This volume recounts the military conduct of the American Civil War, tracing political and military developments from the struggle over emancipation to the war's closing operations. It analyzes Lincoln's evolving emancipation policy and cabinet politics, then chronicles major campaigns and battles across multiple theaters — Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Atlanta and Sherman's March to the Sea — alongside naval and guerrilla actions, strategic plans, and wartime controversies such as the Red River expedition, Fort Pillow, and the 1864 presidential campaign, concluding with the final operations and surrender.