Video: 'Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 8 - War Is All Hell (1865) | Ken Burns Documentary' (Apr. 4, 1865, 45:57)

(Friday, April 7, 1865, 5 p.m.; during the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War) — As Union forces under Gen. Ulysses Grant pursued the Confederate army under Gen. Robert E. Lee along the Appomattox River, Grant initiated a series of dispatches between between the two commanders: Continue reading Grant asks Lee to surrender to avoid ‘any further effusion of blood’ 150 years ago this hour (Apr 7 1865) →

Video: 'Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 8 - War Is All Hell (1865) | Ken Burns Documentary' (Apr. 7, 1865, 48:17)

(Friday, April 7, 1865; during the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War) — U.S. President Abraham Lincoln sent Gen. Ulysses Grant a telegram today, stating: “Gen. Sheridan says ‘If the thing is pressed I think that Lee will surrender.’ Let the thing be pressed.”

Video: 'Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 8 - War Is All Hell (1865) | Ken Burns Documentary' (Apr. 6, 1865, 47:54)

(Thursday, April 6, 1865; during the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War) — Union cavalry and infantry inflicted 6,000 casualties on the armies of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and captured eight generals including Lee’s own son, Custis, today in the Battle of Sailor’s Creek near Farmville, Virginia.

Lee now had fewer than 25,000 men facing 125,000 federal troops closing in from three sides.

Video: 'Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 8 - War Is All Hell (1865) | Ken Burns Documentary' (Apr. 4, 1865, 47:24)

(Tuesday, April 4, 1865; during the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War) — From the new temporary Confederate capital of Danville, Virginia, President Jefferson Davis issued a proclamation to the people of the South today admitting the great loss the Confederacy has suffered in the fall of Richmond; he tells them that while the struggle is entering a new phase, they should not abandon the fight.

Video: 'Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 8 - War Is All Hell (1865) | Ken Burns Documentary' (Apr. 3, 1865, 41:16-42:44)

(Monday, April 3, 1865, 8:15 a.m. local time; during the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War) — Union General Godfrey Weitzel formally accepted the surrender of Richmond today. After four years of repeated threats from the enemy, the Confederate capital has finally fallen to Federal troops.

Video: 'Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 8 - War Is All Hell (1865) | Ken Burns Documentary' (Apr. 2, 1865, 38:43)

(Sunday, April 2, 1865, 11:00 p.m. local time; immediately following the Third Battle of Petersburg, part of the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War) — While attending church in Richmond, Virginia, Confederate President Jefferson Davis received a message from General Robert E. Lee telling him that he will have to evacuate the Confederate capital immediately because the Confederate troops are being forced to abandon the defense of Petersburg because of advancing Union forces.

Davis quietly left the church and in the evening, he and several members of his cabinet boarded a special train bound for Danville, Virginia.

Video: 'Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 8 - War Is All Hell (1865) | Ken Burns Documentary' (Apr. 2, 1865, 36:53)

(Sunday, April 2, 1865; during the Third Battle of Petersburg, part of the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War) — The Union Army launched an assault on Confederate trenches and fortifications in Petersburg, Virginia, today, exposing or cutting the Confederate right flank, rear and remaining supply lines.

Confederate defenders were reduced by over 10,000 men killed, wounded, taken prisoner or in flight. Confederate Lieutenant General A.P. Hill was killed in the fighting.

Video: 'Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 8 - War Is All Hell (1865) | Ken Burns Documentary' (Apr. 1, 1865, 36:41)

(Saturday, April 1, 1865; during the Appomattox Campaign of the American Civil War) — Union forces led by Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan routed Confederate soldiers under the command of Maj. Gen. George Pickett today in the Battle of Five Forks in Virginia.

The Union force inflicted over 1,000 casualties on the Confederates and took between 2,400 and 4,000 prisoners while seizing Five Forks, the key to control of the South Side Railroad (sometimes shown as Southside Railroad), a vital Confederate supply line to, and retreat line from, Petersburg.

Video: 'Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 8 - War Is All Hell (1865) | Ken Burns Documentary' (Mar. 27, 1865, 33:50)

(Monday, March 27, 1865, evening; during the American Civil War) — U.S. President Abraham Lincoln met with union generals Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman and Admiral David D. Porter onboard the passenger steamboat River Queen tonight at City Point, Virginia, to plot the final stages of the Civil War. The four met again the next day, Mar. 28, 1865.