“The Proclamation is the drawing of a sword that can never be sheathed again.”

This is the story of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Anti-slavery, moderate-Republican President Abraham Lincoln has never liked slavery. He wants to prevent it from expanding to new US territories. But he also never intended to go on the offensive against the “peculiar institution” within those states where it already exists. The Illinois Rail-Splitter knows the law; he’s aware that the Constitution protects slavery at the state level.

Then the Civil War came. As the South breaks away from the Union, the North breaks philosophically on slavery. The abolitionists say ending slavery must be a war aim. The Democrats and border states say this war is only about preserving the Union. Moderate Republicans and still others are mixed. Meanwhile, enslaved Americans within the Confederacy are seeking refuge in Federal army camps. How should Union Generals respond? Can they give sanctuary without upsetting the border states that may still join the Confederacy? And do seceded states still have constitutional rights? Or does war mean the president can use his constitutional war powers to end slavery among rebelling states by proclamation? And if he does … what will that outcome be?

The questions are boundless. The answers are unknowable without taking the plunge. Your move, President Lincoln.

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“Our top spot goes to …”

This is the story of stories (yeah, super “meta”). You know regular HTDS episodes always start with a cold open. You probably have a favorite. So do we.

Today, Greg and Cielle count down their top seven favorite openings, from George Washington’s loss at Fort Necessity to our current point in the Civil War. It’s a peek into the minds behind HTDS, a bit of nostalgia for long-time listeners, and the perfect HTDS introduction for the newly initiated. Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

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“Our dispatches state that Lieut. Longfellow of First Mass. Cavalry was severely wounded.”

This is the story of a son nearly lost and a poet in a dark place. 

Young, idealistic Charley Longfellow loves his country and is ready to fight and die for it. His father—the former Harvard College Professor of English and Literature, celebrated author, and grieving widower, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—fears losing his son in the Civil War and doesn’t want him to enlist. But Charley does. A bullet rips through the youth soon thereafter.

1863 has truly been a terrible year for Henry. Mourning the loss of his wife, praying for his son’s recovery, and anxious about the war-torn nation’s future, Christmas feels hollow as he listens to bells ring that day. But he believes better days are to come. He expresses his pain and hope for a future peace by penning a poem future generations of Americans will cherish as the Christmas Carol, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”

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“Come on God damn you.”

This is the story of the Second Bull Run/Manassas Campaign and the Battle of Antietam.

Robert “Bobby” E. Lee isn’t content to run George “Little Mac” McClellan down to the James River. With the help of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, James Longstreet, J.E.B. Stuart, and others, Bobby’s ready to use his aggressive, divide-and-conquer tactics on the Union’s new Army of Virginia. The question is: can the bickering Union generals put their pettiness aside and work together? Or will the Confederates make short work of them at the Manassas railroad junction?

Bobby Lee has another bold plan as well: time to take the fight to US soil. The Virginian Commander invades the US slave state of Maryland, where he hopes to enlist Confederate sympathizers, demoralize Americans going to vote, and draw international recognition for the CSA. It’s an ambitious goal. And it means fighting the most deadly, violent battle in American history near Antietam Creek, right by Sharpsburg, Maryland.

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“[Malvern Hill] was not war--it was murder.”

This is the story of a Confederate comeback. 

Union General George “Little Mac” McClellan has an army of 100,000 within a few mere miles of the Confederate Capital: Richmond, Virginia. The city’s defending force is significantly smaller. It’s his for the taking. But where “Little Mac” is cautious, the new Confederate Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia Robert E. “Bobby” Lee is ready to fight to the death. They’ll duke it out in the Seven Days Battles. 

Meanwhile, US President Abraham Lincoln has a new General-in-Chief: Henry “Old Brains” Halleck. Can he get Generals “Little Mac” and John Pope to play nice and work together? We’ll find out.

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This is the story of the Mississippi Valley in 1862. Navy Secretary Gideon “Father Neptune” Welles is moving forward with an audacious plan. He’s sending a fleet to sack the Confederacy’s largest city, New Orleans, via the Mississippi River. Can this fleet—commanded by a Southerner loyal to the Union—really take out two forts—commanded by a Northerner throwing in with the CSA—and claim the Big Easy?

Meanwhile, Union generals are in disagreement as they move on a railroad junction called Corinth. But then Corinth’s Confederate General GT Beauregard is in the midst of his own dispute with CSA President Jefferson Davis. Will the bickering disrupt the front lines as the fight moves from Corinth to Vicksburg? Time will tell.

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“In my opinion, Cadet Jackson of Virginia is a complete jackass.”

This is the story of daring. On both sides.

President Lincoln is tired of waiting for General-in-Chief George “Little Mac” McClellan to act. So he’ll act instead. The President goes to the front on the Old Dominion’s coast, walks on Confederate soil, and oversees the taking of Norfolk, Virginia. 

But things aren’t going as well for the Union as he’d hoped. Little Mac continues to dawdle while the eccentric-yet-brilliant “Stonewall” Jackson outwits, outruns, and outguns Union forces several times larger than his own in the Shenandoah Valley.

Following Stonewall’s incredible Shenandoah Valley Campaign, Confederate General Joe Johnston takes a bullet at the Battle of Seven Pines. Someone else is going to have to lead his army; welcome to the role of commander, Robert E. Lee.

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“Here boys, is as good a place as any on this battlefield to meet death!”

This is the story of the Civil War kicking into a higher gear as two massive armies converge at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee. 

Jealous Union generals are letting false rumors of Ulysses drinking on the job fly as they hope to benefit from his demise. But Ulys has some good people backing him up: Lincoln’s newest War Secretary Edwin Stanton and his good friend William Tecumseh “Cump” Sherman.

But intrigue is the least of Ulysses “Unconditional Surrender” Grant’s concerns. He and Cump are facing down a massive Confederate force led by two highly capable generals: Albert Sidney Johnston and GT Beauregard. Torrential rain turns the ground to mud as nearly 100,000 men battle for the field. Ulys ends up on crutches, another general dies, while still others meet their end in the legendary “hornets’ nest” or elsewhere on the field.

This lone battle will cause more American casualties than all American wars to date combined. Welcome to the Battle of Shiloh.

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