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Civil War Episode 2:Very Bloody Affair [VHS]

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The second episode of Ken Burns celebrated documentary on the Civil War focuses on McClellan's Peninsula Campaign in the East and Grant's military successes in the West leading up to the Battle of Shiloh during the second year of the war. Although David McCullough's narration is truly the voice of this documentary, it is the figure of Shelby Foote, relating the Battle of Shiloh and its importance in transforming beliefs about the war, that stands out in this particular episode. Other notable moments cover the clash of Ironclads with the Monitor and the Merrimac, the fall of New Orleans to Farragaut's Federal fleet, as well as the introduction of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Again, the use of hundreds of still photographs, contemporary film shots of locales, the recognizable voices of noted actors such as Morgan Freeman and Jason Robards, Jr., and the simple but evocative music are powerfully woven together. This episode begins with the rising star of George B. McClellan and the cry of "On to Richmond," but ends with the first recognition of the military genius of Robert E. Lee. It is at this point that the parallels between the American Civil War and Homer's "Iliad" that Burns sees becomes fairly obvious.