When a nation is divided, so are it’s people. The American Civil War demonstrates this because of the two divided sides: the union and confederacy. In The Killer Angles it is extremely evident that the people and nation are divided. The novel portrays the different perspectives and opinions of soldiers and commanding officers throughout the Battle of Gettysburg. In the novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, James Longstreet fought for glory, Robert E. Lee fought for his homeland, and Joshua Chamberlain fought for an ideal. First, we will evaluate Longstreet’s motives.
Before the war, Longstreet had recently lost his children, causing him depression throughout the war. The commanding officer, Stonewall Jackson, passed away in the battle of
Gettysburg, so Longstreet became second in command. However, that didn’t help him get Lee to fight a defensive war like he wanted to. Just because Longstreet wanted to fight a defensive war, did not mean he didn’t have aspirations to win. Longstreet fought for the recognition from the people and soldiers around him. He wanted an audience and people to respect and admire him, which is what he got. It is obvious that he fought for
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glory because someone stated, “Longstreet knew himself. There was no fear there. The only fear was not of death, was not of the war, was of blind stupid human frailty, of the blind proud foolishness that could loose it all” (Shaara 198). This quote shows how Longstreet fought for glory because he was not afraid of death or of the war. However, he was afraid of the people and soldiers around him that were too weak and frail to stand up for what they believed in and of the people that were too proud to give anything up. He thought that these people were going to lose the war for him, which was the last thing Longstreet wanted. He didn’t care about dying or being in a war, but what he did care about was winning, and winning is glory. He wanted to win because he wanted to be admired, unlike Lee who was fighting for his homeland. Robert E. Lee was a general for the confederate army, and he was fighting for his homeland. Throughout Lee’s life he had heart problems, which began to catch up to him during the Battle of Gettysburg, causing him to have a heart attack. He was a very old man and knew that he was reaching the end of his life. Since Lee was elder, he had a lot of history and experience under his belt. This made him a very wise and brilliant man. By that point in Lee’s life he knew what was important to him, which was his homeland. He cared most about his roots and the people that watched over him while growing up. This statement proves that, “He fought for his people, for the children and the kin, and not even the land, because not even the land was worth the war, but the people were” (Shaara 263). This demonstrates how Lee fought for his homeland because it states “he fought for his people.” He fought for the place he came from and for all of his family relationships. The land that they were invading didn’t matter to him, but his people and home did, and that is what fighting for homeland represents. Chamberlain and Lee both cared about people, but instead of fighting for just his homeland, Chamberlain wanted something more. Joshua Chamberlain was an union officer who fought for an ideal. Chamberlain was a very well respected man during the Battle of Gettysburg. However, the Civil War was the first war that he had fought in. Chamberlain was not the only Chamberlain fighting in the war, his brother Tom was also fighting. Tom was not as highly ranked as Joshua, but he was still very present in the Battle of Gettysburg. Joshua Chamberlain was a college professor, so he was well educated. This helped him analyze different situations throughout the war. Chamberlain was a very down to earth man who wanted everyone, including the slaves, to have a better life. By doing this he fought for an ideal, which means that he wanted perfection throughout everyone’s lives. He was fighting for an ideal because of what he stated in one of his speeches, “I never saw dirt I’d die for, but I’m not asking you to come join us and fight for dirt. What we’re all fighting for, in the end, is each other” (Shaara 30). This shows that Chamberlain fought for an ideal because he says that in the end, all they are fighting for is each other. He was representing all of the salves who didn’t have a good life, but deserved to have one. In conclusion, different people fought for different reasons.
Longstreet fought for glory because his goal was to win the war and for people to recognize him. Homeland was fought by Robert E. Lee because he cared about his roots and loved ones. Chamberlain wanted everyone around him to fight for each other, so that each and every one of them could have a better life when the war ended, which represents fighting for an ideal. The Killer Angels did an amazing job of portraying the different values that people fought for in the Battle of Gettysburg. The battle was very stressful for many of the commanders, but the confederacy ended up winning. Even though the themes throughout this book were mostly related to war, the book can also relates to people’s lives nowadays and what they choose to live
for.
Both Armies repositioned their artillery to the most advantageous position but it appeared that the Army of Northern Virginia had surrounded the Army of the Potomac but in a less defensible position. When two Armies meet on a battlefield the overall objective is to eliminate the opposition, so one of them would have to make a move. Lee ordered Generals Longstreet and Ewell to attack but due to a lack of decisive action on Longstreet’s part, the day would end in the bloodiest offensive of the battle and Longstreet would suffer great losses by Cemetery Hill .
Shaara’s novel Killer Angels shows the battle of Gettysburg through a number of unique viewpoints. Shaara offers a more intimate view of the battle than other Civil War novels. A reader can see the battle through the eyes of both Union and Confederate leaders. Through the novel the reader is able to see why each character is fighting and what they hope to gain from the war. Readers can also see the effect that the war has on the different characters. I will examine the war through the eyes of several different characters from Shaara’s novel.
The book begins with an in-depth explanation of what happened in the latter stages of the Civil War. Major battles like Sayler’s Creek, High Bridge and Richmond are described through detailed language. For instance, at High Bridge, “Each man wages his own individual battle with a ferocity only a life-and-death situation can bring. Bullets pierce eyes. Screams and curses fill the air. The grassy plain runs blood red.” (page 61). All of these iconic Civil War battles led up to the Confederate surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse and the inescapable rebuilding of a new nation Abraham Lincoln had to deal with. Next, John Wilkes Booth is introduced and his pro-Confederate motives are made clear. His conspiracy to kill the president is described and his co-conspirators like Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt who also attempted to kill Secretary of State Seward a...
As he immerses his audience into combat with the soldiers, Shaara demonstrates the more emotional aspects of war by highlighting the personal lives of the men fighting. For example, when Shaara reveals the pasts of James Longstreet and Lewis Armistead’s, I started to picture them as the men that they were and not as soldiers out for blood. After suffering a devastating loss of three of his children to fever, Longstreet is tossed into battle. In Armistead’s case, he not only suffered the loss of his wife, but also of a friend fighting on the Union side, General Winfield Scott Hancock. Shaara saves his readers a front row seat to the inner turmoil of General Chamberlain regarding his hindering duty as a soldier clashes with his duty to family as he strived to serve the Union as well as protec...
One of the best commanders in the Confederate army was Lee still; the Union stood at a better standpoint during the battle. “Perhaps the most significant lesson from July 3, 1863, concerns the method of decision-making. Though he may not have seen it as such, Lee’s decision to attack was at best a close call.” (Gompert 2006, pg.7). The battle of Gettysburg did not happen intentionally, planned however Lee did an astounding job and his best to defeat the Union army. Ultimately Robert E. Lee was responsible for the South’s loss
Lee’s first military campaign was in West Virginia during the Civil War. There he took command of the Eastern Army of Virginia but, only after General Johnson was injured. Lee was greatly outnumbered by the Union Army. Lee came up with a plan to make up for his numbers by attacking General McClellan’s army. In the next days there were a number of skirmishes between Lee’s advancing forces and against McClellan’s army which became know as the Days Battle. After Lee’s success at the Days Battle, Lee gained control of the Army of North Virginia, the biggest army in Virginia.
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...
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
In James McPherson’s novel, What They Fought For, a variety of Civil War soldier documents are examined to show the diverse personal beliefs and motives for being involved in the war. McPherson’s sample, “is biased toward genuine fighting soldiers” (McPherson, 17) meaning he discusses what the ordinary soldier fought for. The Confederacy was often viewed as the favorable side because their life style relied on the war; Confederates surrounded their lives with practices like slavery and agriculture, and these practices were at stake during the war. On the other hand, Northerners fought to keep the country together. Although the Civil War was brutal, McPherson presents his research to show the dedication and patriotism of the soldiers that fought and died for a cause.
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...
“All up and down the lines the men blinked at one another, unable to realize that the hour they had waited for so long was actually at hand. There was a truce…” Bruce Catton’s Pulitzer prize winning book A Stillness at Appomattox chronicles the final year of the American Civil War. This book taught me a lot more about the Civil War than I ever learned through the public school system. Bruce Catton brought to life the real day to day life of the soldiers and the generals who led them into battle.
Union Commander Meade, out of fatigue and caution, did not immediately go after Lee, getting President Lincoln very angry who wrote a mad letter to Meade, which was never delivered, saying he missed an opportunity to end the war at this instance (The History Place Battle of Gettysburg 4). Although the casualties were basically equal, the Battle of Gettysburg was the second and last great invasion of the of the North, for the South had neither arms nor numbers to continue an assault, but the War dragged on for two more years. On November 19, President Lincoln went to the battlefield to dedicate it as a military cemetery. He spoke for a short period of time delivering what is called the Gettysburg Address, surprising many present in the audience with its shortness and leaving others quite unimpressed, but over time the speech has come to symbolize democracy as we know it today (Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia Vol. 11 385.
Both forces were moving towards Pennsylvania, when they converged upon Gettysburg. General Lee decided to take the fighting to Northern soil, and moved his troops to Maryland. While heading north, the two forces converged at Gettysburg, and the fighting began soon thereafter. After news of the fighting, General Meade arrived on the battlefield on the second day of battle..
From July 1st to July 3rd, 1863, the most famous and most important Civil War Battle took place in the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Confederates under Robert E. Lee advanced on the Union in hopes of taking the major city of Philadelphia, Baltimore, or even Washington D.C. Union commander General George Meade was sent to make sure none of this would happen. General Robert E. Lee was determined to invade the North and win a victory important for southern morale, leads his army toward Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he hopes to destroy railroad bridges linking east with west. He is unaware that a large union force headed by General Meade is headed in the same direction.
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 Confederate Army was...