Video: 'Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 8 - War Is All Hell (1865) | Ken Burns Documentary' (Mar. 25, 1865, 36:26)

(Saturday, March 25, 1865, 4:15 a.m. local time; during the American Civil War) — The Battle of Fort Stedman was fought today as the Union Army fortification in the siege lines around Petersburg, Virginia, was attacked in a pre-dawn Confederate assault by troops led by Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon.

The attack was the last serious attempt by Confederate troops to break the Siege of Petersburg. After an initial success, Gordon’s men were driven back by Union troops of the IX Corps commanded by Maj. Gen. John G. Parke.

Video: 'PBS The Civil War: Episode 8 - War Is All Hell 1865' (Mar. 13, 1865, at 26:30)

(Monday, March 13, 1865; during the American Civil War) — Confederate President Jefferson Davis signed a measure today allowing black slaves to enlist in the Confederate States Army with the promise they would be set free.

(Saturday, March 11, 1865; during the Carolinas Campaign, part of the American Civil War) — Union forces under General William T. Sherman occupied Fayetteville, North Carolina, today.

Video: 'Sherman's March: Final Revenge 3/5' (Feb. 17, 1865, at 0:00)

(Friday, February 17, 1865; during the Carolinas Campaign, part of the American Civil War) — Columbia, South Carolina, burned today as the Confederates evacuated and Union forces moved in. It’s not clear which side was responsible for setting the blaze, or whether it had been deliberate. Continue reading Columbia burns; Confederates abandon Fort Sumter, evacuate Charleston 150 years ago today (Feb 17 1865) →

(Friday, February 3, 1865; during the American Civil War) — U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens held a shipboard peace conference on the River Queen, near Union-controlled Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia, today; the talks deadlocked over the issue of Southern autonomy.

Video: 'PBS The Civil War: Episode 8 - War Is All Hell 1865' (Carolinas Campaign begins at 21:00)

(Wednesday, February 1, 1865; during the American Civil War) — After about two weeks of preliminary movements and extensive preparations, Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman today actively began his march into South Carolina from Savannah, Georgia, and Beaufort, South Carolina.

Video: 'Ken Burns - The Civil War: Episode 8 - War Is All Hell (1865) | Ken Burns Documentary' (Jan. 31, 1865, 27:19)

(Tuesday, January 31, 1865, late afternoon local time; during the American Civil War) — The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the Thirteenth Amendment 119 to 56 (narrowly reaching the required two-thirds majority), abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. With Congress’s approval (the Senate had passed the amendment on Apr. 8, 1864) and President Abraham Lincoln’s signature (on Feb. 1, 1865). The amendment then went to the states for ratification. Continue reading U.S. House passes Constitutional Amendment abolishing slavery 150 years ago today (Jan 31 1865) →

Video: 'American Experience Robert E Lee PBS Documentary'

(Tuesday, January 31, 1865; during the American Civil War) — Gen. Robert E. Lee was named general-in-chief of the Confederate States Army today by President Jefferson Davis.

Video: 'Special Field Order # 15' (Jan. 16, 1865, at 3:41)

(Monday, January 16, 1865; during the American Civil War) — Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15, which decreed that 400,000 acres of land in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida would be confiscated, divided into 40-acre lots and given to former slaves.

The order, which was later revoked by President Andrew Johnson, is believed to have inspired the expression, “Forty acres and a mule.”