The Civil War (1990)

S1E2 A Very Bloody Affair: 1862

In 1862, modern warfare emerged, shifting Lincoln's mission from solely preserving the Union to also liberating enslaved people. Episode Two opens with the political turmoil that jeopardized Lincoln's leadership, then tracks Union General George McClellan as he embarks on a doomed campaign on the Virginia Peninsula. There, his vast army confronts a smaller yet far more cunning Confederate force. Viewers experience naval battles with ironclads, the realities of camp life, and the gradual decline of slavery. We also meet Ulysses S. Grant, culminating in the intense Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, while whispers of European support for the Confederacy begin to circulate.