“Simply Murder — 1863” and “The Universe of Battle — 1863,” episodes four and five of Ken Burns’s THE CIVIL WAR.

“Simply Murder — 1863”--A nightmarish Union disaster at Fredericksburg precedes two clashes in the spring of 1863: at Chancellorsville in May, where Robert E. Lee wins his most brilliant victory but loses Stonewall Jackson; and at Vicksburg, where Ulysses S. Grant is prevented from taking the city by siege. There is fierce northern opposition to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, and increasing desperation on the Confederate home front. Lee decides to invade the North again to draw Grant’s forces away from Vicksburg. Episode four of nine.

“The Universe of Battle — 1863”--The Battle of Gettysburg is the turning point of the war. For three days, 150,000 fight to the death in the Pennsylvania countryside culminating in Pickett’s legendary charge. Vicksburg falls to Union forces, draft riots rage in New York, black troops join the fight for the first time and western battles transpire at Chickamauga and Chattanooga. At the dedication of a new Union cemetery at Gettysburg, Lincoln struggles to put into words what is happening to his people. Episode five of nine.