Movements and engagements in the Eastern and Western theaters, political intrigue in the White House and at Richmond, and social, technical and overseas developments are all examined. In addition to the timechart, sidebars cover infantry organization and equipment, artillery and firearms, naval conflicts, military strategies, POWs, blacks in the Union Army, guerrilla warfare, journalism, technical developments and much more. A narrative history is accompanied by concise illustrated biographies offering glimpses of leaders on both sides, including Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, Custer, Davis, Lee, Jackson and dozens more. An extended sequence of two-page spreads includes chronologies, maps, diagrams and narratives detailing more than two dozen key battles and campaigns, First Bull Run, Shiloh, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, The Wilderness and Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, among them. An A-Z of the Civil War serves as a throrough index, and bibliographies provide information on related museums, battle sites, books and websites.

    It saw the surrender of Vicksburg and the retreat of General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia after a crushing defeat at Gettysburg. In interweaving the narratives of these two storied battles, Duane Schultz has presented a compelling blow-by-blow account of what is arguably the most pivotal point of the entire conflict.All the players are brought to life here, whether it is Lincoln agonizing in the telegraph office while he waits for news from Generals Grant and Meade, General Pete Longstreet trying to cajole Lee into revising his plan of attack, or the women of the towns of Vicksburg and Gettysburg coming under fire and tending to the legions of wounded.We see a nation in the midst of its greatest convulsion, and we see that, while the "Glorious Fourth" dashed the greatest hopes of the Confederacy, the war was far from over.