Brett Main-Hazard and Semiramis, one of the Mains' house slaves and Priam's sister, traveled by carriage to Lt. Freeman's office. There they learned that Billy was to be a sharp shooter in the Union army. This caused friction between Brett and Billy, because he was going to be killing southerners.
Orry and Charles set off together for the war. Charles was to be a spy and Orry one of Richmond's collaborators. Madeline stayed at Mont Royal with Clarissa.
The Hazards had a party in George's honor. Stanley would take over Hazard Iron while his brother was away. Isabel viewed it as a chance to get the company back. Brett agreed to stay in Lehigh Station with her husband's family. Virgilia also attended the party with Sam Green, the same guy who bailed her out of the loony bin.
While on a spy mission, Charles met Augusta, a woman who smuggled goods to southern troops. His best friend also met someone interesting. Billy encountered a young drummer boy named Tom who had been orphaned and wanted nothing more than to fight for his country. Billy offered him a ride to his camp (that's what's called nineteenth century hitch hiking).
Ashton and James Huntoon attended a party at which Ashton met a very handsome, interesting man. Little did she know that this man was her brother's worst enemy. Elkanah Bent had discovered many secrets since Mexico. He learned of Madeline's mother and also of his own heritage. Ohioan Senator Edwards was his real father and paid the Bents from Georgia to take care of his illegitimate son.
After recognizing Ashton from the picture James showed him in the brothel, Bent sought her out, hoping to get close to Orry Main's family. When he showed her the picture of Madeline's mother and told Ashton the Fabrays' secret, the two plotted to ruin Orry. They also planned to fund a complete overthrow of the government and set up headquarters in a warehouse.
Justin LaMotte (who I still to this day can not watch on Kung Fu and think of as a good guy) went to Mont Royal, kidnapped Madeline, and set the barn on fire. Clarissa was injured trying to salvage the building.
A really peed-off Orry came home and went to Resolute. He and Justin fought, the final result being Justin's death (yea!) when he crashed through a second story window and plunged to the ground (quite a difference from John Jakes' original book in which Justin got shot in the butt by one of the men in his little army). Madeline was wearing this really weird hair thing that looked like a snood we have to wear in ballet. That's not really very important to the plot, but you must be getting used to me throwing things like that in by now. They were married shortly after that.
Brett received a telegram that Clarissa had been hurt. She and Semiramis rushed home to Mont Royal, leaving Stanley and Isabel planning to use Hazard Iron to illegally make cannons and earn money. They forged George's signature on the official papers.
Charles continued to see Augusta on and off during the war. Her freed slaves, Washington and his son Boz, helped him when he was wounded. Charles rescued Augusta from Union officers who captured her plantation.
Billy looked after Tom the drummer boy. While Billy was writing to Brett, another officer discovered that she was from South Carolina and they started a fight. Their commanding officer was not too pleased.
In one of the greatest scenes in the mini-series, Charles and Billy came face to face in the middle of the battlegrounds. They stared each other down, neither one believing that they can be enemies and argue over who was going to kill who. Luckily, a cannon backfired, and they both went their separate ways.
Virgilia became a nurse in a Union field hospital. Although she despised southerners, she still treated Confederate soldiers well. Mrs. Neal, the nurse in charge of Virgilia (what is Melanie Hamilton doing in North and South; shouldn't she be at Tera?) knew of her hatred towards the south, and when a Confederate took his own life she blamed it on Virgilia. The angry abolitionist attacked Mrs. Neal (bad move) and was charged with murder. Sam Greene took her in, although he reminded her that his help would not be for free.
After the Emancipation Proclamation, all of the Mains' slaves went their separate ways, but Cuffey (the horse saddler) never forgot Salem Jones's cruelty. Semiramis and Ezra stayed behind to help Brett, Clarissa, and Madeline.
Billy began to resent the war and missed Brett terribly. He went AWOL and crossed the Mason Dixon line to see her in South Carolina. Little did he know that Ashton was visiting Mont Royal at the same time. She threatened to tell a nearby Confederate captain that he was there, but Brett and a pitchfork changed her mind.
Ashton told Madeline that she knew her secret and if it got out, Orry's name would be ruined, especially since they were to have a baby which could possibly take characteristics of his maternal grandmother. She encouraged her sister-in-law to leave Orry and go to Charleston. While in Charleston, Madeline met Raphael 'Rafe' Beaudeen. She gave birth to Orry Nicholas Main (named after his father and mail tampering grandfather).
Raphael helped Madeline provide money for a camp of free black people. Elkanah Bent had not forgotten his vendetta against Orry Main. He sought Madeline out and requested to see her. Madeline hired an actress, Rose Sinclair, to pretend to be her while finding out what Bent was up to. He knew that Miss Sinclair was not Madeline and finally confronted her. Raphael arrived just in time to save Madeline from Bent. He was shot right after Madeline told him she loved him as he died.
When Orry discovered that Ashton had sent Madeline away, he found her in the warehouse with Bent. He set it on fire and Bent was blown up by dynamite. Ashton was banished from the family forever.
Orry was later wounded and sent to the hospital that Virgilia was a nurse at (before her ordeal attacking Mrs. Neil and going to stay with Sam Greene). She helped him, and they decided to call a truce. Virgilia was told that the Union army was planning to send Orry to a Yankee prison camp. She put her anger and resentment behind her and helped Orry escape.
George was sent to Libby Prison under the command of Captain Turner (A.K.A. Wayne Newton). He was mistreated, became sick, and eventually ended up outside in the rain. Orry and Charles heard that George was in Libby and rescued him from Captain Turner (who has a creepy voice and silly looking mustache). George arrived home just in time for Christmas.
George then found out that Stanley and Isabel were forging his signature on legal documents in order to make money off Hazard Iron and the war. They supposedly went to jail but were in part three, so they must have gotten a light sentence.
Stanley and Isabel weren't the only ones in trouble with the law. Virgilia shot and killed Congressman Greene. She and George finally made amends in her jail cell the day before her execution. Virgilia gave him her wedding ring which he was suppose to give to his daughter Hope when she was older.
George found Orry in a field hospital (he spends a lot of time in hospitals; I hope Clarissa and Tillet have good medical insurance). It was there that George learned of the death of a close friend, Abraham Lincoln. He and Orry then went to Charleston to find Madeline. She, Orry, and Orry Nicholas Main went back to Mont Royal with George.
At Mont Royal, Clarissa gave Semiramis and Ezra, who planned to be married, a plot of land so they could stay with the family. Charles had returned to Mont Royal with his baby son Charles Augustus. Augusta, tragically, had died in childbirth. Washington directed Charles to the family members his son was staying with.
Billy returned to Brett. Reunited again, the Mains, Billy, Semiramis, and Ezra sat down to eat their first meal together since the war's end. Cuffey and his band of resentful former slaves (and Salem Jones) torched Mont Royal just as George, Orry, and Madeline arrived.
During the fire and the small battle outside, Cuffey was killed and Clarissa died. After her funeral, George promised Orry that they would use the profits of the Hazard and Main company to rebuild Mont Royal. The Mains and Hazards left Mont Royal and the old America behind to start healing the wounds of the nation.