The Killer Angles The novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara depicts the story behind one of bloodiest and highly significant battle of the American Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg consisted of 51,000-casualties between the Union and Confederate army forces. Mainly focused on letters, journal entries, and memoirs, Shaara tells the story of Gettysburg by using characters from both sides of the “spectrum”, the Confederate and Union army. These characters grasp the revolving points of view regarding the impending days of the war. Countless numbers of those views develop from characters throughout the novel. The characters include the Confederates own General Lee, General Longstreet; the Unions own Colonel Chamberlain, and soldiers from …show more content…
From the perspective of Colonel Chamberlain, Chamberlain believes that slavery is one of the curses of nobility traced back to the horror of old Europe, and that the south was now fighting to transport slavery into new soil, ultimately “forming a new aristocracy”. Chamberlain declared that fighting the war at Gettysburg is the best decision to make. He also feels that the union is a different kind of army, one that it out to set other men free, with beliefs that the free ground should not succumb to a divisive line determining what were free and slave states. In context, Chamberlain is essentially grasping the point that those of the union army were fighting for, “the dignity of man”, essentially each …show more content…
“Their differing perceptions of the nature of war form the backbone of the difficult relationship between these two men.” Lee, an older soldier, values much of an offensive warfare approach, while Longstreet values a defensive warfare approach. Both men consistently argue about the best option for the Confederacy. However, “no matter how much he might disagree, Longstreet defers to Lee’s decisions.” In an argument as to who was right, none of the developed tactics provide clear evidence as to what was going to work, especially with a military of lesser men, considering the war in 1863. Although General Lee’s tactics did not work during the Battle of Gettysburg, there is no evidence that General Longstreet’s defensive strategy would have worked significantly better. Therefore, neither of the generals exceeded the other when it comes to military strategies, which rather debunks Shaara’s depiction of Longstreet’s advanced knowledge of modern warfare. Despite of the importance of the Battle of Gettysburg, often marked as the turning point of the war, General Longstreet should not obey an order that results in a significant loss of men that would be extremely difficult to replace at this time. Already limited by the amount of men still able to fight, pushing additional forces in an open battle would just nearly deplete the confederate soldiers completely, and
While many variables are vital to a successful army on the battlefield, none should be neglected. Each variable discussed in this examination will prove to be important, but the information battle will be paramount in the battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg After the Confederate victory at Chancellorsville in May of 1863, General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia embarked on their 2nd invasion of the north. General Lee’s first campaign into the north resulted in the Confederate defeat at Antietam. The failure of Lee’s first northern campaign raises the question of his motives.
The Battle of Gettysburg lead by Robert E. Lee was a three-day battle and was an immense turning point in the war for the Confederate army. Lee had designed brilliant plans for battle, but they were not always fully thought out and executed. Furthermore at Gettysburg Lee’s battle plans seemed to be a big guess or gamble and not really certain at all. Having well thought out
The book ‘For Cause and Comrades’ is a journey to comprehend why the soldiers in the Civil War fought, why they fought so passionately, and why they fought for the long period of time. Men were pulling guns against other men who they had known their whole lives. McPherson’s main source of evidence was the many letters from the soldiers writing to home. One of the many significant influences was how the men fought to prove their masculinity and courage. To fight would prove they were a man to their community and country. Fighting also had to do with a duty to their family. Ideology was also a major motivating factor; each side thought they were fighting for their liberty. The soldier’s reputations were created and demolished on the battlefield, where men who showed the most courage were the most honored. Religion also played an important role because the second Great Awakening had just occurred. Their religion caused the men who thought of themselves as saved to be fearless of death, “Religion was the only thing that kept this soldier going; even in the trenches…” (McPherson, p. 76) R...
Killer Angels, written by Michael Shaara, takes place in Gettysburg in the year of 1863. Prohibiting slavery in the states that did not yet become states triggered the start of the Civil War. Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay was where the war was triggered by the Confederate Army opening fire on the federal garrison and forced it to surrender. For three long years, Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia delayed attacks by the Union Army of the Potomac. All principal confederate armies surrendered by the spring of 1865.
The Union Army was able to match the intensity of the Confederacy, with the similar practice of dedication until death and patriotism, but for different reasons. The Union soldiers’s lifestyles and families did not surround the war to the extent of the Confederates; yet, their heritage and prosperity relied heavily on it. Union soldiers had to save what their ancestors fought for, democracy. “Our (Union soldiers) Fathers made this country, we, their children are to save it” (McPherson, 29). These soldiers understood that a depleted group of countries rather than one unified one could not flourish; “it is essential that but one Government shall exercise authority from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific” (Ledger, 1861).
This type of novel is recommended for anyone interested in the Civil War. Not too many books explore the southern battles, especially from a Confederates soldier’s point of view. Bahr does an excellent job at capturing the essence of the Civil War and its affects on the people involved. The novel was nominated for several awards, earning the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Gettysburg College, won the Book-of-the-Month Club, and was a New York Times Notable Book. The book showed some popularity and sold 10,000 copies, but was heavily overshadowed by another...
book, and by the end of the book we feel like we know exactly how Perry feels, and we have a understanding of some of the hardships that the soldiers faced in Vietnam. In this book, Perry kills
The Civil War is one of the defining wars in the history of this great nation. The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle in American history, and a turning point in the four year war. At the time, Gettysburg was a small, quiet town generally unaffected by the war. General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate States of America and General George Meade of the Union converged in Gettysburg, and a conflict quickly arose. After three long days of battle the Union pulled away with a victory, though not an easy one. This essay will outline the six themes of history; in essence the who, what, when, where, why, and who cares of this infamous battle.
In the historical fiction novel, The Killer Angels written by Michael Shaara, James Longstreet is a formidable and pragmatic leader of the Confederate army. Longstreet instills both confidence and followership within his men through his strategic ideas, intuitive insight, and considerable sense of responsibility. He is a true man of intellect with deep-seated emotions; a leader connected to his men and holding himself accountable for their well-being. General Longstreet was more than capable as a leader of the Confederate army and was worthy of the respect which was given to him.
The Merriam-Webster definition of discipline is “control that is gained by requiring that rules or orders must be obeyed and all other bad behavior must be punished.” It is very important to have and to be disciplined because without discipline rules and consequences would not be necessary- anything could be permitted. J.E.B Stuart’s deserved but unattended focal and disciplinary actions in The Killer Angels lead to lack of respect by fellow soldiers, unawareness of the Union’s position or their “blindness,” and not fully accepting his minor disciplinary action.
The Killer Angel The Battle of Gettysburg fought in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania from July 1 to July 3, 1863, is considered the bloodiest battle in American history. It’s also considered the most important battle that took place during the American Civil war, because after the Battle of Gettysburg the south never really recovers, resulting in them to never won another major battle the rest of the war. Well behind every great battle there is a great leader, whether it’s one that brings utter chaos or one that sincerely wants a change. In the novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, a historical fictional story of the battle of Gettysburg
General Lee knows that we have inexperienced men and aims at improving the quality of the troops. He upgrades the quality by tightening command and discipline, improving morale, and convincing the soldiers that the confederacy was in full command of the situation. Lee knew that we are lacking, and devised initiatives to nullify the Union’s superiority in manpower, armaments, and supply by destroying their prearranged plans.
Sears’ thesis is the Union could have won the war faster. McClellan was an incompetent commander and to take the initiative to attack an defeat the Confederate army. The Army of Northern Virginia, under...
The novel, “Shiloh” by Shelby Foote is a fictional recreation of the bloody battle. The story begins with the soldiers of the Confederate Army heading towards Pittsburg Landing. The men are marching in terrible conditions. It is pouring down rain and they are dragging their tired legs through the mud. The troops come to a halt so the commanders can talk to General Johnston. General Johnston says the only way they might have a chance is if they plan a surprise attack. As the sergeants hand the men their guns, they are told to check the powder in case it got wet in the rain. A group of soldiers test their guns out on a deer running close by. At the same time the shots were fired, the sun came out and the soldiers started to scream and cheer. These noises combined were more than enough to alert the Union soldiers of the Confederates advance. Palmer remembers what his life was like before going to war. He attended the Louisiana State Military Academy when the Confederacy seceded from the Union. One of his professors predicted the south did not have a chance of winning the war. That night Palmer dreams of holding Sherman at gunpoint making him admit that he was wrong. Prior to the battle, the commanders create a battle plan. Palmer is assigned a part in this process. When the plan fails, Palmer learns that planning a battle is more difficult than it seems because the commanders on the ground face challenges that do not exist on paper.
More confederates than unions were illiterate due to the fact that most held professional or white-collard jobs (36). To make the Union soldiers sample fair sense most blacks couldn’t read or write, 2 who could were included in the sample (36). The levels of patriotism differed from the upper and lower south given to the fact that the upper south were mainly cotton states. The confederates felt as if it was a “rich mans woar but the poor man has to do the fifting” (16). The confederates were mainly fighting for “independence, property and way of life” (27). Some characteristics the soldiers had in common were McPherson’s calculations for the Union. He came to seeing that out of 562 Union soldier’s letters read only 67 percent voice strong patriotic motives. This is the same as the two-thirds of Confederates. As a result from reading McPherson’s book, research showed that the Union and Confederate soldiers expressed about the same degree of patriotic and ideological convictions. Even though they both had different reasons for fighting the levels of sincerity and dedication in their notes were