Killer Angels Essay, Research Paper

The Civil War is one of the darkest chapters in the history of America. This was a war that tore a state in half while opposing brother against brother, and neighbour against neighbour as the South battled the North for its independency and separation from the brotherhood. At the bosom of this division was the belief by Southerners that they should be able to have slaves and maintain inkinesss under subjugation. The Killer Angels gives a narrative like word picture of the Civil War while concentrating the chief attending on the Battle of Gettysburg. In this book the writer gives us positions of both the Confederate and Union ground forcess. The officers for both sides used to contend together but are now on different sides harmonizing to their different positions. In the terminal what is realized is that the war resulted in a overplus of deceases for both sides and that they aren & # 8217 ; t needfully contending against and enemy but instead an opposition.

The Battle of Gettysburg is important in that it turned the impulse of the war in the favour of the Union Army and led to their eventual triumph over the Confederacy. The book focused its attending on the officers on each side and the schemes employed by each to win the war. The cardinal figure for the South was General Robert E. Lee who was the dominating officer for the Confederates. His determinations ( or miss thereof ) depending on how you look at it led to the eventual licking of the South at the Battle of Gettysburg and the war itself. Lee would travel on to fault himself for all of the failures of the South during the war, but his work forces were highly loyal to him and their cause through all kinds of fortunes.

General Lee is non an baronial figure and is described as a adult male in control, who ne’er loses his pique or religion, and ne’er complains. The regard and esteem that he is given by his subsidiaries is so powerful that even soldiers on the opponent side are non ashamed to openly admit their regard for him. Lee knows that this conflict will be the ultimate decision making factor of the war and although the Union has better place to support he has no pick but to remain and contend. This determination is made without respects to the sentiment of his second-in-command, General James Longstreet, who feels that the Confederates should withdraw, reorganize, and happen better land that will be more suited to the aims. This neglect came as a entire surprise to me because the relationship described in the book between Generals Lee and Longstreet was one that was built on compassion and common regard for each other as friends and companions. However, Lee was faced with dishonoring himself and the full South if he pulled out his military personnels, non to advert what it would hold done to the morale of the military personnels who were stanchly supporting the ideals of the Confederacy.

The book gives the reader a elaborate expression of the motions of each of the officers under Lee & # 8217 ; s bid and how he orchestrated their motions taking up to the Battle of Gettysburg and during the conflict. General Robert E. Lee & # 8217 ; s hapless judgement and determinations cause the South to lose the Battle of Gettysburg. Lee even credits himself for the South & # 8217 ; s failure, as quoted in the book, & # 8220 ; No incrimination can be attached to the ground forces for its failure to carry through what was projected by me. . . . I entirely am to fault, in possibly anticipating excessively much of its art and heroism. . . could I have foreseen that the onslaught on the last twenty-four hours would neglect, I should surely hold tried some other class. . . but I do non cognize what better class I could hold pursued. & # 8221 ; General Lee wanted to assail the Union military personnels at Gettysburg, even though the North

had the better land, more supplies, and 1000s of more military personnels. Lee’s head was already set and he did non desire to alter it. Overall, Lee was a good general, but during this peculiar conflict, he did non do the best of determinations, which led to the Confederate military personnels losing the war.

For the opposing Union army the most of import figure was Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, commanding officer of the twentieth Regiment of Infantry, Maine Volunteers who, possibly put up the most valorous battle of any unit in the war. Colonel Chamberlain is thrust into the head of the war while being charged with the duty of guarding over one hundred work forces from a non-operational unit from who refuse to pick up weaponries and battle because they feel as though they have already honored their hitch in the Union ground forces. The manner he is able to carry the work forces to put aside their grudges and non merely fight but do so without the immediate handiness of arms is genuinely singular. Although a professor of rhetoric who is evidently good schooled in doing addresss, nevertheless, the 1 he gave to those soldiers would be adequate to stir the deepest emotions in about any adult male. Chamberlain and his work forces were charged with supporting the utmost left of the Union line and to halt any promotion by the Confederates by non leting them to flank the Union line. Chamberlain accomplished this mission by integrating schemes that had been antecedently unheard of yet were finally the finding factor in forestalling the South from deriving an advantage in the Battle of Gettysburg.

One of the more challenging facets of the book was the common worship and regard shared between Major General Winfield Hancock of the Union Army and Brigadier General Lewis Armistead ( or Lo as he is dearly called ) of the Confederate Army. These two were highly close friends who were excited at the possibility of seeing each other at Gettysburg but did non enjoy the idea of holding to contend straight with each other & # 8217 ; s unit. This truly drove place the point that non merely were these work forces contending against each other but they were besides covering with internal battles that proved to be the ultimate trial of their trueness to the cause they were contending. In this modern epoch it would be difficult to conceive of sitting down holding dinner with some of your sure friends, and so get downing conflict less than a month later with some of those very same friend on the opposing side.

The one thing that I would hold like to read more about was the conflict through from the position of the work forces engaged in the action ( the marcher ) . The book manfully focused on the work forces who were directing the logistics of the war but gave us limited penetration on the work forces who were contending.

This book contributes a elaborate description and narrative of the Battle of Gettysburg. Many books about Gettysburg give a life about the conflict and the commanding officers, but this makes commanding officers and soldiers come to life. It shows existent feelings about the war. While most books give a narrative soliloquy of the conflict. This book brings characters to life and gives a elaborate description of the conflict.

This novel has raised inquiries in my head because I was unaware of the existent conflict ; but it raises no new inquiries to society such as Hofstadler & # 8217 ; s Hagiographas. This fresh gives a really accurate description of the Battle of Gettysburg. This novel shows the importance of each conflict and each division in each of these conflicts. Furthermore this novel shows importance of strategic placement. If the brotherhood ground forces was non keeping that advantageous place, it would hold been really hard to win the conflict.