Opinion in the North has turned strongly against the war and Lincoln desperately needs decisive victories for both his Presidency and the Union to survive the election of 1864. Sherman's and Sheridan's victories at Atlanta and Shenandoah help swing the election in Lincoln's favour. Lee's Virginia estate becomes Arlington National Cemetery, the Union's most hallowed ground.
In 1865 Sherman makes his brilliant March to the Sea engulfing the heart of the South in flames, spelling the end of the Confederacy. Petersburg and Richmond finally fall and Lee's tattered army flees westward to Appomatox Court House where the dramatic surrender of Lee to Grant takes place. John Wilkes Booth dreams of vengeance for the South.
The final episode relates the bitter sweet aftermath of Lee's surrender and narrates the shocking assassination of Lincoln just five days later, his funeral and the capture of John Wilkes Booth. The series concludes by recounting the fates of the series' major characters and by considering the consequences and meaning of the war.
