Nonetheless, the three women go to a bazaar to help the war effort. Rhett Butler, a good-looking man from Charleston, pays gold to dance with Scarlett. Soon the war begins to turn greatly in favor of the Union army, and many of Scarlett's childhood boyfriends are killed. Soon after, Melanie realizes she is pregnant, and Ashley goes missing. Rhett discovers he has been captured and taken to Rock Island, which is noted for being cruel to its prisoners. The war comes very close to Atlanta and Pittypat flees the town, leaving Scarlett in charge of Prissy, their slave, Wade, and the pregnant Melanie, who is having problems with her pregnancy.
In May of 1864, the Yankees invaded Atlanta, and Melanie had her baby. Still weak with pain, Melanie and Scarlett decide they must leave the city and go back to Tara. Rhett comes to the rescue to help them out of the burning city, but stops at the border and leaves to join the Confederate Army. Scarlett reaches Tara to discover that although it was not burned down, it has greatly changed. Scarlett's mother died, and her father has gone crazy. All the slaves have fled, the Union soldiers have stolen most of their food, and all of their cotton has been burned. Twelve Oaks has also been burned, and Melanie has nowhere to go. The Union army comes back to Tara, but Confederate soldiers also begin to pass through. The war had ended, but Scarlett's struggles have just begun. For many years she tried to bring the plantation back to productiveness. To pay the taxes, she offered to become the mistress of the man she hated most, Rhett Butler, who had made money out of the war. Rhett was in love with Scarlett, and this was his revenge - to refuse her. She was driven back upon respectability and married another man, Frank Kennedy, because he owned a small lumber business. But he had no enterprise, and Scarlett masterfully took over the business, only determined to have money.
