Threads From The National Tapestry: Stories From The American Civil War

About this episode:

It was a conflict that stretched four years. It began in April and, that same month four years later, so began the beginning of the end. In many wars before and since, winning the war was only half the challenge for, then, victors had to win the peace. And, winning the peace after a civil war presented an ominous set of issues. Indeed, history has shown us that in the French, Russian and Chinese Revolutions, once the fighting ended, then, came the bloodbaths.

That did not happen here and, in large part, we owe that to Abraham Lincoln and to two warriors who made peace not just for that current generation but for countless others in the future. This is the story of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee who, amidst the stillness of Appomattox, had their finest hour.

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Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode: 

Robert E. Lee Ulysses S. Grant John B. Gordon George Armstrong Custer Joshua Chamberlain     Other References From This Episode:   Jay Winik's April 1865: The Month That Saved America   Location of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park     Great Resources To Check Out:    Bruce Catton's A Stillness At Appomattox         Get The Guide:

Want to learn more about the Civil War? A great place to start is Fred's guide, The Civil War: A History of the War between the States from Workman Publishing. The guide is in its 9th printing.

 

Producer: Dan Irving

About this episode:

Perhaps, the last time Americans volunteered en masse was in the days and weeks immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Yet, as my father and many of his generation found, many more men were needed to wage a two-front war and, so, there was conscription. In the American Civil War, conscription was, also, eventually, resorted to - first by the Confederacy in April of 1862 and, eleven months later, by the Federal Government. Yet, the overwhelming majority of those who fought in both Northern and Southern armies were there because they chose to be. Indeed, the Civil War was the last great American conflict fought, essentially, by volunteers.

This is their story - the common men and women who stepped forward. This is "Call to Duty - 1861."

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Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode: 

  President Otis Burgess   Edward Black John Clem Jennie Hodgers as Albert DJ Cashier     Other References From This Episode:   The University of North Carolina During The Civil War Civil War Unit Nicknames Choctaw in the Amercian Civil War The 26th NC Regimental Band   Great Resources To Check Out:   The Life of Johnny Reb   The Life Of Billy Yank   The Thin Light of Freedom     Get The Guide:

Want to learn more about the Civil War? A great place to start is Fred's guide, The Civil War: A History of the War between the States from Workman Publishing. The guide is in its 9th printing.

 

Producer: Dan Irving

About this episode:

For the United States and North Korea, with each verbal jab between respective leaders, with each thrust and parry by diplomats, with reports of more joint military exercises and hundreds of thousands of troops eyeballing one another along the world's most fortified border, I have recently pondered if the DMZ's Panmunjom is the 21st-century's version of Charleston in 1861. Perhaps, a stretch. Perhaps not. But with that reflection, we now look back over time's shoulder. This is "Flashpoint-1861." ----more----

Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode:

Major Robert Anderson John Buchanan Floyd Roger Pryor Winfield Scott Don Carlos Buell James Buchanan Gustavus V. Fox   Other References From This Episode: The Star of the West The Bells of St. Michaels   Great Resources To Check Out: Days of Defiance: Sumter, Secession, and the Coming of the Civil War   Map of Charleston Harbor 1861:  

 Get The Guide:

Want to learn more about the Civil War? A great place to start is Fred's guide, The Civil War: A History of the War between the States from Workman Publishing. The guide is in its 9th printing.

 

Producer: Dan Irving