Spots 
Ben Cameron lies gravely ill in Armory Square Hospital after suffering severe battle wounds near the war's end. Elsie Stoneman serves as his nurse, tending to him despite their opposing family loyalties. Her care sparks a personal bond across political divides before peace is declared.
Austin Stoneman drives the Congressional agenda from his Washington residence, insisting that defeated southern states be treated as conquered territories. His influence shapes legislative measures intended to strip political power from former Confederates. His children, Phil and Elsie, remain caught between his ruthless political ambition and their personal sympathy for southern acquaintances.
Abraham Lincoln resists Austin Stoneman's demands for immediate confiscation and disenfranchisement in the postwar South. Lincoln favors a merciful restoration of the Union that allows swift reintegration. Their sharp debate highlights the deep political fracture over the future of Reconstruction.
Elsie Stoneman pleads with President Lincoln to spare Ben Cameron from execution as a guerilla raider. Lincoln signs the pardon, saving the young officer's life. Shortly afterward, John Wilkes Booth assassinates Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, throwing national politics into chaos and empowering Radical Republican control.
A Reconstruction saga framing southern resistance through the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.