The American Civil War

Course Overview

Discover the real reasons behind the Civil War and get a blow‑by‑blow description of each major battle in this comprehensive, digitally remastered 48‑lecture course. Covering political origins, military campaigns, soldier and civilian experience, slavery and emancipation, logistics and finance, naval and riverine warfare, and the war’s long aftermath, this series explains not only what happened, but why events unfolded as they did and how the United States was transformed.

Course Details

• Course No.: 885

• Instructor: a leading Civil War historian (course text identifies an expert lecturer)

• Format: 48 recorded lectures (approx. 27–32 minutes each)

• Focus: causes of war, strategic and tactical analysis of campaigns, social and cultural consequences, military institutions, home fronts, emancipation, and memory

Video Lectures (organized)

01: Prelude to War — 31 min

Sectional controversies and clashes that set the stage for secession and war.

02: The Election of 1860 — 30 min

The presidential contest that elevated Lincoln and brought sectional tensions to a head.

03: The Lower South Secedes — 30 min

South Carolina and the cascade of secessions that produced the Confederate States of America.

04: The Crisis at Fort Sumter — 30 min

Fort Sumter as flash point; attempts at compromise and the move from crisis to open war.

05: The Opposing Sides, I — 31 min

Comparative advantages and the question of whether the Confederacy could have won.

06: The Opposing Sides, II — 31 min

Generals, leadership, international attitudes, and relative resource mobilization.

07: The Common Soldier — 31 min

Why men enlisted, camp life, hardships, and the lived experience of rank‑and‑file soldiers.

08: First Manassas or Bull Run — 31 min

The first major battle; the Anaconda Plan; public expectations versus battlefield realities.

09: Contending for the Border States — 30 min

Why Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and Delaware mattered and how their loyalties were contested.

10: Early Union Triumphs in the West — 30 min

Union advances between the Appalachians and the Mississippi and the importance of western theaters.

11: Shiloh and Corinth — 30 min

Grant’s drive, Johnston’s attack at Shiloh, and the strategic consequences in the West.

12: The Peninsula Campaign — 31 min

McClellan’s slow advance on Richmond and the strategic posture of 1862.

13: The Seven Days’ Battles — 31 min

Lee’s assumption of command and the series of actions that pushed McClellan back.

14: The Kentucky Campaign of 1862 — 30 min

Confederate offensive into Kentucky and the campaign culminating at Perryville.

15: Antietam — 31 min

Lee’s Maryland invasion, the bloodiest single day, and its strategic and political outcomes.

16: The Background to Emancipation — 29 min

Slavery’s role in the conflict and the evolving Northern debate over war aims.

17: Emancipation Completed — 30 min

Lincoln’s use of emancipation as a war measure and its effects on politics and the battlefield.

18: Filling the Ranks — 30 min

Recruitment, conscription, and manpower mobilization for both sides.

19: Sinews of War: Finance and Supply — 30 min

How governments financed the conflict, provisioning armies, and economic strains.

20: The War in the West, Winter 1862–1863 — 30 min

Operations and command in the western theater: Rosecrans, Grant, and the campaign toward Vicksburg.

21: The War in Virginia, Winter and Spring 1862–1863 — 30 min

Union setbacks, Fredericksburg, Hooker’s plans, and Confederate responses.

22: Gettysburg — 31 min

Lee’s northern invasion, the three‑day battle, strategic debate, and its meaning.

23: Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and Tullahoma — 30 min

Grant’s campaign to take the Mississippi and maneuvers that shaped western success.

24: A Season of Uncertainty, Summer and Fall 1863 — 31 min

The contested late‑1863 period, including Chickamauga and the larger strategic picture.

25: Grant at Chattanooga — 30 min

Grant’s rise in the West, the lifting of the Chattanooga siege, and operational consequences.

26: The Diplomatic Front — 31 min

Foreign diplomacy, European reactions, and why the Confederacy failed to secure decisive recognition.

27: African Americans in Wartime, I — 31 min

Fugitive slaves, the formation and service of U.S. Colored Troops, and attendant challenges.

28: African Americans in Wartime, II — 31 min

Northern debates over war aims, legal changes, and the social transformation of slavery’s end.

29: Wartime Reconstruction — 30 min

Plans and disputes over postwar reconstruction even as the war continued.

30: The Naval War — 31 min

Naval strategy, blockade, river operations, and the rise of new naval technologies.

31: The River War and Confederate Commerce Raiders — 31 min

Riverine warfare, specialized craft, and the impact of Confederate raiders on Union shipping.

32: Women at War, I — 30 min

Northern women’s wartime roles: nurses, clerks, mobilization of civil society.

33: Women at War, II — 31 min

Southern women’s experiences, black women’s lives, and wartime social change.

34: Stalemate in 1864 — 30 min

Grant’s appointment and the strategy of sustained pressure across multiple theaters.

35: Sherman versus Johnston in Georgia — 31 min

Sherman’s maneuver warfare, Johnston’s defensive responses, and the campaign toward Atlanta.

36: The Wilderness to Spotsylvania — 31 min

The brutal Overland Campaign: Grant and Lee’s strategic contest in 1864.

37: Cold Harbor to Petersburg — 30 min

Frontal assaults, missed opportunities, and the beginning of the Petersburg siege.

38: The Confederate Home Front, I — 30 min

Political strains, social divisions, and economic hardship inside the Confederacy.

39: The Confederate Home Front, II — 31 min

Refugees, morale, and whether internal dissension contributed decisively to Confederate collapse.

40: The Northern Home Front, I — 31 min

Political transformations, Republican dominance, and home‑front pressures in the North.

41: The Northern Home Front, II — 31 min

Northern industrial advantage, social adjustments, and wartime economic policy.

42: Prisoners of War — 30 min

Parole and exchange, breakdown of systems, camp conditions, controversies, and suffering.

43: Mobile Bay and Atlanta — 30 min

Farragut’s naval success, the fall of Atlanta, and their political and strategic impact.

44: Petersburg, the Crater, and the Valley — 30 min

Trench warfare at Petersburg, the Crater episode, Shenandoah Valley operations, and Sheridan’s campaigns.

45: The Final Campaigns — 30 min

Sherman’s March to the Sea, strategy of exhaustion, and collapsing Confederate resistance.

46: Petersburg to Appomattox — 30 min

Final maneuvers, Lee’s retreat, and surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

47: Closing Scenes and Reckonings — 30 min

Lincoln’s assassination, postwar reckonings, and explanations for Union victory and Confederate defeat.

48: Remembering the War — 32 min

Postwar memory, veterans’ narratives, public commemoration, and evolving American interpretations of 1861–65.