Overview: Grant and Lee are locked in siege warfare at Petersburg. With Lee pinned down, Sherman strikes at the heart of the Confederacy and captures Atlanta. In November 1864, Lincoln's re-election dooms Confederate hopes for a negotiated peace. Sherman undertakes his famous March to the Sea then heads north to join with Grant. In the spring, Lee tries to escape from Grant's grip at Petersburg only to see his army disintegrate. In April 1865, he surrenders his tattered force. At war's end, Lincoln stands poised to be benevolent in peace, but an assassination's bullet dooms any hope of easy reconciliation.