1865


LOGLINE:

Limited TV Series and Novel-in-progress looks over the shoulder of the only commander out of a half dozen with the guts to win the Civil War. Things might literally have gone south but for the tenacity of Lincoln's bulldog who shares the vision of how to repair the breach and restore the Union from first shots in April 1861 to the April of Appomattox in 1865.

COMPLETED:

Second draft-in-progress plus ten polished chapters of the Novel and 13.5 Episodes of the 15-hour Series and as of June 2011:

1. WAR! (Act One)
2. THE BATTLE OF SHILOH
3. THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG
4. THE BATTLE OF THE DTs
5. THE BATTLE OF VICKSBURG
6. THE BATTLE OF CHATTANOOGA
7. WE HAVE FOUND OUR HERO
8. THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS
9. THE BATTLE OF SPOTSYLVANIA
10. MRS. PRESIDENT, MRS. GENERAL
11. THE BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR
12. THE BATTLE OF WASHINGTON CITY
13. WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE
14. THE BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS
15. MEXICO BEFORE APPOMATTOX
16. PEACE!

Remaining Episode in Treatment:

2. THE BATTLE OF SHILOH

SYNOPSIS:

1865 The Novel In-Progress & Limited Series

1865 The Limited TV Series and Feature in development with Charles W. (Chuck) Fries, Fries Film Co., Inc.

The Feature and companion Novel are comprised of elements from the Limited Series, with emphasis on the last five Episodes.

Episode 1. WAR! Grant is a clerk in his father’s leather goods store in April 1861 when Lincoln calls for volunteers to put down the Rebellion. Grant served with distinction in the Mexican War of 1847. However, he has failed at every civilian job since resigning from the Army under pressure because of his bad old habit-- alcoholism. He perseveres against envious rivals to regain his commission as colonel of the 21st Illinois Volunteers, and begins his ascent as the only commander willing to do whatever it takes to realize Lincoln's remorseless vision of how to win the War.

Episodes 2. THE BATTLE OF SHILOH: Grant earns the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" at the Battles of Forts Henry & Donelson. Nevertheless, he intends to resign despite victory at Shiloh because of strident criticism from superiors and the press. Sherman talks him out of it. Even though rumors of intemperance continue to worry Lincoln, he tags Grant as the most likely commander to win the war, and removes obstacles and officers who might hinder that effort.

Episodes 3. THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG, 4. THE BATTLE OF THE DTs, 5. THE BATTLE OF VICKSBURG, 6. THE BATTLE OF CHATTANOOGA: Grant dodges rumors of the bad old habit’s return through celebrated triumphs but finally confronts his addiction with the help of an unexpected friend.

Episodes 7. WE HAVE FOUND OUR HERO, 8. THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS, 9. THE BATTLE OF SPOTSYLVANIA, 10. MRS. PRESIDENT, MRS. GENERAL, 11. THE BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR, 12. THE BATTLE OF WASHINGTON CITY: Lincoln gives supreme command of all Union forces to Grant. Washington City greets him as the best hope to preserve the Union. While three months of intense battle bring Grant closer to a final battle with Lee, casualties mount to staggering proportions. Lincoln and Grant are castigated as butchers as they enter the last twelve months of the War. Things could have gone south but for the tenacity of Lincoln’s bulldog who relentlessly targets the ultimate goal: Crush Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Lee strongly resists, sends rebel raiders to lob artillery into Washington City within a mile of the Summer White House. Lincoln doubts his reelection. Grant is willing to fight indecisive major battles and spend thousands of lives to tighten the noose on Lee digging in closer and closer to Richmond.

Episode 13. WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE, 14. THE BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS: Despite the utter failure of extreme measures to capture the two most critical Confederate cities, Lincoln, Grant and Sherman know that Union forces have Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in a stranglehold. Lee makes one last desperate attempt to dislodge Union commands from Fort Stedman on the Petersburg Front near Grant's command headquarters at City Point. Federal forces win the last major battle at Five Forks. Victory there would have given Lee a chance to escape with his Army to connect with Confederates in Georgia. Sherman's victory in Atlanta insures Lincoln's second term.

Episode 15. MEXICO BEFORE APPOMATTOX: Grant's forces cut off Lee's only means of supplying his starving Army. Grant proposes to Lee that it is time to consider surrender. After several letters across the lines Lee agrees to meet at the village of Appomattox Court House to discuss terms. The night before the scheduled meeting, Grant is laid low by the famous migraine headache that is usually a harbinger of triumph. He relives in nightmare his first encounter with Lee when the Confederate commander was a superior officer to the young Captain Grant in the Mexican War. The next day Grant rides between massed Union and Confederate forces at Appomattox. Almost exactly four years after first shots were fired, Lee formally surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia.

Episode 16. PEACE! Hours after surrender the story ends in Washington City where all the players gather, including John Wilkes Booth who would have robbed the reunited States of a second hero at Ford’s Theatre. He is thwarted by Grant’s lucky indulgence of his wife’s whim that allows the story to end as the War should have, in joyful rather than sorrowful triumph for Lincoln, the Nation, and the Feature, Series and Novel 1865... alternate title... U.S. GRANT.