A look at some of the most desperate and daring stories of escape and survival from the American Civil War.

Documentary · 40 min

EPISODE 1

Libby Prison Escape

Colonel Thomas Rose is one of more than 1000 officers held in the notorious Libby Prison of Richmond, Va., known for its stark white walls, numbing conditions and rats.

30 min · 4 Jul 2022
EPISODE 2

Rebel Raid in Vermont

The frontlines of the Civil War lie hundreds of miles from Vermont, but Confederate Bennett Young plans to bring the war to the North. He’ll lead a group of raiders into the town of St. Albans to rob its banks and burn its buildings then make a run for Canada. But a local posse has other plans.

30 min · 2 Jun 2022
EPISODE 3

Into the Rebel Swamp

If the POWs of Libby Prison faced "Rat Hell," you could call what Wallace Turnage endured "snake hell." Turnage was born a slave and by the time we pick up the story from the recently rediscovered autobiography he'd already made multiple escape attempts—and been brutally beaten for them.

34 min · 26 May 2022
EPISODE 4

Robert Smalls: Steamboat to Freedom

Enslaved aboard the Confederate ship the CSS Planter, Robert Smalls has learned the skills of a naval captain.

40 min · 23 Jun 2022
EPISODE 5

John Doy and the Immortal 10

Dr. John Doy is a guide on the Underground Railroad attempting to lead a group of men, women, and children to safety in Canada. When their party is intercepted by a notorious slave catcher, Doy is thrown into a Missouri jail. All appears to be lost until his friends hatch a bold plot to free him.

29 min · 23 Jun 2022
EPISODE 6

Pauline Cushman: Tales of a Yankee Spy

Pauline Cushman is a Union war widow, a stage actress and a spy.

38 min · 16 Jun 2022

Impossible Escapes: Civil War

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