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Analysis Of The Killer Angels By Michael Shaara

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Change is essential to life. One cannot survive without changing. As Harold Wilson said, “He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institute which rejects change is the cemetery.” Therefore, Lee should have listened to Longstreet about changing from offensive to defensive warfare. He should have listened for three reasons: They lost that battle, they lost men, and they lost the war. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara is a historical novel recounting the events prior to, during, and after the Battle of Gettysburg. Fighting was proceeding between the Southern Confederates and the Northern Union. General Longstreet realized that the battle would not be won using offensive warfare so he wished to use defensive warfare tactics …show more content…

After fighting rigorously for days, and losing, the valiant soldiers began to lose hope. That battle was a crucial turning point in the war, and when it was lost hope began to fade. Hope was not the only thing lost. Additionally, when the Battle of Gettysburg was a failure for the Confederates, the men began to lose bravery. Even during the battle men began to be afraid. Worst of all, men were lost. If they had been fighting defensively, then more men may have survived to go home to their loved …show more content…

If General Lee had listened to General Longstreet during the Battle of Gettysburg, they probably would have won, thus leading to the ultimate victory of the Confederacy, since that battle was the turning point of the war. Since they did lose the war, they lost homes. Men, battle tired, worn, and defeated, returned back to their home states to find many of their homes destroyed. Not only homes were lost, but families were lost as well. Families lost fathers, brothers, and sons. Lastly, a result of the Confederates losing the war was that they lost their slaves. Slaves were an important piece of the Southern way of life. When they were freed, the South struggled to stand on its

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The story of The Killer Angles depicts the historical events of the Battle of Gettysburg. The Battles of Gettysburg began on July 1,1863 through July 4, 1863, through the course of four days the author Michael Sharra writes about the conflicting thoughts and feelings the men experience about the meaning. During the four-day war period soldiers, commander, and generals realized how unforgiving war is; therefore, the perspective of war will be forever changed. Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is the colonel of the Twentieth Maine Infantry Regiment. Chamberlain was part of the Union and acted as a colonel.

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Sally Wang Professor Nash History 1301 13 October 2014 Concept of War Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels recounts the Battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of key leaders from both the north and the south. Shaara provides insight into the thoughts and decisions that were made that would inevitably determine the outcome of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. The northern concept of war that they were fighting for the sake of freedom and to restore the union by taking in prisoners and preserving he high grounds at Gettysburg helped them force the Confederates to retreat.

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Shaara portrays this in the Killer Angels with a stark contrast in the battle tactics favored by General Lee and General Longstreet. Longstreet is starting to understand that the tide is changing in favor of a newer style of war, with Lee upholding the honorable older code of facing battles head on until a victor emerges. Longstreet makes the argument to Lee that they should retreat South towards the Capitol and entrench themselves to force the Union army to either face them head on, or strike on a separated Union army as they move towards Washington D.C. General Lee would not have this as he adhered to the old style of war to sit out in the open, honorably, and with great maneuvering skill.

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In short, Lee’s irresolute motive for joining the Confederacy, accompanied with his pride, could have been a determining factor in who would be the victor of the war. In contrast, Colonel Chamberlain is certain of his stance, and as a result is aims to win the war for the equality of all people. To explain, before his involvement in the war, Chamberlain was a college professor who would teach everything besides

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This statement was proved to be true after the battle, in which many key events turned the tide of the battle and the whole war. Early morning on July 1st, General Heth attacked Gettysburg, tempted by news that there were stocks of greatly needed shoes. He expected a few militiamen, but instead ran into three thousand dismounted cavalry from John Buford’s division (Kagan and Hyslop 143). This proved fatal for the Confederates, because Gettysburg was not a very strategic spot. If Heth’s men had not engaged in battle, the end of the war could have been very different, because Gettysburg would never have happened.

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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.

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Lee’s second in command after the death of Lee’s most important general--“Stonewall” Jackson, rises up to the challenge of commanding a large portion of the Confederate Army. Longstreet, who I believe was a man ahead of his time, knew the fast changing style of warfare had to parallel that of the booming changes in technology. General Longstreet is depicted by Shaara, as a full-bearded, intelligent man who was very stubborn and sympathetic, but had an immense respect for his commanding officer, General Lee. With the heavy burden of sending men to their deaths, Longstreet wanted to take upon a defensive strategy to the battle. General Lee who had multiple aggressive, offensive victories before Gettysburg deferred Longstreet’s tactics and continued to press forward.

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It has been a long 4 months since blood has been shed in the, already finished, Battle of Gettysburg. The battle lasted three long, hellish days, of blood, sickness, amputated limbs, death and everything else that comes along with war. For all that I know, General Lee is completely insane to have tried to invade the North; why would he do that? Already contradicting what I have previously said, insanity is not really the word; overconfidence would be it. Seeing as though he came from a series of wins, it is not a surprise that General Lee would become overconfident, but with overconfidence comes the sense that victory is guaranteed; which is not.

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cause as we have seen this year we could not have beaten Britain without French support but that was the same for the Confederates the battle of Gettysburg was a repeat of the battle of Saratoga but end with the reverse affects leading to the South losing any hope of getting foreign allies to join in on the

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Secession is nothing but revolution. The framers of our Constitution never exhausted so much labor, wisdom, and forbearance in its formation, and surrounded it with so many guards and securities, if it was intended to be broken by every member of the Confederacy at will. It was intended for "perpetual union," so expressed in the preamble, and for the establishment of a government, not a compact, which can only be dissolved by revolution, or the consent of all the people in convention assembled.” (Lee, 1861) Even though he did not agree with succession, he could not fight against his state of Viriginia, against his family and friends. In 1861, he volunteered for service in the Confederate Army.

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A previous professor of rhetoric at Bowdoin University Chamberlain knew how to speak and knew how to speak effectively. He cold conveys his points to his men with such passions and care for the cause he truly understood how to rally his men when they needed it most. Chamberlain was a very strong leader and was well respected in the military community for his intelligence and his strength to push forward even when facing very formidable enemies. His men saw these admirable qualities in Chamberlain and many of them were very willing to stick by his side. In the novel Killer Angels, Author Michael Shaara recaps some of the events leading up to the battle of Gettysburg.

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As night came upon them. Thousands of dead soldiers lay on the battlegrounds. Both sides went to collect their dead and wounded. The next day, General Lee moved his troops back to VA. To President Lincoln's shock, Mcclellan did nothing.

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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.

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It all comes from a culture created at the top where an oft-tyrannical leader can be unpredictable except in his unwillingness to listen to new ideas. Ultimately, I don’t know if Longstreet could have convinced Lee to withdraw. At this point of the war, Lee was convinced he could and needed to end the war in Gettysburg.

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Soldiers became disillusioned with the cause and their commitment to the cause withered. For Confederate soldiers, it became personal, their families lived in extreme vulnerability. Sherman’s campaign terrorized Confederate soldiers, who feared their families and homes might come next in Sherman's swath of destruction. For example, when Sherman began his turn north, marching into the Carolinas up to Virginia, the Army of Northern Virginia required a stronger picket line, a tangent of stationed soldiers to perform reconnaissance and warn against potential attacks, in its rear to prevent desertion. In a span of nine months, over 60,000 men deserted from the Army of Northern Virginia alone.

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