The Battle of Gettysburg was amongst one the most important turning points during the Civil War. It was a three-day bloody battle between the Union and Confederate forces which would ultimately lead up to the victory of the Union. In The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara shows a depiction of the battle through the eyes of the officers and tries to give the reader a first-hand look into the daily struggles that they had to deal with when it came to distinguishing between what’s best for their men and chances of success in the battle. In the book, we are introduced with two important officers: Colonel Chamberlain of the Union force, and General Lee of the Confederate force. Throughout the book, we witness different leadership strategies and philosophies between both officers which ultimately serve as their road to success or failure in the battle. Focusing on General Lee’s philosophy on leadership, “To be a good soldier, you must love the army. But to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love.”, it reinforces the idea that in order to fully succeed at battle, you must set aside and sacrifice your sense of sympathy towards your soldiers as a way to avoid making emotional decisions. …show more content…
I would rather not have done it upon this ground, but every moment we delay the enemy uses to reinforce himself. We must hit him now. We pushed him yesterday; he will remember it. The men are ready. I see no alternatives.” (pg. 184) This proves that General Lee was more concerned about taking quick action against the Union army rather than taking the time to figure out a more defensive attack in order to ensure a higher chance of survival for his
The Killer Angels is a very interesting and intriguing novel about The Civil War and gives us day by day actions through out it all. That is what really interested me in the way this book was set up. Every day, there was a diary from different characters. Because of this, we get to see different views from different characters and how each one of them have their own stories in the war and how they got through the war. At the very beginning of the story, we meet a spy named Harrison, who loves his Shakespeare. He sees that the Union Army is coming, because he sees about twenty thousand men all at once. He is so scared and surprises and runs to tell the two generals, General Longstreet and General Lee. This is our introduction to the character I will talk about
The Gettysburg Battle was known as the bloodiest battle during the Civil War, as millions of lives were lost on both sides of the nation. In 1863 the Confederate and Union armies, both with 75,000 men, marched to face each other. General Robert E. Lee was the General who commanded the Confederate Army, and George Meade was appointed on June 27 as the new Union army general. On June 30, the Union and the Confederate army readied themselves for the battle ahead.(Background Essay) Geography, casualties, and the morales aided to the belief that then Battle of Gettysburg was a time when the tide shifted in favor of the North.
This is a brief thought of the events that came to unfold. Some say that Gettysburg was the battle that stopped the confederate advance to the north. In addition, that Lee only wanted to take the battle out the state of Virginia that had been hit rather hard by the unions Army . In this review of the Battle of Gettysburg, we will discuss the key events that people believed that allowed the Union Armies to cause the retrograde actions of the confederate forces. In addition, what each side wished to accomplish. And how the wished to accomplish these tasked the imagined
Wars have been fought for many different reasons through the years, and that holds true for the American Civil War (1861-1865). In Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Killer Angels, the reasons for fighting the war are brought about through the officers and soldiers at a famous battle site of the Civil War, Gettysburg. Gettysburg was one of the most documented battles of the whole war. It took place over a span of three days and can be viewed as a turning point from Confederate prominence to Confederate demise. As in any conflict, there are two sides to the story. The Union and the Confederacy each had their own views as to why they were fighting the war. Victors write the history so too often only the Union side is
“Death created the modern American union, not just by ensuring national survival, but by shaping enduring national structures and commitments. The work of death was Civil War America 's most fundamental and most demanding undertaking”— Drew Gilpin Faust. Death in the Civil War was indeed a principle in creating the America we know and love today. This was the bloodiest war in United States military history. Within the war was the Battle of Gettysburg, a battle that was engulfed in massive suffering and loss of life. July first through the third 1863, A rural town in the eastern United States, Gettysburg Pennsylvania, is host to the largest, most fierce, battle ever to occur on American soil. At the start, Rumors were circulating that Lee was marching his army over the Potomac river and into southern Pennsylvania. Eventually, solid military intelligence confirmed this, and with an equally sized army, under the command of Gen. George G. Meade, the Union began on a collision course with the confederate army, and so began the Battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg was a turning point because, the south’s morale declined while the north’s increased; northern casualties were lower than the south’s; and the north gained a geographical advantage from the battle.
The Battle of Gettysburg brought the dueling North and South together to the small town of Gettysburg and on the threshold of splitting the Union. Gettysburg was as close as the United States got to Armageddon and The Killer Angels gives the full day-to-day account of the battle that shaped America’s future. Michael Shaara tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of the generals and men involved in the action of the battle. The historical account of the Battle of Gettysburg gives the reader a chance to experience the battle personally and not the history book manner taught in schools. A historical novel gives the facts straightforward and provides no commentary by the people involved in history. The
The Killer Angels is a stunning recollection of the telltale battle of the Civil War: the Battle of Gettysburg. Set from June 29 to July 3, 1863 and told from the vantage points of several soldiers and commanding officers from both sides, including Lee, Longstreet, and Chamberlain, Michael Shaara effectively paints a picture of the war that divided America, from the tactical planning to the emotional hardships
Michael Shaara depicted General Lee as a widely respected, admired and wise commander who was decisive, regardless of whether the odds were in his favor or not. The decision to attack at Gettysburg had tremendous disapproval however Lee felt as if he had two choices-- fight in the enemy's face or retreat. Longstreet advised the General against the assault on Gettysburg given that the position of an uphill battle on open ground would be disastrous; however Lee was insistent that it be done. While the Confederate Army lost the Civil
Civil War historians view the Battle of Chancellorsville as General Robert E. Lee’s “greatest and most remarkable” victory (Sears 1). Lee, facing an army twice his size, defies all military doctrine and divides his army multiple times in order to out-maneuver and surprise the Union forces. The daring maneuver succeeds and ultimately forces the Union’s Army of the Potomac to retreat. The victory was another major blow to Union troops, but it came at a huge cost to the Confederacy: the loss of General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. By evaluating the battle through the lens of the mission command activities, one can see how Lee’s daring maneuver was actually very calculated and his only option for victory. Throughout the rest of this paper, I will describe the timeline of the battle and how General Lee used the mission command activities of understand, visualize, assess, and lead to ultimately achieve victory at Chancellorsville.
Another problem Lee had was that he was seen as a father figure to most of the men and treated them softly. Stuart was supposed to be gathering information for Lee, but instead he was out “joy riding” which left the Army of Northern Virginia basically blind as to where the North regiments were positioned. Longstreet said “When Stuart comes back you ought to court martial him” (82). However, Lee believed reproach, letting Stuart know how badly he let them down, would make him a good soldier. When dealing with Stuart Lee “spoke as you speak to a child” and wanted to reassure him. He treated Stuart softly (256-266). Lee’s age, failing health, and softness on his men was one reason the Army of Northern Virginia lost the Battle of Gettysburg.
The Killer Angels is an historical novel about the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. The book captures the human nature of many historical figures over three fateful days in rural Pennsylvania in 1863. North and South, Yankee and Confederate; The Killer Angels provides a glimpse into the hearts and souls of some of the men who fought in this infamous battle and their own reasons for being in a fight to the death against their fellow countrymen.
The Killer Angels tell about the Battle of Gettysburg. When this battle ended, 51,000 men were dead, wounded, or missing. All the characters are based off of real historical figures. The author uses the characters and the plot effectively to contribute to the theme. The soldiers of the Confederacy and the Union tended to diminish each other.
The book The Killer Angels was published in 1975 by the Ballatine Booksand was written by Michael Shaara. The Killer Angels is a historic novel about the time of the American Civil War, more specifically The Battle of Gettysburg. Shaara wrote this historical masterpiece with the sole purpose of letting the reader know exactly how the war was for the men actually putting their lives on the line to get this great country of America to the stature it is today. In order to accomplish his goal of creating the ultimate historic journal of The Battle of Gettysburg, he went straight to the source. He went back and retrieved letters and documents written by the men themselves, who were I the war. What better way to tell a story about one of the most significant battles of American history, then getting the information straight from the warriors who were fighting in the tranches? The book is written from the viewpoints of Robert Edward Lee, James Longstreet, and a couple of other men who were in the war. Robert E. Lee was fifty-seven at the time of the war. He was a highly respected general of the Confederate Army. He was an honest, God following man who had great morals which made a great leader (Killer Angles XVI). He didn’t drink or smoke and would stay away from reading novels and plays because he felt it would make him weak minded for battle (Killer Angles XVI). This is what made him such a great leader, the fact that he lead by example of how a true gentleman and general should
The Killer Angels tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg. On July 1, 1863, the Confederate army, and the Union army, fought the largest battle of the American Civil War. Real life characters include characters General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate army; General James Longstreet, Lee’s second in command; and Joshua L. Chamberlain, the union colonel. The book starts on June 29, 1863. A spy goes to Longstreet and tells him that the Union army is moving in closely. Longstreet thinks the Confederate army must move north and intercept the Union army. The battle begins at Gettysburg when the Confederates starts to attack Buford’s men. Reynolds tries to positions his troops to fight the Confederates off, but he is soon killed. Lee comes to Gettysburg to find the battle in full
One of the most prominent armies of the civil war the Army of Northern Virginia is one of the most commonly analyzed aspects of the confederacy. In J. Tracy Power’s Lee’s Miserables, Power evaluates the mindset of the soldiers by following their correspondence to family members as well as their use of diaries. The book is designed to demonstrate the psychological changes of the soldiers from The Battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania to the eventual surrender of the army at Appomattox. Power effectively describes the spectrum of physiological states exhibited by the soldier while maintaining a theme of respect for the generalship of Robert E. Lee. While the work exhibits countless examples that become repetitive, the sentiments of the