S01E05: The Universe of Battle: 1863

This episode opens with a dramatic account of the turning point of war: the Battle of Gettysburg, the greatest ever fought in the Western Hemisphere. For three days 150,000 men will fight to the death in the Pennsylvania countryside, culminating in Pickett's legendary charge. This extended episode then goes on to chronicle the fall of Vicksburg, the New York draft riots, the first use of black troops, and the western battles at Chickamauga, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. The episode closes with the dedication of a new Union cemetery at Gettysburg in November, where Abraham Lincoln struggles to put into words what is happening to his people.

David McCullough
David McCullough
Narrator (voice)
Sam Waterston
Sam Waterston
Abraham Lincoln (voice)
Julie Harris
Julie Harris
Mary Chestnut (voice)
Jason Robards
Jason Robards
Ulysses S. Grant (voice)
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Frederick Douglass / John Boston (voice)
Paul Roebling
Paul Roebling
Joshua Chamberlain (voice)
Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor
Walt Whitman (voice)