i wouldn't wish to put constraints or restraints on you. if there's anything wanting which is in my power to give, 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. henceforth, 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

considered themselves independent agencies and they acted accordingly. grant insisted that the general in chief would oversee all such activity. the matter went to lincoln, who happily told grant, "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 on needed men from every far-flung department. excess cavalry were converted into infantry. when grant directed that thousands of soldiers manning washington's elaborate defenses report to the army in the field, secretary of war edwin stampen objected strongly until lincoln overruled his cabinet member. you and i, mr. stanton, he said, have been trying to boss this job a long time and we have not succeed very well with it. i think we'd 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 movements 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 rounds 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. not only would this guarantee that confederate forces would remain strapped, it also gave billy yanks a stronger incentive to avoid being taken prisoner of war. for many of the massive preparations made, the often criticized general henry halleck deserves, i think, a little overdue credit.

halleck was one of the union's most senior officers, but his military skills were, shall we say, extremely limited. george mcclellan thought halleck, "the most hopelessly stupid of all men in high position." and that was the judgment of one quite qualified to judge that category. when grant he took the reins as general in chief, halleck stepped down from field service and became the union's chief of staff. he proved excellent at military housekeeping. 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, halleck freed grant to give full attention to the 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 culpepper to know what was going on in chattanooga or in the shenandoah valley or elsewise. surprisingly, grant made but one major command change on the high level. general philip sheraden accompanied grant from the west to take charge of meade's poorly led cavalry. sheraden 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 waiting for grant when he came east was the presence of general ambrose burnside, 9th 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 as an intermediary in a cumbersome situation. and that would change after the wilderness campaign when grant would assume control of all tactical decisions and relegate both burnside and meade to secondary roles. the new commander worked tirelessly throughout the month of april, although he gave few obvious signs of strong activity. his 42nd birthday passed without fanfare. he customarily 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 voice, not a hint of self-consciousness, impatience, or restlessness. either of mind or body. on the contrary, he was the center of a pervasive quiet which seemed to be conveyed to everyone around him. no parades or grand reviews occurred during the army

build-up. grant preferred to ride casually down the lines, looking intently into the faces of the soldiers who were going to be fighting 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 a part of the subtle change in the national mood that april in the war's third year. inside the officer's corps, cavalry man charles frances adams noted the feeling about grant is peculiar. a little jealousy. a little dislike. a little envy. a little note of confidence. all willing to give him a full chance. if he succeeds, the war is over.

newspapers reflected the same feeling, sometimes with more intensity. "the new york times" stated of the forthcoming movements, "in all probability, they will be the decisive battles of the struggle." grant paid no heed to such editorializing. he viewed newspapermen and politicians with the same distaste. during the army build-up, an overly eager reporter asked grant how long it was going to take him to get to richmond. grant stared at the man for a moment, then answered, "i will agree to be there in four days. that is, if general lee becomes a party to the agreement." yet grant added, "the trip will undoubtedly be prolonged." an illinois surgeon recalled that at the beginning of may, "we looked upon this man with feelings approaching to awe and wonder, as well as admiration and wished him godspeed in his efforts. at the same time grant was writing lincoln, "i have been

astonished at the readiness with which 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 unpretentious illinois soldier had brought long-sought direction to the civil war in the east. union armies would now move on a common timetable toward common objectives. with 121,000 men behind him, grant was now 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 aggressors. such an offensive would take all the initiative away from lee. and in that situation, a southern army outnumbered, as

well as immobilized, had little hope of success. billy yanks and the ranks 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 evidently 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 is a first general. 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 countryside 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 of the confederacy had begun. thank you. 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. historians will discuss the shenandoah valley campaigns of 1862 and 1864.

the civil war airs here 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-span3. the battle of midway was fought between june 4th and june 7th, 1942, about 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 on 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, right enough, but it's our outpost. your front yard.

♪ ♪ ♪ fight for rights and freedom ♪ and to keep our brothers free ♪ ♪ we are proud to claim the title of united states marines ♪ these are the natives of midway. tojo had sworn to liberate them. ♪

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, flying fortresses have landed at 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. >> i think that is young 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. >> his dad is an engineer. 38 years on the old ironton railroad. 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.

>> suddenly, from behind the clouds, the japs attack! [ gunfire ] >> there go the marines! [ airplane engines ]

[ gunfire ] [ explosions ] [ planes flying ] [ explosion ] ♪

>> yes, this really happened. ♪ and the rocket's red glare the bomb's busting through air ♪ gave proof through the night ♪ that our flag was still there ♪ [ gunfire ] [ explosion ]

[ plane engine sputter ] [ explosion ] [ plane engine ]

>> meantime, our warships stopped the jap fleet. [ plane engine ] then suddenly the trap is sprung. navy planes roared from the decks of our carriers. army bombers, marines. tons of destruction over a 300-mile battle area.

[ plane engines ] [ artillery fire ] [ explosion ]

>> the invasion forces were hit and hit and hit again. ♪ men and women of america, here come your neighbors' sons, 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 tojo swore he'd liberate the natives. >> 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, our patrol planes search for survivors. every tiny coral reef, every distant mile of sea.

search for every men who fought to the last round of ammunition and flew 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, that first drag sure tastes 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 to clean cots and cool sheets. get them doctors and medicine and nurses' soft hands. get them to the hospital. hurry. please. >> there was a hospital. clean, orderly. 100 beds. and on its roof, the red cross plainly marked. the symbol of mercy the enemy was bound to respect.

>> the next morning, divine services were held beside a bomb crater that had once 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 the pilgrim's pride >> captain simat of the navy. colonel shandon. major roosevelt. ♪ 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 ♪

♪ ♪ up next, we talk with albany law school professor paul finkelman about the practice of kidnapping free men from the north and sending them south during the 19th century. he also discusses the widespread practice ont