Plot Synopsis

Using stereoscopic stills from the Civil War period -- recently released by the Library of Congress -- and shown for the first time ever to television audiences in their native 3D format, this four-part documentary offers intimate accounts of the brave men on the front lines, as told through paralleling stories of the men of the 20th Massachusetts and 1st Virginia regiments. Providing a unique insight into the beliefs, struggles and passions of those involved from both the North and South, these four episodes are: "Collision Course," during which Harvard grad Henry Livermore Abbott enlists in the 20th Massachusetts, which sees action in the Battle of Ball's Bluff where a future US Supreme Court justice named Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. is injured, and young pharmacist Edward Payson Reeve joins the 1st Virginia, whose history goes back to the nation's founding and which played a key role in the first Bull Run; "The Grind," which focuses on the second bloody year of the War when the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia becomes the Holy Grail of the conflict, Harvard men Henry Livermore Abbott and Oliver Wendell Holmes form a tight bond of friendship, and Edward Payson Reeve is wounded and taken prisoner; "Hell on the Horizon"," highlighting the single bloodiest day of the entire Civil War when, in September 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee invades western Maryland and future Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. is wounded again; and "Judgment Days," telling the story of July 1863 when the 20th Massachusetts and 1st Virginia regiments both march to Gettysburg where, on the third day of the bloody battle, in the famous Pickett's Charge, the two regiments that have shadowed each other for two years will finally come face to face. The day after the series premiere, Velocity, Military Channel and 3net aired the premiere episode as part of a 3D/2D simulcast on Sunday, December 3, 2011 at 10p ET.