The film centers mostly around the personal and professional life of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a brilliant if eccentric Confederate general, from the outbreak of the American Civil War until its halfway point.

In the summer of 1863, General Robert E. Lee leads the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia into Gettysburg, Pennsylvania with the goal of marching through to Washington, D.C. The Union Army of the Potomac, under the command of General George G. Meade, forms a defensive position to confront the rebel forces in what will prove to be the decisive battle of the American Civil War.

Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.

Henry Fleming is a young Union soldier in the American Civil War. During his unit's first engagement, Henry flees the battlefield in fear. When he learns that the Union actually won the battle, shame over his cowardice leads him to lie to his friend Tom and the other soldiers, saying that he had been injured in battle. However, when he learns that his unit will be leading a charge against the enemy, Henry takes the opportunity to face his fears and redeem himself.

小说无情地揭露了美国历史上南方奴隶制度的残暴面目，是美国第一部具有鲜明民主倾向的作品。此书出版前，美国南、北方因奴隶制度而引起的地域性矛盾由于1850年国会通过的妥协法案而趋于缓和，小说发表后，犹如平地一声霹雳，震撼了整个美国社会。近代史学家普遍认为《汤姆大伯的小屋》是美国南北战争的导火索之一；林肯总统也曾把斯陀夫人称为“发动南北战争的妇人”。书中对于善良诚实的汤姆大伯和各阶层众多人物的刻画，散发出强烈的艺术感染力。

2005年美国书评人协会小说奖获奖作品 2006年美国笔会/福克纳小说奖获奖作品 入围普利策小说奖、美国国家图书奖、《洛杉矶时报》图书奖。 一八六四年，美国南北战争如火如荼。有“魔鬼将军”之称的谢尔将军率领六万北方军队火烧亚特兰大之后，挥师向东穿越佐治亚州，向大海进军，再进入南、北卡罗来纳州，最终结束了这场历时四年的美国内战。 一路上，这支大军实行残酷的“焦土政策”，就地取食，掠夺南方种植园，破坏城市，也产生越来越多被解放的黑人和白人难民。所有人在流浪。 这是一部气势磅礴的历史小说巨作，有着宏大的历史背景，也刻画了众多充满戏剧冲突和张力的人物：彪悍好色的北军将领，被解放的奴隶少女，漫无目的的南军战士，冷静沉着的北军军医以及爱上他的南方贵族姑娘……无数人被这场大进军卷入国家暴力中。 《大进军》具有一种悲天悯人的人道情怀和令人着迷的叙事力量，它极其生动地表现了无数被战争卷入国家暴力的普通人的生活。在E.L.多克托罗笔下，这场大进军不仅仅是一个浮动的世界，一种流浪的意识，也是一种难忘的阅读体验。它与我们的时代息息相关……

《红色的英勇标志》是美国文学史上一部经典作品，它奠定了作者斯蒂芬•克莱恩（1871-1900）在美国史学上的地位。小说描写了美国南北战争时期间一个不谙世事却胸怀崇高理想的青年在战火和死亡中成长的故事。亨利！弗莱明由于战火和死亡的恐惧而逃跑，又因为受到道德和荣誉心的鞭策而归队，重使用面对炮火，他奋勇当先，表现顽强，终于赢回了荣誉和信心，从而成熟起来。《红色的英勇标志》是一个描写年轻人在战火中成长的故事，重点表现战争环境对人的心理所产生的影响。美国南北战争（1861-1865）期间，不谙世事的小伙子享利•弗莱明到爱国宣传的影响，出于对古希腊英雄的崇拜，不顾母亲反对，执意报名参加了北部联邦军。

在军事方面，美国内战也是一个重要事件。后来的战争在作战方式、战术以及军队的构成等方面的变化，在其他地方——尤其在欧洲——也都能看得到。美国内战中的这些变化则首次为人们所瞩目。 内战突显了许多新型武器的极大威力。和以前相比，步枪的射程更长，并且准确度更高。能够连发的来复枪可以使士兵在一分钟内射击多次，而不是以往的两三次。人们还使用了具有更强火力和更远射程的大炮。这些武器的增长如此之快，以至于不必再拔军费给骑兵和步兵。当然，在这样强大的火力面前，伤亡人数也是非常之巨。

《葛底斯堡的雄狮：美国南北战争传奇将军张伯伦回忆录》主要内容包括：战后演讲及私人书信、给妻子弗朗西斯，张伯伦的信、给亨利·沃兹沃思，朗费罗的信、在葛底斯堡缅因纪念碑落成典礼上的演讲、在亚伯拉罕.林肯总统诞辰一百周年纪念仪式上的演讲等。

In The Fighting Men of the Civil War, William C. Davis shows us the common soldier's Civil War. Shifting the focus from the officers to the men in the ranks, he begins with enlistment & training, follows with life in the camp & on the march, & concludes with experiences of combat, imprisonment & sickness. Following the men through a wealth of anecdotes & firsthand accounts, Davis brings us the reality of war. Each branch of the service is highlighted, as are combatants such as sailors in both navies & the many African-American troops traditionally denied the limelight. Camp life, uniforms, weapons, & a host of personal items are featured in a series of specially commissioned photographs - together with illustrations of the arms, armament, & uniforms of both Confederate & Federal forces. "Civil War soldiers leavened their daily serious business with wit & humor. So does William C. Davis in this marvelous account of those three million Rebels & Yankees who went to war from 1861 to 1865. The human side of this tragic but triumphant conflict emerges not only in Davis's lively text but also in the vivid contemporary photographs of men at war & the modern full-color photographs of the artifacts they left behind them. This lavishly illustrated book with its sprightly narrative is a must for anyone interested in the American Civil War."--JAMES M. MCPHERSON, author of Battle Cry of Freedom. WILLIAM C. DAVIS is the author or editor of more than thirty books on the American Civil War & Southern history, including "A Government of Our Own": The Making of the Confederacy, A Way Through the Wilderness: The Natchez Trance & the Civilization of the Southern Frontier, & The Battlefields of the Civil War (University of Oklahoma Press). For many years editor & publisher of the magazine Civil War Times Illustrated, he was a consultant most recently for the Arts & Entertainment Network's "Civil War Journal" & the CBS miniseries "The Blue & the Gray." RUSS A. PRITCHARD serves on the Board of Governors for the Civil War Library & Museum, Philadelphia, & is a consultant for the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond.

With On to Petersburg, Gordon C. Rhea completes his much-lauded history of the Overland Campaign, a series of Civil War battles fought between Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee in southeastern Virginia in the spring of 1864. Having previously covered the campaign in his magisterial volumes on The Battle of the Wilderness, The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern, To the North Anna River, and Cold Harbor, Rhea ends this series with a comprehensive account of the last twelve days of the campaign, which concluded with the beginning of the siege of Petersburg. On to Petersburg follows the Union army’s movement to the James River, the military response from the Confederates, and the initial assault on Petersburg, which Rhea suggests marked the true end of the Overland Campaign. Beginning his account in the immediate aftermath of Grant’s three-day attack on Confederate troops at Cold Harbor, Rhea argues that the Union general’s primary goal was not―as often supposed―to take Richmond, but rather to destroy Lee’s army by closing off its retreat routes and disrupting its supply chains. While Grant struggled at times to communicate strategic objectives to his subordinates and to adapt his army to a faster-paced, more flexible style of warfare, Rhea suggests that the general successfully shifted the military landscape in the Union’s favor. On the rebel side, Lee and his staff predicted rightly that Grant would attempt to cross the James River and lay siege to the Army of Northern Virginia while simultaneously targeting Confederate supply lines. Rhea examines how Lee, facing a better-provisioned army whose troops outnumbered Lee’s two to one, consistently fought the Union army to an impasse, employing risky, innovative field tactics to counter Grant’s forces. Like the four volumes that preceded it, On to Petersburg represents decades of research and scholarship and will stand as the most authoritative history of the final battles in the campaign.