Garrett Reppond
Michael Shaara
The Killer Angels
Ballantine Books, New York July 1975
This paper is a review of Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels, which is a historically correct novel that has some fictional dialog. A lot of the dialog is fictional, but it is mostly backed with historically correct information and events going on during the time. This story is about the events and discussion of the strategy to be used by the Confederate and Union forces leading up and during the Battle of Gettysburg. This review will discuss two topics raised by Michael Shaara in the novel; the ongoing conflict between which fighting style and strategies should be used by the Confederate army, and the other is the state of mind of the Confederate and Union
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Longstreet and Lee definitely do not see eye to eye on a lot of things when it comes to the war. The biggest thing that the two disagree about is the war strategy. Longstreet sees that the war is changing and he understands that if the Confederacy keeps using the same tactics for war that they will not come out on top at the end of this war. Longstreet is a firm believer in trench warfare and waiting for the enemy to come to him. Longstreet says at one point, when John Buford’s Calvary is on its way to sneak up on the Confederates, “Now all we have to do is swing around between him Washington and get astride some nice thick rocks and make him come to us, and we’ve got him in the open.” (p. 83). That statement shows right away that Longstreet strategizes and wants to take the defensive and counteract the opposing army. Longstreet believes that for the Confederates to have any chance on winning the battle that the Confederate army needs to take a defensive because of the sheer numbers that the Union army has over the Confederate army. Longstreet is not the only one who believes this, Lewis Armistead strongly believed in Longstreet’s defensive tactics. Armistead tells Longstreet, “I’ve been thinking on your theories of defensive war. Technically, by God, you’re probably right. Hell, you’re undoubtedly right.” (p. 64). Finally, Shaara states in the story that …show more content…
Shaara writes this story in a way that gives the reader insight on both the Confederate and Union army. The Confederates were fighting for pride and for their way of life. The South believed heavily in the power of the government in the states. At one point there was an argument between an Englishman and a guy named Sorrel. Sorrel ranted to the Englishman saying “That’s all we want and that’s what this war is about. We established this this country in the first place with strong state government just for that reason, to avoid a central tyranny.” (p. 65). The South looked at the North as a tyrannical government. The North on the other hand looked at the South as trying to tear the country into two. The Union army fought to keep the country together as one, because if the South would win the war it would have split the country into two for good.
In conclusion, there are things that happened in the war that could have changed the outcome greatly. If Lee would have listened to Longstreet there may have been a different outcome to the Battle of Gettysburg, which would have made a huge difference in the outcome of the war. Also, if the North and South would have understood each other’s motive to fight they may have not been a war in the first place. Shaara did a great job bringing raise these points in this
Chapter four opens with Confederate men attempting to teach an English war-observer, named Arthur Fremantle, how to play poker. While this takes place, Longstreet sits underneath a tree, contemplating over where the Union’s troops were located. Longstreet’s aid, Sorrel, comes to inform Longstreet that a man named Pettigrew believes he had seen Union soldiers in Gettysburg, but that Robert E. Lee and others had dismissed this belief, stating that Pettigrew was most likely exaggerating. Longstreet is frustrated by this dismissal of a Union accusation. After this, General Pickett asks if his division could be moved towards the front of the army, but Longstreet forgoes this idea, stating that the army might need to flee, allowing Pickett’s men
Another way he helped the outcome of the war is by winning at Vicksburg and Petersburg. One confederate leader was General George Pickett. He helped the course of the war by leading “15,000 men in a daring charge against the center of the union line” (Stoff 506). This was known as Pickett’s charge but it was an easy win for the union. To get to the union army “Pickett’s men would have to march 1,000 yards across
Aidan Springs Mr. Parish American Studies H 29 March 2018 James Longstreet and the failure of Gettysburg The Civil War was one of the Bloodiest conflict in American History, lasting from 1861 to 1865. Not only was the Civil War the deciding factor of the future of the United States, but would also shape the world around it for years to come (How The Civil War Affected Future Warfare 2). During the four years of the Civil War, one Confederate general stood out as one of the most influential men of the conflict: James Longstreet.
This then lead to a change in the Union’s military strategy, from limited war, to total war, which soon seemed to become the only option the north had in settling its dispute with th e south, and visa versa. Lincoln “would never again adhere to the position that a passive containment strategy would suffice to bring the Confederates to their senses and win the war (83).” And so he redesigned the Union’s battlepalns to focus on taking the Mississippi Valley, using the superior numbers, weapons, and industry of the north to muster up forces that would threaten the position of Confederate forces throughouthe south, namely by forcing them to relocate their forces which were stong in one area, to match the Union presence in the other, thereby weaking the Confederate position in the former. This was the concept of total war that Lincoln came to espouse and implement in Union military
The United States Civil War is possible one of the most meaningful, bloodstained and controversial war fought in American history. Northern Americans against Southern Americans fought against one another for a variety of motives. These motives aroused from a wide range of ideologies that stirred around the states. In James M. McPherson’s What they fought for: 1861-1865, he analyzes the Union and Confederate soldier’s morale and ideological components through the letters they wrote to love ones while at war. While, John WhiteClay Chambers and G. Kurt Piehler depict Civil War soldiers through their letters detailing the agonizing battles of war in Major Problems in American Military History.
The Battle of Gettysburg was a three day fight in which an estimate of 51,000 soldiers were killed in total, but besides all of the casualties, what else makes this battle special? The Battle of Gettysburg was a huge factor in the abolishment of slavery. It is one of the most important battles because it created new war strategies and was the turning point in the Civil War, which led to the Gettysburg Address. The Confederate general, Robert E. Lee, was very confident because of his army utmost victory.
General Pendleton recounted,“ (I) had offered my objections to Pickett’s battle and had been overruled… That day at Gettysburg was one of the saddest of my life” (Johnson 345). If the officers had kept their concerns to
In an interview, a Confederate soldier says, "Johnston 's strategy was to take a strong defensive position and waiting for the enemy to attack." On the other side, a Union soldier said, "Sherman
The Battle of Gettysburg was key to the eventual Union victory over the Confederacy. There were many other things that had to fall into place around the same time, that are often overlooked, in order for this to be viewed as the turning point of the war. The victory proved that Lee was not immortal and could be defeated on the battlefield. This victory also left him without the ability to strike the Union offensively, leaving him to fight defensively and attempt to win a war of attrition with the Union who had more manpower. The Western Theater had all but been decided by the time the Battle of Gettysburg had occurred, allowing the Union to focus the majority of their major resources on the Eastern Theater and the defeat of Lee and capture of the Confederate capitol,
You should do your duty in all things. You can never do more, you should never wish to do less.” Said General Lee. General Lee was an excruciatingly hard opponent and proud general of the South. The Gettysburg Battle was a major turning point because of the loss, even the proudest, most ambitious general they seem to have is trying to give in and be replaced.
The most important battle during the Civil War was the Battle of Gettysburg. This was a battle that took place over three days in the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863. This battle was the turning point of the civil war which successfully stopped the Southern Confederate Armies led by General Robert E. Lee from taking over the north. The Battle of Gettysburg was the most important battle of the Civil War because it was the largest of the civil war battles, successfully pushing back southern armies away from the north, and was the major defeat of the south. The battle of Gettysburg is still considered to historians to not only be the most important battle of the Civil war but the deciding factor towards victory.
However, his attempt was unsuccessful because the confederates lost and were now outnumbered. (Document A) This is why geography contributed to Gettysburg being a game changer in the Civil War.
Before this Lee was making all the Union Generals look terrible and then the Union finally got a win. This changed the whole war because then the Union started winning more battles and they would add up and eventually lead to them winning the war. There was no chance of the Union winning the war until this
In September 1862, a battle was fought in a small town in Maryland. More lives were lost than any other battle or war that the United States has ever experience before or since. This battle had no true winner but it did have consequeses that changed the course of the Civil War. In James M. McPherson’s book Crossroads of Freedom Antietam The Battle That Changed the Course of the Civil War, he shows how small events added up to lead to the Battle of Antietam and ultimately to the North winning the Civil War.
In chapter one of What They Fought For, I learned about the letters and diaries of the Confederate soldiers. The themes of the letters were home-sickness, lack of peace, and the defense of home against their invading enemy. The thought of soldiers fighting for their homes and being threatened by invaders, made them stronger when facing adversity. Many men expressed that they would rather die fighting for a cause, than dying without trying and this commitment showed patriotism. Throughout the letters, soldiers claimed their reason for fighting, was for the principles of Constitutional liberty and self-government.