,
close enough to speak.
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Hey, Yankee, ready to
get your butt kicked?
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Yeah, right, Rebel. God is on our side.
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No way! God's on our side!
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Oh, ya think so?
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Well, why don't we ask him?
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Hey God, whose side are you on?
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(lightning zaps)
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Ow. Dude, uncool.
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With over 100,000 men, the Union army
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finally launched their massive attack
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on the 11th of December.
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But by now, the Confederates
had amassed their forces.
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During the battle, wave
after wave of brave Union men
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marched headlong into a
brutal Confederate onslaught.
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Even the Confederates couldn't believe
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what they were seeing,
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and in one moment of comradery,
a Confederate sergeant,
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unable to take it,
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reportedly came out into the field
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to tend to the Union wounded.
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Seeing this, the Union
troops held their fire.
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Still, Burnside and his
forces were soundly defeated
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at Fredericksburg and forced to retreat.
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Lincoln's popularity and Northern morale
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continued to plummet,
especially as the winter
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heading into 1863 was bad.
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The winter camps were rife with disease.
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The food was less than appealing.
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On both sides, men began to leave.
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Hey, where do you think you're going?
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I'm deserting.
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What?! Don't you love your country?
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Yes, I do, and I'm
trying to get back to it
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as quick as I can.
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Lincoln, ever the kind
and caring man he was,
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spent much of his time pardoning
deserters' death sentences.
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Oh my, here's a 17-year-old boy
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sentenced to be hanged.
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Well, I'd better suspend his sentence
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or he'll be suspended tomorrow.
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(men groaning)
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What?
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Try to keep the numbers up,
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both sides had introduced conscription.
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There was controversy
in the North, however,
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since Rich men could simply pay
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to have someone else
fight on their behalf.
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Riots broke out in New York City,
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with enraged mobs, furious at the idea
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of going to fight for slaves,
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an idea that many of them
simply did not support.
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However, after so much pressure,
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the Union had finally begun
allowing black men to enlist,
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and these men,
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knowing what they were
fighting for, signed up.
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By the end of the war,
nearly 200,000 troops,
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10% of the Union Army, would be black.
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The valor and bravery
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they showed throughout silencing critics.
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Okay, well that last guy was useless.
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Let's try this Hooker fellow.
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General Joseph Hooker was put in charge
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of the Army of the Potomac,
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and once again, Lincoln
ordered him to move south
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and take Richmond.
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Hooker met Lee at the
battle of Chancellorsville,
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where Hooker had over
twice the men Lee did.
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Lee was forced to defy
all military convention
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and split his smaller force into two.
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Lee had absolutely no chance
of winning, and Lee won.
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It was his masterpiece.
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Lee did suffer one significant loss
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during the battle, though.
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As his right-hand man, Stonewall Jackson,
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was riding back to the
Confederate lines at night,
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the nervous Confederate troops,
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unable to recognize him,
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opened fire.
(rifle firing)
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You boys done goofed up.
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Jackson died eight days later.
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As for Lincoln, he couldn't believe it.
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It was yet another loss,
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and Northern support continued to waver.
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While the Union kept on
struggling in the East,
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out West, Unconditional Surrender Grant
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was making moves as always.
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In an attempt to take
Vicksburg on the Mississippi,
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he made a series of
risky and bold movements.
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He sent a cavalry raid,
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and feigned Sherman north
to confuse the enemy.
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Then, aided by a fleet of
ironclads on the river,
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he raced his army south
to cross the Mississippi.
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Aware that the terrain to
the north was restrictive,
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instead, he strategically moved northeast,
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hitting Vicksburg's supply
line and defending his rear
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from Confederate armies in Jackson.
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Once he reached Vicksburg,
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the Confederate defense became hardened,
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and Grant was forced to settle
in for a month-long siege,
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during which time, he got rather bored.
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Despite not taking the
city, Lincoln loved it,
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and encouraged Grant to hold firm.
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It would only be a matter of
time before the Mississippi
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was in Union hands.
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Around this time, the people
in the west of Virginia,
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who had remained loyal
to the Union throughout,
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finally broke away to
form their own state.
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They could have named it
anything in the world,
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but the creative minds at the time
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came up with the ingenious West Virginia.
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Back in Washington, Lincoln
once again wanted a new general
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to take command.
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Oh my goodness.
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Why do all these 19th century
generals look so bust?
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Look, we got Sleepy Eyes Joe here.
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That's Princess Leia with a mustache.
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E.T., phone the doctor!
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Fine. Why don't we give Snapping
Turtle McGee here a shot?
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So General Snapping Turtle McGee
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was put in charge of
the Army of the Potomac,
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and it was a crucial time for the Union,
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because once again, the
Confederates decided to go
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on the attack.
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So far, they had done
exceedingly well militarily,
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but as the war kept going,
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the Confederate economy was crumbling.
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Riots broke out in the streets of Richmond
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as the price of bread skyrocketed.
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Supplies were dwindling.
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Jefferson Davis wanted to send
men west to rescue Vicksburg,
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but General Lee knew the
longer the war lasted,
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the worse their chances got,
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and he still hoped if he
could just threaten DC,
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the already demoralized
North would surrender.
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So in June, 1863, with
the momentum behind him,
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General Lee once again entered the North,
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fighting his way through
Maryland and into Pennsylvania.
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General Meade set out to meet him
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for what would be the
most significant battle
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of the entire war.
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If the Confederates won, DC could fall.
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If the Union won, it
would be a turning point,
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as the Confederates
would run out of steam,
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and the small town that
was to get caught up
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in the crossfire of the largest
battle in American history
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was Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
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On June 1st, units from each
army encountered one another
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and skirmished through the town itself.
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The townspeople were
forced to take refuge.
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Except for one man, who
reportedly ran outside
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for a strange reason.
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Joseph, what are you doing?
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I'm not gonna let them take my beans!
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How many times do I have to tell you,
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they're not here for your beans!
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By the second day, over
100,000 men stretched for miles
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across the battlefield.
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Lee took the initiative, deciding
to hit the enemy's flanks,
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and he came very close
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to breaking through the
Union's disorganized left,
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but Union Colonel Joshua Chamberlain
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ordered a desperate bayonet charge,
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smashing into the Confederates
and forcing them back.
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The Union forces held across the line.
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On the final day, Lee
believed the Union army
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had fortified its flanks,
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so we decided to finish them off
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with one massive central assault.
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The Confederates rushed at the Union lines
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during General Pickett's charge,
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and this time, it was the Union's turn
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to unleash hell.
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Meade had correctly
guessed Lee's strategy,
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and the Confederates were decimated,
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forced to turn and flee.
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A devastated General Lee called out
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to his fleeing and wounded men,
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telling them it was his fault.
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And after holding for a
counterattack that never came,
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he ordered a retreat back into Virginia.
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The North had just managed
to score a massive victory,
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and one they desperately needed.
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And if that wasn't enough,
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in the West, after a month-long siege,
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Vicksburg finally fell.
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The North now held the Mississippi,
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and better yet, it was the 4th of July.
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With control of the Mississippi,
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Union forces moved into
Arkansas and Tennessee.
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Tennessee in particular saw heavy fighting
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with Union General Rosecrans
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masterfully pushing Braxton
Bragg's Army of the Tennessee
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out of Tennessee.
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He suffered a major setback, however,
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at the bloody battle of Chickamauga,
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and ended up under a Confederate
siege at Chattanooga.
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At one point during the siege,
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a temporary truce was declared
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so that wounded men could be recovered.
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And often in the Civil War,
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during these small truces,
men from both sides
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would meet in the middle to trade things
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like tobacco, coffee,
and maybe even honey.
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So thank you.
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Now, where was I?
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Oh yeah, Vicksburg, 4th of July,
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and the siege of Chattanooga.
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Thankfully, General Grant,
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now in charge of all western Union armies,
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showed up and karate-kicked Bragg
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right back into Georgia, like this.
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(Bragg thumping)
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With Sherman and Hooker,
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Grant took on Confederate positions
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in the mountains around the city,
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including the famous
Battle Above the Clouds
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and Mission Ridge.
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Grant continued to be
Lincoln's number one guy.
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With these victories,
Lincoln hoped the war
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was finally turning.
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Back in Gettysburg,
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the entire town had been
turned into a hospital
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to care for the scores of wounded men.
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Throughout the war, on both sides,
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women such as Clara Barton
rose to the occasion,
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doing crucial work on the home front
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and volunteering as nurses
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for those who had given their lives.
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A new national cemetery was to
be established at Gettysburg,
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and Abraham Lincoln traveled out to attend
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the opening ceremony.
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At the event, the main
speaker spoke for two hours.
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Then Abraham Lincoln was called forward
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to give some brief appropriate remarks.
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In just two minutes, he
masterfully and poignantly iterated
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America's national purpose
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and the need to continue the fight.
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The Gettysburg Address would become
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one of the most famous
speeches in American history.
00:10:33
While they were now making progress,
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the North still couldn't
find a decisive victory
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in the East, and that
was bad news for Lincoln,
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because his presidency was
now in its fourth year.
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In 1864, there was an election coming.
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The Confederates knew this too,
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and with little hope left
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of being able to threaten
the North militarily,
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they believed their last shot at victory
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may be in the election.
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Since Lincoln, emancipation,
and the war itself
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weren't exactly popular,
people in the North
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were sick of war and wanted
to put it behind them.
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Robert E. Lee hoped that
if he could just hold out
00:11:03
and continue to inflict more defeats,
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the people of the North
would vote Lincoln out
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and replace him with
a Southern sympathizer
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who may be willing to negotiate.
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Lincoln knew now he
desperately needed a victory.
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Now, I know what you're thinking.
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"But OverSimplified, if Lincoln
loves General Grant so much,
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then why doesn't he put him
in charge of the campaign
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in the East?"
00:11:21
Well, guess what, loyal subscriber?
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You've hit the nail on the head.
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You're bold, Grant. I'll grant you that.
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I'm promoting you to general-in-chief,
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and I ain't taking you for granted.
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Now, I want you to go defeat
Lee. Grant me my wish!
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Please stop.
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So Grant was put in charge,
and he came up with a new plan.
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He wanted to press the
Confederates on all fronts.
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With General Banks to
capture Mobile, Alabama,
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General Sherman moving south to Atlanta,
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and Grant joining the Army of the Potomac
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as they advanced through Virginia,
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in May, 1864, that plan went into action.
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Sherman steadily advanced on Atlanta,
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facing off against the
smaller Confederate army
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under General Joseph E. Johnston.
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In addition, a cruel yet
highly skilled cavalry general,
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and winner of the funniest
Confederate statue award,
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Nathan Bedford Forrest, was also nearby,
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doing his best to threaten
Sherman's advance.
00:12:08
But in a series of
battles, Sherman dominated,
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and pushed Johnson back to the city,
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but he was held just
outside of Atlanta itself,
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and was forced to lay siege.
00:12:18
Meanwhile, the main show was happening
00:12:20
to the east in Virginia.
00:12:21
The Union's top general was
finally about to face off
00:12:24
against the Confederacy's.
00:12:25
Lincoln hoped Grant
would bring something new
00:12:27
to the Eastern theater, and
bring something new he did.
00:12:30
As Grant began moving south,
00:12:32
Lee still regularly outmaneuvered him
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and inflicted heavy casualties,
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hoping to demoralize the
North as much as he could.
00:12:38
But here's what set
Grant apart from others.
00:12:40
He knew Lee was running out of men,
00:12:42
and that the North by
comparison had plenty.
00:12:44
Grant would throw his forces at Lee,
00:12:46
and even when Lee repelled them,
00:12:47
Grant, rather than pulling back,
00:12:49
would give the order
to keep moving forward
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and flank Lee, again and again.
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In under six weeks, 80,000
men would be killed,
00:12:57
wounded, or missing.
00:12:59
In DC, Grant was criticized
for being a butcher.
00:13:01
At the Battle of the Wilderness,
00:13:03
the Union casualties were so heavy
00:13:05
that Grant reportedly began to weep.
00:13:07
But still, Grant could replace his losses.
00:13:09
Lee couldn't, and he was being pushed
00:13:11
all the way back to Richmond.
00:13:13
Lee knew once he got
there, he'd be under siege.
00:13:16
Then it would only be a matter of time.
00:13:18
Close to Richmond, Grant again
suffered horrific casualties
00:13:21
in a miscalculated assault at Cold Harbor.
00:13:24
Then, trying to be a tricksty trickster,
00:13:26
instead of moving on Richmond directly,
00:13:27
Grant moved towards Petersburg
00:13:29
to fight the Confederate capital
00:13:30
and cut its supply line.
00:13:32
But just like Sherman, Grant
was halted outside of the city,
00:13:35
and he too was forced to
settle in for a siege.
00:13:38
Two identical sieges
would not be good enough
00:13:41
for Lincoln's re-election.
00:13:42
The people of the North saw the casualties
00:13:44
Grant had been taking,
00:13:45
and they weren't happy.
00:13:46
To make matters worse, Lee
had sent Jubal Early north
00:13:49
to threaten DC, with the
hope of forcing Grant
00:13:51
to withdraw troops from Richmond.
00:13:53
Early was repelled on the
outskirts of the city,
00:13:55
with President Lincoln even
attending as an observer.
00:13:57
But the North had been given a fright.
00:13:59
So with the war currently in a stalemate,
00:14:01
who was to be Lincoln's opponent
00:14:03
in the critical 1864 election?
00:14:05
Who would the Democrats choose?
00:14:07
Guess what, baby? I'm back!
00:14:09
That's right, General George B. McClellan
00:14:12
would run for president
against Abraham Lincoln.
00:14:15
My fellow countrymen, if you elect me,
00:14:18
I, the great General George McClellan,
00:14:20
will fearlessly and valiantly win the war,
00:14:23
unlike this douchebag.
00:14:24
Many Democrats, however,
00:14:26
including McClellan's running
mate, wanted to end the war.
00:14:28
So it's possible McClellan
may have ended up fearlessly
00:14:31
and valiantly making peace
with the Confederates,
00:14:33
which is exactly what
they were hoping for.
00:14:36
With the war in a stalemate
00:14:37
and Lincoln still not popular,
00:14:38
it looked like McClellan would win,
00:14:40
and the Confederacy may have a chance
00:14:41
at surviving after all.
00:14:43
Lincoln himself said
that without some kind
00:14:45
of major victory, it seemed
"exceedingly probable
00:14:48
that this administration
will not be re-elected."
00:14:51
Well, fret not, Abe,
00:14:52
because if it's a major victory you want,
00:14:54
it's a major victory you'll get.
00:14:56
Atlanta had been under siege
00:14:57
by General Sherman for just over a month.
00:15:00
After a number of battles around the city,
00:15:01
Sherman sent a force south
00:15:03
to sever the city's supply line,
00:15:04
and Confederate General Hood
was forced to abandon it.
00:15:07
Atlanta, one of the Confederacy's
most important cities,
00:15:10
had fallen into Union hands.
00:15:12
For many, it was clear
00:15:13
that the Confederacy's
defeat was now inevitable,
00:15:16
and the war would soon be over.
00:15:18
When the final results came in,
00:15:19
Lincoln had won with an
Electoral College landslide,
00:15:22
with the troops in particular
voting overwhelmingly
00:15:25
for Lincoln, which must have been touching
00:15:26
for their commander-in-chief.
00:15:28
Hey man, looks like you
lost. No hard feelings?
00:15:31
I didn't lose, I merely failed to win!
00:15:34
In January, Lincoln
involved himself heavily
00:15:36
in ensuring the 13th Amendment
made it through Congress.
00:15:39
In a narrow and historic
vote, the amendment passed.
00:15:43
Slavery would now be
constitutionally banished
00:15:45
throughout the nation.
00:15:47
Black men and women, watching
the vote from the galleries,
00:15:49
knew the work had only just begun.
00:15:52
A couple months later, at
his second inauguration,
00:15:54
with victory right around the corner,
00:15:56
he didn't celebrate, he didn't gloat.
00:15:58
Instead, he emphasized
the need for reunification
00:16:01
and binding up wounds.
00:16:02
To him, Americans, North or South,
00:16:05
were to again be compatriots.
00:16:08
However, listening to
Lincoln speak that day
00:16:10
was a man who had no
interest in reunification.
00:16:13
John Wilkes Booth, an actor living in DC,
00:16:16
was also a deep Southern sympathizer,
00:16:18
and as the war turned
against the Confederacy,
00:16:20
depressed and full of hate,
00:16:22
he was already plotting
his revenge on the man
00:16:24
he held responsible.
00:16:26
With further Confederate losses,
00:16:28
it was pretty clear at
this point who would win,
00:16:30
but still, Jefferson Davis
showed no sign of giving in.
00:16:33
The North were frustrated
to see the conflict
00:16:36
being dragged out.
00:16:37
Why waste more lives?
00:16:39
In Atlanta, General Sherman
believed he had the key
00:16:41
to forcing the Confederacy's hand.
00:16:43
He had an unusually modern concept
00:16:45
that an army could only
survive with the support
00:16:47
of the people.
00:16:48
Strike at the people,
and the army collapses.
00:16:51
Sherman decided to do
something unprecedented.
00:16:53
He would remove his 62,000
men from their supply line
00:16:56
and March through the
heartland of the Confederacy,
00:16:58
where they would live off the land.
00:17:00
There, they would wreak havoc.
00:17:02
As they marched, they tore up railroads,
00:17:04
burned farms, and destroyed
communication lines.
00:17:06
They also liberated thousands of slaves.
00:17:09
The damage done was
estimated at $1.4 billion.
00:17:13
The tactics were cruel, but to Sherman,
00:17:15
it was better than losing
yet more men in battle.
00:17:18
In December, he reached Savannah, Georgia,
00:17:20
but he wasn't done yet.
00:17:22
Next he turned north to
inflict his punishment
00:17:24
on the first state to
secede, South Carolina.
00:17:28
As he moved, he came ever
closer to General Lee's army,
00:17:30
still holding out at Petersburg.
00:17:33
The siege of Petersburg
had lasted for 292 days.
00:17:36
60,000 of Lee's men had deserted.
00:17:38
Numerous Union attempts to
break through had failed.
00:17:41
But when the breakthrough finally came,
00:17:43
it came quick.
00:17:44
On April 2nd, a Union assault
00:17:46
finally pushed the Confederates
from their defenses.
00:17:48
Hey man, there's no
need to evacuate, right?
00:17:50
You'll rescue us like last time, right?
00:17:53
Sorry. Can't hear you.
(car engine revving)
00:17:55
Lee narrowly escaped the city,
00:17:56
hoping he'd be able to meet
up with General Johnson
00:17:58
and continue the fight.
00:18:00
Grant chased him down.
00:18:01
Richmond was evacuated, and
Jefferson Davis went on the run.
00:18:05
As they left, the Confederates set fire
00:18:07
to military buildings,
00:18:08
but the flames burned out of control,
00:18:10
and as the Union troops arrived,
they became firefighters.
00:18:13
A couple of days later,
00:18:15
Abraham Lincoln visited the war-torn city.
00:18:17
Grant caught up to Lee at
Appomattox Court House,
00:18:20
where he trapped his forces.
00:18:21
It was here, on April 9th, 1865,
00:18:24
that Lee saw no point in continuing.
00:18:27
Sir?
00:18:28
Listen, bub, I drank a
bit too much last night,
00:18:30
and now I'm hanging like
a fruit bat on a hot day.
00:18:32
So whatever you have to say,
I don't want to hear it.
00:18:35
General Lee says he wants to surrender.
00:18:37
Hot diggity dog!
00:18:38
Grant and Lee met in the home
00:18:40
of a nearby farm family, owned by a man
00:18:42
who had tried his best
00:18:43
to escape the Civil War
years earlier, Wilmer McLean.
00:18:47
- All right, can we all just hurry up
00:18:48
and get this over with?
00:18:50
(vacuum roaring)
Martha! Not now!
00:18:53
- I'm cleaning! Do you
want us to get rats?
00:18:57
- [Narrator] Grant and
Lee, after years of war,
00:18:59
now spoke respectfully to one another.
00:19:01
When Lee left, his face
filled with emotion,
00:19:04
Grant's men began to cheer,
but Grant ordered them to stop.
00:19:08
He knew that now was the
time for reconciliation.
00:19:11
Just over two weeks later,
General Johnson would surrender
00:19:14
to Sherman, ending the war for
89,000 Confederate soldiers
00:19:17
in the largest surrender of the war.
00:19:19
Not every Confederate
state had surrendered,
00:19:22
but the war was as good as over.
00:19:24
Across the North, church bells rang out
00:19:26
and celebrations erupted.
00:19:28
In Washington, Lincoln gave
a speech from the White House
00:19:30
to a jubilant crowd, in
which, among various things,
00:19:33
he expressed his support
for black voting rights.
00:19:36
Lincoln had seen the nation
through its deepest crisis.
00:19:39
The presidency had visibly aged him.
00:19:42
He had lost over 20 pounds.
00:19:44
He said, "Sometimes, I think I am
00:19:45
the tiredest man on Earth."
00:19:47
I'm not sure tiredest is a word, but geez,
00:19:49
the man's exhausted.
00:19:50
Cut him some slack.
00:19:52
On a carriage ride with Mary,
00:19:53
Lincoln clearly was looking forward
00:19:54
to being a president in a time of peace.
00:19:57
He was apparently very
cheerful, surprising his wife,
00:19:59
and he told her that between the war
00:20:01
and the loss of their son,
they'd both been very miserable.
00:20:04
Now it was time to be happy.
00:20:06
On the evening of April
14th, Lincoln attended a play
00:20:09
with his wife and some
friends at Ford's Theater.
00:20:11
It was a comedy, and
the president appeared
00:20:13
to be enjoying it very much.
00:20:15
In a nearby bar, John Wilkes Booth
00:20:18
swallowed two glasses of brandy.
00:20:20
He slipped quietly into
the president's booth,
00:20:23
and awaited for the
audience's laughter to rise.
00:20:25
(crowd laughing)
00:20:29
The president was shot
in the back of the head.
00:20:32
Booth fled the city.
00:20:34
Soldiers carried Lincoln
to a boarding house
00:20:36
across the street.
00:20:38
There, doctors declared there
was nothing they could do.
00:20:41
Surrounded by his heartbroken wife, son,
00:20:44
and members of cabinet,
at 7:22 the next morning,
00:20:48
President Lincoln passed away.
00:20:50
Never before had a
president been murdered.
00:20:53
A shocked nation mourned as
a 12-day funeral procession
00:20:57
carried Lincoln back to his
home in Springfield, Illinois.
00:21:00
On April 26th, Union cavalry
found John Wilkes Booth
00:21:03
in a barn in Virginia, where he was shot.
00:21:06
Not long after, Confederate
President Jefferson Davis
00:21:09
was also tracked down and arrested.
00:21:11
Imprisoned for two years,
00:21:13
he was eventually released.
00:21:14
The North didn't want to put him on trial
00:21:16
for fear the jury may rule
that Southern secession
00:21:19
had in fact been legal.
00:21:21
To ensure reconciliation,
other Confederate generals
00:21:24
and politicians were
allowed to re-enter life
00:21:26
in the now restored Union.
00:21:28
Scattered fighting continued into May,
00:21:30
when the last Confederate
forces in Texas disintegrated.
00:21:33
The southern states came under
northern military occupation
00:21:36
to prevent any further rebellion,
00:21:38
and a very difficult era
of reconstruction began.
00:21:41
Over 3 million Americans had fought,
00:21:44
brother against brother.
00:21:46
The Civil War remains the
bloodiest conflict in US history,
00:21:50
but the Union had been preserved.
00:21:52
You could say the real winners
00:21:54
were those who were to
never again be slaves.
00:21:56
Further amendments passed by Congress
00:21:58
gave black individuals the right
to citizenship and to vote.
00:22:02
Significant progress had been made.
00:22:05
However, entering into the 20th century,
00:22:07
it was clear the fight for
equality would continue.
00:22:12
In modern America, the man who
fought to preserve the nation
00:22:15
and never gave up in the darkest of times
00:22:17
stands as a symbol of
honesty, empathy, humility,
00:22:21
perseverance, and courage.
00:22:24
A continuous reminder of
what has forged America
00:22:27
and what it should ever strive to be.
00:22:30
(gentle music)
