LOVE & WAR: EPISODE FOUR     86/05/07

GEORGE IS CAPTURED -- When Billy (Parker Stevenson) returns to his regiment, his commanding officer threatens to court-martial and execute him if he ever leaves again. Billy is also placed in harm's way by being put in charge of the regiment's skirmishers. George (James Read), now a general, is captured in a raid by Southern forces and taken to the dreaded Libby Prison in Richmond, where he is tortured by Captain Turner (guest star Wayne Newton), the prison's psychotic commandant. Orry (Patrick Swayze) is shot and taken to the hospital where Virgilia (Kirstie Alley) works; despite her hatred of Southerners, she helps him recover and looks the other way, allowing him to escape. Later, Virgilia is accused of allowing a wounded Southern soldier to die and is fired from the hospital. In a fit of rage, Virgilia pushes the elderly chief nurse, causing her to lose her balance and tumble to the floor. Believing Mrs. Neal to be dead, Virgilia panics and flees the hospital. Desperate for money and a hiding place, she goes to Congressman Greene (guest star David Ogden Stiers) for help. He gives her money and protection in exchange for sex. Charles (Lewis Smith) saves Augusta (guest star Kate McNeil) from being raped by Northern soldiers at her farm in Virginia, and the two become lovers.ASHTON BLACKMAILS MADELINE -- At the Battle of Antietam, Charles (Lewis Smith) and Billy (Parker Stevenson) nearly kill each other but ultimately let one another escape. During the fighting, Charles’s friend dies after Confederates capture a defective Hazard Iron cannon and unknowingly turn it against Union troops. Following the battle, President Abraham Lincoln (guest star Hal Holbrooke) issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in the rebellious Southern states. Many slaves leave the Main plantation in South Carolina, though Ezra (Beau Billingslea) and Semiramis (Erica Gimpel) remain while deciding their future. Ashton (Terri Garber) visits her family’s plantation under the guise of checking on her recovering mother (Jean Simmons) and sister Brett (Genie Francis), but secretly blackmails Madeline (Lesley-Anne Down) with the truth about her mixed-race heritage and her mother’s past. Madeline flees to Charleston, where gambler Rafe Baudeen (Lee Horsely) befriends her as she helps the city’s war-stricken poor. After the Union victory at Gettysburg, Billy briefly reunites with Brett before escaping local authorities thanks to Brett’s protection. Kirstie Alley, Philip Casnoff, Mary Crosby, Jonathan Frakes, Wendy Kilbourne, James Read, and Patrick Swayze also star. TVPG