Known affectionately as "Uncle Billy" by Union soldiers, but reviled in the South as a brutal war criminal, General William Tecumseh Sherman is one of the truly enigmatic and complex figures in the American pantheon. His legacy was built during a five-week campaign of terror and destruction that would become known as "total war". Sherman ordered his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, destroy railroads, pilfer food supplies and to make sure the South's civilian infrastructure was shattered. Although the concept had been around for centuries, this is the first time in modern warfare that total war was used to such an extensive degree. First Savannah was captured, and then he marched from Georgia through South Carolina and burned the capital to the ground. On the heels of Sherman's destructive onslaughts, the Confederacy officially conceded victory to the Union on April 9, 1865.

May 31st, 1862: President Abraham Lincoln is pressing for a swift end to the Civil War. As his army bears down on the confederate capitol, Lincoln has a radical new machine above the battle--a hydrogen filled spy balloon, equipped with a telegraph that can instantly report on enemy troop movements. As the Union army comes under intense rebel fire, commanders on the ground use the information from the reconnaissance balloon to turn the tide against the Confederates.

For years, Hollywood special-effects wizards worked with historians and museum specialists to create a new way to experience history. Join us for an unforgettable tour of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. The facility spreads over 200,000 square-feet and houses the Illinois State Historical Library's 12-million items, such as the Gettysburg Address, Emancipation Proclamation, and Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Speech. Historical archives are presented alongside state-of-the-art technology, including a holographic "Ghost of Lincoln"; a Special Effects Theater, where six historical figures present their views on the 16th President; stunningly lifelike figures of Abe and family; and recreations of Lincoln's log cabin and the White House. Features comments from author Gore Vidal and museum director Richard Norton Smith, who has said, "In size, in scope and, above all, in imagination, this institution dwarfs anything that exists."