The future of America was determined during a tumultuous, six-month period of the Civil War. As 1862 rolled into 1863, Confederate general Robert E. Lee told his troops, "The glorious campaign of the year just closing gives assurance of hope that the coming year will he no less fruitful." Confederate general Braxton Bragg proclaimed, "God has granted us a Happy New Year." In the North, the New York Herald predicted that "our failure has dashed the hopes of the nation," and called for a vote of confidence in President Abraham Lincoln.<BR><BR>Just five months into 1863, after the Union disaster at Chancellorsville, an ashen-faced Lincoln moaned, "My God, my God, what will the country say?" But even as he spoke, the Confederate tide was beginning to recede. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had finally crossed the Mississippi River and was about to launch his successful assault to capture the citadel of Vicksburg. To counter this lightning thrust into the heartland of Mississippi, General Lee would soon lunge north to a climactic defeat on the Pennsylvania farmlands and hillsides at Gettysburg. As a result of these two campaignsùboth climaxing only a day apart in early Julyùthe demise of the Confederacy, and the survival of the United States, was virtually assured.<BR><BR>Follow the drama through the eyes of the acclaimed author of Fields of Honor. For more than half a century, Edwin C. Bearss has been the nation's premier battlefield storyteller. As Chief Historian Emeritus for the National Park Service and the author of more than a dozen books on Civil War history, Bearss is uniquely qualified to convey the drama and personalities that shaped this pivotal turning point of our nation's epic war. J. Parker. Hills, a retired military officer, ably assists in the historical analysis.