Ken Burns: The Civil War Mini

PRIVATE EDWIN TENNISON,

KILLED IN ACTION AT MALVERN HILL,

JULY 1, 1862.

DURING THE CIVIL WAR,

PHOTOGRAPHERS FOLLOWED THE ARMIES EVERYWHERE

TO MAKE PROUD PORTRAITS FOR THE BOYS TO SEND HOME

AND TO CAPTURE AS MUCH OF THE ACTION

AS CUMBERSOME EQUIPMENT

AND SLOW SHUTTER SPEEDS ALLOWED.

NEAR THE BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS, VIRGINIA,

CAPTAIN GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER

PAUSED TO HAVE HIS PICTURE TAKEN

WITH J.B. WASHINGTON,

CLOSE FRIEND AND CLASSMATE FROM WEST POINT--

AND NOW A CONFEDERATE LIEUTENANT

WHO HAD JUST THAT MORNING

BEEN CAPTURED BY FEDERAL PICKETS.

AS 1862 DRAGGED ON,

THE CHARACTER OF THE WAR WAS CHANGING,

AND MUCH OF THE COUNTRY WAS CHANGING WITH IT.

BY 1862, MORE THAN A MILLION FARM WORKERS

HAD ENLISTED IN THE UNION ARMY,

AND TRAVELERS IN THE MIDWEST

SAW MORE WOMEN AT WORK IN THE FIELDS THAN MEN.

THE YEAR, WHICH HAD BEGUN SO PROMISINGLY FOR THE NORTH,

HAD NOW GONE AWRY.

U.S. GRANT'S TRIUMPHS AT DONELSON AND SHILOH

WERE BEING OVERSHADOWED BY DISASTERS IN THE EAST.

IN VIRGINIA, UNION GENERAL GEORGE McCLELLAN'S ARMY

SAT OUTSIDE RICHMOND,

ITS COMMANDER IN POSSESSION OF VASTLY GREATER FORCES,

BUT WITHOUT THE WILL TO FIGHT.

MEANWHILE, THE CONFEDERACY WAS BEGINNING TO APPRECIATE

THE BRILLIANCE OF A NEW COMMANDER,

ROBERT E. LEE,

WHO WOULD SOON ESTABLISH A REPUTATION

AS ONE OF THE GREATEST MILITARY LEADERS OF ALL TIME.

AND THERE WAS STILL MORE TROUBLE FOR THE UNION.

AT BLACKBURN, ENGLAND,

A PUBLIC MEETING DECLARED THAT IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE

FOR THE NORTH TO VANQUISH THE SOUTH

AND CALLED FOR A NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT OF THE WAR.

WITH EUROPE POISED TO RECOGNIZE THE CONFEDERACY,

THE UNTHINKABLE LOOKED INCREASINGLY LIKELY--

THE UNION WAS GOING TO LOSE THE WAR.

"WE MUST CHANGE OUR TACTICS OR LOSE THE GAME,"

ABRAHAM LINCOLN WROTE IN 1862.

TO LINCOLN, IT WAS CLEAR NOW

THAT IT WAS NO LONGER POSSIBLE

TO RESTORE THE OLD UNION.

ANEW ONE HAD TO BE EMBRACED.

BY SUMMER, HE KNEW WHAT TACTIC WAS NEEDED

TO WIN THE WAR-- EMANCIPATION--

BUT DOUBTED WHETHER HE WOULD EVER HAVE

THE POLITICAL OR MILITARY OPPORTUNITY TO USE IT.

"I FIND IT HARD TO MAINTAIN MY LIVELY FAITH

IN THE TRIUMPH OF THE NATION AND THE LAW,"

NEW YORK LAWYER GEORGE TEMPLETON STRONG

CONFIDED TO HIS DIARY.

"THESE ARE THE DARKEST DAYS WE HAVE SEEN SINCE BULL RUN."

WHAT NO ONE KNEW WAS THAT THE YEAR

WOULD SOON SEE THE BLOODIEST DAY OF THE WAR

AND THEN THE BRIGHTEST.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN AVERY UGLY, FILTHY WAR

WITH NO REDEEMING CHARACTERISTICS AT ALL...

AND IT WAS THE BATTLE FOR EMANCIPATION

AND THE PEOPLE WHO PUSHED IT FORWARD--

THE SLAVES, THE FREE BLACK PEOPLE, THE ABOLITIONISTS,

AND A LOT OF ORDINARY CITIZENS--

IT WAS THEY WHO ENNOBLED

WHAT OTHERWISE VVOULD HAVE BEEN MEANING-LESS CARNAGE

INTO SOMETHING HIGHER.

OUTSIDE RICHMOND,

GEORGE MCCLELLAN CONTINUED TO CALL ANXIOUSLY

FOR MORE TROOPS,

THOUGH HIS 110,000-MAN FORCE

ALREADY GREATLY OUTNUMBERED JOSEPH JOHNSTON'S ARMY.

MEANWHILE, WEST OF THE BLUE RIDGE

IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY,

GENERAL THOMAS J. JACKSON

WAS KEEPING 3 FEDERAL ARMIES BUSY.

"ALWAYS MYSTIFY, MISLEAD, AND SURPRISE THE ENEMY.

"AND WHEN YOU STRIKE AND OVERCOME HIM,

"NEVER LET UP IN THE PURSUIT.

"NEVER FIGHT AGAINST HEAVY ODDS

"IF YOU CAN HURL YOUR FORCE

"ON ONLY A PART OF YOUR ENEMY AND CRUSH IT.

"A SMALL ARMY MAY THUS DESTROY A LARGE ONE,

AND REPEATED VICTORY WILL MAKE IT INVINCIBLE."

GENERAL T.J. JACKSON.

HE WAS A TRUE ECCENTRIC.

HE BELIEVED THAT IF HE HAD PEPPER IN HIS FOOD,

IT WOULD MAKE HIS LEFT LEG ACHE.

HE WOULD NEVER MAIL A LETTER

THAT WOULD BE IN TRANSIT ON A SUNDAY.

HE WAS A STRICT OBSERVER OF THE SABBATH.

AND YET SO MANY OF HIS BATTLES WERE FOUGHT ON SUNDAYS

THAT THE SOLDIERS BEGAN TO BELIEVE THAT HE VVOULD FIGHT ON SUNDAY

BECAUSE THE LORD WOULD BE EVEN MORE WITH HIM.

JACKSON WAS A PIOUS, BLUE-EYED KILLER,

UTTERLY UNTROUBLED BY THE LIKELIHOOD OF DEATH.

IT WAS A MAN'S "ENTIRE DUTY," HE SAID,

"TO PRAY AND FIGHT."

"HE WOULD HAVE A MAN SHOT AT THE DROP OF A HAT,

AND HE'D DROP IT HIMSELF."

SAM WATKINS.

HE HAD A STRANGE QUALITY OF OVERLOOKING SUFFERING.

DURING ONE OF THE BATTLES, HE HAD A YOUNG COURIER,

AND JACKSON LOOKED AROUND FOR HIM,

AND HE WASN'T THERE.

AND HE SAID, "WHERE IS LIEUTENANT SO-AND-SO?"

AND THEY SAID, "HE WAS KILLED, GENERAL."

JACKSON SAID, “VERY COMMENDABLE, VERY COMMENDABLE.“

AND THEN PUT HIM OUT OF HIS MIND.

"ALL OLD JACKSON GAVE US

"WAS A MUSKET, 100 ROUNDS, AND A GUM BLANKET,

AND HE DROVE US LIKE HELL."

HIS MEN DID NOT LOVE HIM.

HE WAS TOO GRIM, TOO REMOTE, AND HE DEMANDED TOO MUCH.

SOME THOUGHT HIM MAD.

HE BELIEVED THAT ONLY BY KEEPING ONE HAND IN THE AIR

COULD HE STOP HIMSELF FROM GOING OUT OF BALANCE.

AND HE SUCKED CONSTANTLY ON LEMONS,

EVEN IN THE MIDST OF BATTLE.

OTHERS WORRIED THAT HIS RELIGIOUS FERVOR

WOULD CLOUD HIS JUDGMENT.

HIS COMMAND, JACKSON SAID,

WAS "AN ARMY OF THE LIVING GOD,

AS WELL AS OF ITS COUNTRY."

BUT HIS MEN WERE WILLING TO ENDURE

THE 36-MILE-A-DAY MARCHES HE DEMANDED

BECAUSE HE BROUGHT THEM VICTORIES.

IT WAS JACKSON'S DUTY IN THE SHENANDOAH

TO UNSETTLE THE UNION

AND KEEP WASHINGTON FROM REINFORCING McCLELLAN.

OPERATING IN THE MIDST OF 3 FEDERAL ARMIES,

EACH WITH MORE MEN THAN HIS OWN FORCE OF 17,000,

JACKSON LASHED OUT AT ONE ARMY AND THEN ANOTHER.

ARMED WITH A DETAILED MAP THAT STRETCHED 8½ FEET,

HE SURPRISED THEM EVERY TIME--

AT WINCHESTER,

FRONT ROYAL,

CROSS KEYS,

PORT REPUBLIC,

AND A HALF DOZEN OTHER PLACES.

AFTER ROUTING NATHANIEL BANKS' ARMY

AT THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER,

JACKSON CHASED IT ALL THE WAY TO THE POTOMAC.

"STOP, MEN!" BANKS SHOUTED TO HIS RETREATING TROOPS.

"DON'T YOU LOVE YOUR COUNTRY?"

"YES, BY GOD," SAID ONE,

"AND I'M TRYING TO GET BACK TO IT

JUST AS FAST AS I CAN."

JACKSON'S VALLEY CAMPAIGN WAS A TRIUMPH.

IN JUST OVER A MONTH,

HIS MEN MARCHED ALMOST 400 MILES,

INFLICTED 7,000 CASUALTIES,

SEIZED HUGE QUANTITIES OF BADLY NEEDED SUPPLIES,

AND KEPT ALMOST 40,000 FEDERAL TROOPS

OFF THE PENINSULA.

"HE WHO DOES NOT SEE THE HAND OF GOD IN THIS

IS BLIND, SIR, BLIND."

"THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT JEFFERSON DAVIS

"AND OTHER LEADERS OF THE SOUTH

"HAVE MADE AN ARMY.

"THEY ARE MAKING, IT APPEARS, A NAVY,

"AND THEY HAVE MADE WHAT IS MORE THAN EITHER.

"THEY HAVE MADE A NATION.

"WE MAY ANTICIPATE WITH CERTAINTY

THE SUCCESS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES."

WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE.

CONFEDERATE GOSPEL HELD THAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE

COULD NOT SURVIVE WITHOUT SOUTHERN COTTON.

BEFORE LONG, ONE OR BOTH WOULD SURELY INTERVENE

ON BEHALF OF THE CONFEDERACY

TO END THE UNION BLOCKADE.

TO PUT MORE PRESSURE ON EUROPE,

THE CONFEDERATES CUT COTTON PRODUCTION 90%.

2.5 MILLION BALES WERE BURNED

OR LEFT TO ROT ON CON FEDERATE WHARVES

TO KEEP IT OUT OF ENGLISH HANDS.

NOW, IN ADDITION TO DIRECTING A WAR AT HOME,

LINCOLN HAD TO FIND AWAY TO KEEP EUROPE

FROM COMING IN ON THE SIDE OF THE SOUTH.

AND INCREASINGLY, IN THE NORTH,

THERE WAS PRESSURE FOR EMANCIPATION,

AND IT CAME FROM UNLIKELY PEOPLE

IN UNLIKELY PLACES.

ON MAY 1, 1862,

LINCOLN NAMED GENERAL BENJAMIN F. BUTLER

MILITARY GOVERNOR OF OCCUPIED NEW ORLEANS.

BUTLER WENT RIGHT TO WORK.

HE HANGED A MAN

SUSPECTED OF HAVING DESECRATED THE AMERICAN FLAG.

HE CLOSED A SECESSIONIST NEWSPAPER,

CONFISCATED THE PROPERTY

OF CITIZENS WHO REFUSED TO SWEAR ALLEGIANCE

TO THE UNION,

AND WAS GIVEN THE SCORNFUL NICKNAME "SPOONS"

FOR ALLEGEDLY POCKETING SILVERWARE.