The second volume is dominated by the almost continual confrontation of great armies. The starting point for this volume is the Battle of Fredericksburg, fought in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, from December 11 to December 15, 1862, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate States Army and the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major general Ambrose E. Burnside. It continues through to the meticulous destruction of Meridian, Mississippi, in February 1864 by General Sherman. This volume is full of the life of the times--the elections of 1863, the resignations of Seward and Chase, the Conscription riots, the mounting opposition (on both side) to the crushing war, and then the inescapable resolution that it must go on.