Episodes

Summer 1861. What happens when a nation goes to war convinced that victory will come quickly—and glory will belong to those brave enough to seize it? Why did hundreds of civilians travel to Bull Run with picnic baskets, expecting to watch history unfold from a safe distance? What did the shattered armies and staggering casualties at Bull Run reveal about the war America had just begun? And why did the fighting at Wilson’s Creek in Missouri deliver another bloody warning that this conflict would ...

The surrender of Fort Sumter immediately throws the nation into a crucible of decision-making and a desperate search for leadership, testing Thomas Carlyle’s “Great Man Theory.” Was the bombardment in Charleston Harbor a symbolic gesture or a spark leading to something far worse? Will leaders remain loyal to the Union or align with their home states? How far will President Lincoln go to secure the capital, risking accusations of dictatorship and facing a direct challenge from the Chief Justice o...