excitement actually at that point on both sides because people have anticipated this for so long. some people were itching for a fight. >> they think war is a glorious thing and let's go and do it. >> but in the spring, lincoln's overeager young friend from springfield, elmer ellsworth, a short but very dashing commander of a drill team would go with the lincoln boys to the roof of the white house and look out with a telescope. and over the river they saw a confederate flag flying from the top of a hotel. and ellsworth, for one, was offended. >> ellsworth led a band across the river to tear down the confederate flag. >> as he was walking down the stairs, the owner of the inn took his shotgun and shot him in the chest. he fell down the last few steps, clutching and wrapped in this increasingly blood-soaked flag. lincoln loved this young man, so the war came home really fast for lincoln. >> with the first cannon fired at ft. sumter in april 1861, the country is thrust into civil war. and the fate of the united states and democracy itself are in abraham lincoln's hands. >> when the hostilities start in april of 1861, the united states standing army is less than 2,000 men. but the confederacy doesn't have an army at all. >> the hope on the side of the lincoln administration is they can bring a bunch of troops to washington and display the military power of the united states of america and the confederates will back down. >> the people that are enlisting are just for 90 days. >> there were very few people in the north who thought the war would be more than 90 days. >> july 1861, it is clear that so-called confederate forces are going to find a place to engage american forces who are trying to take back the new confederate capital of richmond. but lincoln makes a strategic mistake at the beginning. >> the general of the army told lincoln, he said, "mr. president, our troops need a lot more training and they're pretty green." >> lincoln's reply is "the other side is green too. you are all green alike." lincoln was determined it should go ahead. and so off they go into virginia. >> confederate forces are expected to engage the united states army at a town called manassas, not too far from washington. so lots of people from washington took carriages and picnic lunches and went out and settled on the slopes above what clearly was emerging as the field of action to watch the war begin and end in the same day. and in fact in the morning, the american army did really well, pushing back these rebels. >> the general in command, irvin mcdowell, nearly succeeds in flanking the confederate forces there. mcdowell's army comes down to a stream known as bull run. it's almost a ladder of watercourses that he would have to cross. but right at that moment, confederate reinforcements come up from the shenandoah valley smack into mcdowell's army, push it back. >> suddenly the whole northern army flees. total disarray. the officers are not able to keep order. reporters are shot at. the picnickers are uprooted. the blankets and baskets are left. they flee. the south holds the ground and wins the day. the defeated american army has to walk its way back to d.c. bloodstained, sweat-stained, in total humiliation. when lincoln gets the news that the union had lost the battle of bull run, he knows this is a much bigger event than he calculated. >> for the young men who volunteered so early in the war, that was just a completely disorienting and horrifying experience. >> lincoln is criticized for having ordered his troops into battle before they were ready. >> horace greeley, the editor of "the new york tribune," tells lincoln it's over. we've lost. at the end of the day, it has to be said that abraham lincoln was not nearly as savvy a military thinker as he was a political one. >> so what does he do? he sends to the library of congress for books, books about war strategy. he decides to teach himself the job of commander in chief, just as he taught himself shakespeare, just as he taught himself the law. he's the biggest and most successful autodidact in american history. >> but wars are not won from behind a desk. lincoln must find a seasoned general to ensure a union victory. >> after the disaster at bull run, general mcdowell is politely relieved. another general, george mcclellan is called in from the west to take charge, and new plans are going to be made. george brinton mcclellan, who seemed to be the very apex of a professional soldier. >> he had been a high-ranking member of his class at west point. he had been a successful officer. he seemed to be a boy genius. and mcclellan takes the army that had been so dispirited by the defeat at bull run and whips it into shape and restores the morale of the army, but then he fails to use it. >> lincoln has this great moment where he writes mcclellan a letter and said, if you're not going to be using the army, i might just borrow it. like you'd say that if you're not going to finish that sandwich, maybe i'd just have a bite. >> but mcclellan refuses to share his battle plans, and congress starts to get impatient and newspaper editors start to get impatient. but lincoln puts up with his delay and even puts up with snubs. lincoln goes to mcclellan's house in desperation one day. mcclellan is out. lincoln says, i'll wait. he waits and he waits. and mcclellan comes home, hears from his valet that lincoln is waiting, and he goes directly upstairs while lincoln sits in his parlor. and then he sends his servant down to tell lincoln that he is indisposed and going to bed. lincoln just goes back to his carriage, and the secretary says mr. president, how can you stand that kind of disrespect? and he said "i would hold mcclellan's horse if he would bring me victories." >> the most surprising thing to me about lincoln is that he didn't lose it all the time. why didn't lincoln just pick up mcclellan, who was one-third his size and just jam him into a pickle barrel? you think of anybody being under that kind of strain blowing up, exploding, but lincoln keeps stoic, reasoned calm. >> he had an incredibly thick skin. not all of our presidents have been like that. >> lincoln managed to suppress his own ego. he refused to quarrel. he was committed to a cause above and beyond his party and himself in order to win the war. >> announcer: this cnn originalseries "lincoln: divided we stand" is brought to you by cologuard, colon cancer screening made easy. l to find 92% of colon cancers even in early stages. tell me more. it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your prescriber or an online prescriber if cologuard is right for you. i'm on it. sounds like a plan. garnier infuses vitamin c in the new garnier brightening serum cream to reveal glowing skin. the efficacy of a vitamin c serum, the moisture of a cream, and an spf 30. 3 products in 1 for bright, glowing skin. new garnier brightening serum cream. by garnier, naturally! it all starts with an invitation... ...to experience lexus. the invitation to lexus sales event. lease the 2021 rx 350 for $429 a month for 36 month's, and we'll make you're first month's payment. experience amazing. introducing michelob ultra organic seltzer it's made with real fruit juice and is usda certified organic it's a cut above new mango apricot michelob ultra organic seltzer as real as it tastes ♪ (car horn) ♪ (splash) ♪ turn today's dreams into tomorrow's trips... with millions of flexible booking options. all in one place. expedia. as the pressures of war mount on president lincoln, he looks to his young sons for relief and comfort. by the winter of 1862, his oldest, robert, is studying at harvard. but 11-year-old willie and 8-year-old tad have free rein of the white house. ♪ >> the third born, willie, who is their favorite and is the one most like his father, he had his father's temperament, his sense of humor, his build. he carried his head at an angle the way lincoln did. he talked like lincoln. he had lincoln's sharpness of intellect. >> the lincolns were indulgent parents, to say the least. they found their children entertaining and thought other people should too. >> when willie and tad got into the white house, they wreaked havoc. >> it is the first time you've had young children in the white house. it seems as if they were quite rapscallion. they were quite notorious. >> their favorite activity was to find the source of the ropes that united the bells through which in "downton abbey" style, you summoned servants. so they found way to tie and mess them up so you rang in the east room you would wind up in the kitchen. they loved messing up the bells. >> it was amazing how much free play they had. >> and to lincoln, his children could do no wrong, even if they totally disrupted the office. >> but the first lady was not afforded the same courtesy. >> mary was known as an outspoken first lady, as a very educated woman in her time. so she liked to give her opinion when it was not always welcome. we have examples of lincoln pushing her out the door and locking it so he could continue his meetings. >> mary was enormously and continuously frustrated by her relegation to the traditional sphere of a woman's role in the white house. i think she harbored dreams of being close to the office and maybe being called upon to give sage advice, but lincoln was exhausted and preoccupied by work and he seldom returned to the family quarters during the course of the day. >> the first lady is not only excluded from political conversations in the white house but also continues to be treated like an outcast by d.c. society. >> mary is from kentucky. her brothers are fighting for the confederacy. >> mary is intending to be a grand hostess at the white house. but the newspapers said she was unsophisticated and rustic. that must have devastated mary, because she is thinking of herself high society and she might have been in springfield, but she finds out the entrenched society in washington doesn't like her and do not consider her up to their caliber. >> that was viewed by the abolitionists and the staunch union women as a disgrace. wasn't she suspicious? >> she is regarded as a traitor, signaling to the confederates ridiculous stories like that, but it was fairly widely believed. >> her half brother-in-law ben hardin helm was a confederate general who was killed in action, and his widow was sheltered in the white house. the committee on the conduct of the war held an inquiry into the first lady's loyalty. lincoln made a personal appearance to the committee to say she is a bigger abolitionist, more loyal, more pro-union than i am. as long as it's my house and my family's house, i'll do as i please. >> there was no doubt in her heart about her support of the union, her support of the federal government, her support of her husband as leader of the republican party. >> so she was deeply wounded, as you might expect, by that kind of criticism. >> despite all the accusations, mary is determined to maintain the dignity of the executive office. in february 1862, she plans a ball. >> mary saw it as important to keep the nation going, to meet the expectations of the greatness of the union, the united states. mary thought that the ball was a cost-saving over more expensive state dinners. and here she was having an open house with ice in the shape of palaces and ships. >> and, again, mary was really criticized for it. >> one of the senators had written saying perhaps if you're not aware, there is a war going on. we are, and we're staying home. >> mary is not only criticized for hosting a ball while soldiers die on the battlefields, but also for doing so while her 11-year-old son willie is sick. >> willie had become ill from drinking water in the white house, which has sinks that lead directly to the foul water from the potomac which soldiers use the river as a latrine upstream and animals are dying. >> but as diplomats and dignitaries mingle in the white house parlor, willie's condition worsens. a night meant to instill faith into the greatness of the union quickly descends into tragedy. [typing sound] i had this hundred thousand dollar student debt. two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars in debt. ah, sofi literally changed my life. it was the easiest application process. sofi made it so there's no tradeoff between my dreams and paying student loans. student loans don't have to take over for the rest of your life. thank you for allowing me to get my money right. garnier infuses vitamin c in the new garnier brightening serum cream to reveal glowing skin. the efficacy of a vitamin c serum, the moisture of a cream, and an spf 30. 3 products in 1 for bright, glowing skin. new garnier brightening serum cream. by garnier, naturally! we're all born with 2.5 billion heartbeats, that makes you a billionaire. ♪ so let's not waste the fortune within us... invest in the people you love. invest your heartbeats in the life artois. in february 1862, willie lincoln, the favorite and most promising of the lincoln boys falls sick with typhoid fever. >> but there's nothing they can do. there's no knowledge of treatment of these diseases. and at the age of 11, after a hideous battle with great pain, he dies. >> and it's a terrible blow to both his parents. >> mary has the breakdown. >> she goes into profound, deep mourning. >> she takes to her room. her room is darkened. she can't bear to see her son tad because tad reminds her of wi willie. lincoln is also totally devastated. he goes from the death room to his secretary's office. he says "my boy is actually gone. he's actually gone," and he begins to sob and his shoulders are heaving. there's a concern about whether he'll be able to handle the bereavement and handle the ship of state at the same time, and he has to really rouse himself from his own depths to get back in the saddle and run the war. >> only weeks after willie's death, a grieving lincoln launches the peninsula campaign to capture the confederate capital of richmond, virginia. >> general mcclellan leads the campaign, but he was forever timid, forever digging in trenches. ultimately, it's a disaster. he's driven off the peninsula. so the summer of 1862 is wasted. the casualties are huge, and the union is right back where it started. >> and lincoln feels responsible. the burden is on him. >> he would go and make visits to the hospitals. there he would shake hands with soldiers. >> and he was there, extending his hand to confederate soldiers too. some of them would say "do you know that i'm a reb?" and he would say "are you so reb you can't take my hand?" he was a master at this kind of empathy and sympathy. >> he lost two sons. he thought of those soldiers as sons of mothers and fathers. >> the level of destruction and the level of the loss of life on top of such a profound loss, the death of willie, it was a terrible strain on him and his predisposition to depression was ignited. and he would refer to if there was a worse place than hell, he was in it. and at times he felt suicidal. >> it's hard to imagine somebody today experiencing as much pain as abraham lincoln and not being hospitalized, like medicated, hospitalized. this guy lost pretty much everybody in his life. >> but the lincolns were not unique. this great loss that struck them, they shared with everybody else in the country. thousands of sons are killed in battle every day. >> so he had to continue somehow. he had to summon the strength to carry on. >> as the weight of the war and personal tragedies compound upon lincoln, both the union and the confederacy hit a financial crossroads. >> wars are incredibly expensive. they have to get weapons. soldiers have to be fed. they have to have uniforms. all of this costs a huge amount of money. >> hoping to cripple confederate funds, lincoln imposes restrictions on southern cotton being shipped to europe. >> the english depended on southern cotton for textiles. they were really dependent on that. >> but the union blockade prevents a lot of those products from coming across the atlantic. >> the confederate states of america offers a new trade deal to france and england in exchange for military and financial support. >> and so there were financial incentives for the british to recognize the confederacy. >> the confederacy thought england would get in on their side. once they did, they would have had access to credit and capital. >> that would be devastating for the union. >> not only would the financial investment help crush the union army, but foreign recognition would also legitimize the confederacy as an autonomous nation and cement america's division internationally. >> announcer: this cnn original series, "lincoln: divided we stand" is brought to you by consumer cellular, where low rates and award-winning service are just the beginning. it all starts with an invitation... ...to experience lexus. the invitation to lexus sales event. get 0% apr financing on the 2021 is 300. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. was that your great-grandmother, keeping the family together? was that your grandfather, paving the way for change. did they brave mother nature... and walk away stronger? did they face the unknown, with resolve...and triumph. ♪ there's strength in every family story. learn more about yours. at ancestry. garnier infuses vitamin c in the new garnier brightening serum cream to reveal glowing skin. the efficacy of a vitamin c serum, the moisture of a cream, and an spf 30. 3 products in 1 for bright, glowing skin. new garnier brightening serum cream. by garnier, naturally! we're all born with 2.5 billion heartbeats, that makes you a billionaire. ♪ so let's not waste the fortune within us... invest in the people you love. invest your heartbeats in the life artois. by the summer of 1862, the civil war has raged for over a year and the union is suffering defeat after crushing defeat. casualties on both sides have reached well over 100,000, and there is no end in sight. >> from the early stages of the war, enslaved people are running away. there are black men rushing to the recruitment offices in the northern states, saying, sign me up. i want to fight against these slave owners, right? but the government turns them away because lincoln is worried about making the war too transformative. he said at many points that if he could save the union without freeing she -- any slaves, he would do so. >> but he is increasingly facing pressure from the radical republicans and the abolitionists in his own party to do something about slavery. >> in his paper, in his public addresses, whenever he got the opportunity, frederick douglass was telling lincoln we're not doing well in this war and you have the opportunity to turn it around, but you're not willing to do it because you are so wedded to protecting these people's property. >> lincoln is fearful that if he takes direct action against slavery, it will alienate many northerners. but by the middle of 1862, lincoln realizes that slavery is the fundamental foundation of southern society. it's slavery that is keeping their armies in the field. and so you want to win, you got to attack slavery. >> he knows that black people are his last card to play. >> the other enormous thing is england not getting in the war on the south's side. >> there is this pragmatic side of lincoln in terms of thinking the english had already ended slavery. there was a real abolitionist center in england. >> they're trying to sort of ignore the slavery that underpins their trading relationships with the confederacy because they are united in the opposition to slavery. >> lincoln knew if you make slavery a part of the war equation, then it's very difficult for the british to intervene because england can't be perceived as coming to the rescue of a slave empire. so he tells the cabinet, i'm goin