had. he would put every army he had on the move. in simultaneous offenses he would exhaust the south's logistical capacity and conquer the two major federal armies still left in the field. grant was not a meditator like mcclellan where he thought so long and hard about a campaign it never got anywhere. grant was a man of action. he would devise and try something. it failed he tried something else. his intentions were always the same, to keep moving forward against the enemy. what grant proposed was precisely what abraham lincoln had been urging on deaf ears for the past two years. now in virginia this was going to be a contest between the south's best general and his most successful army against the north's best general and lee's successful army. april 1864 became the greatest

mobilization month of the entire war. at grant's appointment to supreme command lincoln told him as my dear friend emphasized in fatherly fashion the particulars of your plan are neither known nor seek known. i wouldn't wish to put constraints or restraints on you. if there's anything wanting which is in my forgive do not fail to let me know. grant took the president at his word. he genuinely believed that defensive duties could be performed just as effectively by armies on the advance rather than those sitting still. so he issued orders accordingly. when he learned that some field officers were writing congressmen, cabinet members and influential citizens to secure personal military gain of various sorts grant quickly invoked the guillotine. hence forth he announced any

officer who took military matters beyond military channels would be court martialed. washington bureaucracy next got his attention. grant early discovered that various logistical departments such as quarter master, commissary and others considered themselves independent agencies and acted accordingly. grant insisted that the general in chief would over see all such activity. the matter went to lincoln who happily told grant that there's no one but myself that can interfere with your orders and you can rest assured that i will not and that took care of the agencies. all soldiers on leave were ordered to return at once to their units. grant drew needed men from every department. excess calvary were converted into infantry. when grant directed thousand of soldiers man washington's elaborate defenses report to the

army in the field, secretary of war objected strongly until lincoln overruled his cabinet member. you and i, mr. stanton have been trying to boss this job a long time and we have not succeeded very well with it. i think we better leave him alone to do as he pleases. and with that stanton backed off. grant sharply reduced the number of wagon trains to accompany the army so as not to impede the moments of that force. large stockpiles of supplies began lining depots in washington and northern virginia. grant ordered a million rations shipped to the front. 100 round of ammunition for every soldier and medical supplies to accommodate 12,000 wounded men. with grant's approval, secretary staunton ceased all exchange of captured soldiers. this would guarantee confederate forces would remain strapped it

also gave yanks a stronger incentive to avoid being taken prisoner of war. for many of the massive preparations made the often criticized general henry deserves, i think a little overdue critic. he was one of the union's most senior officers but his military skills were, shall we say, extremely limited. george mcclellan thought he was the most hopelessly stupid men in high position and that was the judgment of one quite qualified to judge that category. [ laughter ] when he took the reins as general in chief he stepped down from field service and became the union's chief of staff. he proved excellent at military house keeping. his office became the operations center for grant's orders to all union forces on duty. most importantly, by shouldering all the administrative matters

associated with a huge army, granted was free to give full attention to events in the field. and let me add as an aside that this would never have been possible but for the recent invention of a little machine called the telegraph, which enabled grant say at culpeper to know what was going on in chattanooga or in the shenandoah valley or else wise. grant made one major command change in the high level. general philip accompanied grant from the west to take charge of mooe's poorly led calvary. he was then 33. 5'6" tall. weighed barely 115 pounds. he was an experienced infantry officer and he had little feel with rebuild of the potomac army's wing into an image of himself, cocky, hard nosed and

ever aggressive. a command problem was the presence of general burnside ninth corps. it was an independent force stationed nearby with no connection to the army of the potomac. further, burnside outranked meade in seniority. grant stood between them in a cumbersome situation and that would change after the wilderness campaign when grant would assume control of all tactical decisions and relegate burnside and meade to secondary roles. the new commander worked tirelessly throughout the month of april although he gave few obvious signs of working. he was seen whittling on a stick while puffing on one of the two dozen cigars he smoked daily. a new england officer watched grant closely for a time and declared he had a, low gentle,

vibrant voirks not a hint of self-consciousness, impatience or restlessness either of mine or body. on the contrary he was the center of pervasive quiet which was conveyed to everyone around him. no parades or grand to dose occurred during the army build up. grant preferred to lie casually down the lines looking intently into the faces of the soldiers who were going to be fight and dying for him and giving the impression to all that it was more important for him to see them than it was for them to see him and that reaction was garnered respect, not necessarily enthusiasm but respect and that is all that grant wanted. such was the part in the national change in the mood. inside the officer's court,

charles francis adams noted the feeling about grant now is peculiar. a little jealousy. a little dislike. a little envy. a little warn of confidence. all are willing to give him a full chance. if he succeed, the war is over. newspapers reflected the same feeling sometimes with more inceni incensensitiv insensitivity. grant paid no heed to editorializing. he viewed newspapermen and politicians with the same distaste. during the army build up an overly eager reporter asked grant how long it would take him to get richmond. grant stared at the man for a moment and answered i'll agree to be there in four days that is if general lee agrees to become a party to the agreement. yet grant added the trip will be

prolonged. an illinois surgeon recalled at the beginning of may quote we looked upon this man with feelings approaching to awe and wonder as well as admiration and hardly wished him godspeed in his efforts. at the same time grant was writing lincoln, i have been astonished at which the readiness everything asked for has been yielded without even an explanation being asked. and then he added, should my success be less than i desire and expect, the least i can say is the fault lies not with you. in less than two months, an unpretend show us illinois soldier had brought long sought direction to the civil war in the east. union armies would move on a common timetable towards common objectives with 121,000 men behind him grant was ready to confront an army half his size but splendidly led. the significant point about

grant's strategy in 1864 is that once he started southward, the federals were the agreeceors. such an offensive would take all the initiative away from lee. yanks were self-assured, refreshed in mind and body with perhaps a deeper understanding of why they were heading once again into battle. grant told halleck as the month drew to a close the army of the potomac is in splendid condition and it feels like whipping somebody. i feel much better with this command than i did when i saw it the first time. and what of lincoln's feelings? the commander-in-chief termed grant the quietest little fellow you ever saw. however lincoln told a friend he's a first between environmental he is a general, i'm glad to find a man who can

go ahead without me getting involved. on wednesday may 4th, ulysses grant led the army of the potomac across the rapidan river. a member of the 15th new jersey stated that as his regiment went over the crest of a small hill that day, the whole country side was laced with dense, dark lines of men. they looked he said like long fences except that sunshine sparkled on polished rifle barrels and flags whipped defiantly in the springtime air. the sunset on the confederacy had begun. thank you. [ applause ] .

>> next week we'll be back at the virginia military institute for another session from this conference organized by the virginia civil war sesquicentennial commission. it will talk about the shenandoah valley campaigns of 1862 and 1864. the civil war airs every saturday at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. and sundays at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. you're watching american history tv all weekend every weekend on c-span 3. the battle of midway was fought between june 4th and june 7th of 1942. six months after the japanese attacked pearl harbor. it was a decisive u.s. victory over the japanese and is considered a turning point in the war in the pacific. next, a brief film produced by the u.s. navy about the battle of midway. ♪

♪ a navy patrol plane. routine patrol. only behind every cloud may be an enemy.

midway island. not much land, but it's our outpost, your front yard. ♪

these are the natives of midway. the birds seem nervous. there's something in the air. something behind that sunset.

♪ excitement this morning. the dawn patrol has sighted an enemy fleet. during the night, forces have landed in midway. an historic council of war is held. >> this looks familiar. my neighbor's boy had one just like this. is that one of them flying fortresses. >> yes, ma'am, it is.

>> that's timmy. he's from my home town in ohio. he's not going to fly that great big bomber. >> yes, ma'am, that's his job. he's a skipper. >> 38 years on the old railroad as an engineer. and his mother. she's just like the rest of us mothers in springfield or any other american town. and his sister. she's about as pretty as they come. >> i'll say so. well junior timmy.

>> good luck. god bless you, son. >> from behind the clouds, the japs attack. [ gunfire ] [ sound of airplanes flying ] [ gunfire ]

[ gunfire ] [ explosion sounds ] [ gunfire ] [ sounds of attacking airplanes ] [ sound of airplanes flying ]

[ gunfire ] ♪ [ playing "the national anthem" ] >> if this really happened -- ♪ and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air ♪ gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ♪ [ sounds of gunfire ] [ sounds of attacking airplanes ] [ sounds of explosions ]

[ sounds of airplanes attacking and explosions ] [ sounds of attacking airplanes ]

[ sounds of airplanes attacking and explosions ] meantime, our warships fought the jap fleet. >> then suddenly -- the trap is sprung.

>> navy planes roar from the decks of our carriers, navy, marines, over 300 miles of the battle area. [ gunfire ] [ gunfire ]

[ sounds of airplanes attacking ] >> the invasion forces were hit and hit again. ♪ >> men and women of america, here come your neighbor's son, home from the day's work. you want to meet them. there's jimmy thatch. seven meatballs on his plane. ♪ >> how many more today, skipper? ♪ [ playing "anchors away" ]

♪ >> back at midway, swore he'd liberate the navy. >> they're just as free as they ever were. ♪ ♪ >> the battle of midway is over.

our front yard is safe, but a big job is still to be done. day after day, searching for survivors. every tiny coral reef, every distant mile of sea. search for men who fought the last round of ammunition and to the last drop of gas and then crashed into the sea. eight days. nine days. ten days without food or water. his first cigarette. >> boy when i first drank, that sure tasted good. >> 11 days. >> well done, matthew hughes. logan ramsey -- frank fessler.

that's 13 for frank. ♪ [ playing "onward christian soldiers" ] ♪ >> get those boys to the hospital. please do, quickly. get them clean cuts and cool sheets, get them doctors and medicine. the nurses soft hands. get them to the hospital. hurry, please. >> there was a hospital, cleaned, orderly. 100 beds.

on its roof, the red cross plainly marked. the symbol of mercy, the enemy was bound to respect. >> the next morning, divine services beside a bomb crater where once had been a chapel. [ bell tolls ] at even tide we buried our heroic dead. the last salute from their comrades and their officers. ♪ sweet land of liberty, of thee i sing ♪ ♪ land where my fathers died land of pilgrim's pride ♪ >> captain of the navy.

the colonel. ♪ let freedom ring ♪ ♪ author of liberty to thee we sing ♪ long may our land be bright ♪ with freedom's holy light ♪ ♪ protect us by thy might great god of thee ♪ ♪ amen