Book Report On The Killer Angels By Michael Shaara

Why Fight? In the year 1975 a book called The Killer Angels was written by Michael Shaara. This historical novel was about the Civil War and focuses on the Battle of Gettysberg. Some may not know but the soldiers and generals on the Confederate and Union sides were not always fighting to abolish or keep slavery. The characters in this novel gave an excellent insight on what they believed the war was about and why they were fighting against each other. One of the main characters, General Robert E. Lee, had great influence on the soldiers in his army. This man was very honorable and respected among all people. General Robert E. Lee, also referred to as Lee, was fighting with the Confederate army. Lee was very religious and to him

The General thought that slavery was immoral. He was fighting for his home state Virginia. Lee was a loyal person and did not want to fight against his state even though he did not support everything the Confederate army was fighting for. He swore to defend his ground, Lee was talking about the south, so he invades the North and he knew as napoleon knew that a defensive war leads to defeat. General Lee’s second in command was a man called James Longstreet. Although Longstreet did focus on the cause of the Civil War, slavery, he was a “professional” and a strong soldier. He was motivated to fight with the south because at first he believed that the Confederate Army was going to win. That is why he was fighting, to win. Another man named Joshua Chamberlain was a Union Colonel. He was a college professor and an excellent soldier. Chamberlain is more educated and thoughtful that the ordinary soldier. He respects the Confederates but he was willing to fight them. The Colonel was morals and wondered how the Confederates could treat a human being the way they were treating the slaves. Joshua was fighting to save the men and women who were slaves. He was a warrior at heart. Chamberlain found that there was

He believed those men had souls and should be given more value than a “dead dog”. That is why he was fighting for the Union in the Civil War. He wanted to prove that the slaves had rights as well and to prove to everyone that he was a better man than many others. Buster did not discriminate against people who are not like him. Whether if they were not the same race or from the same country the man would treat him as he wanted to be treated. Kilran believed that what matters most is justice. Unlike Joshua and Kilrain, a man named Arthur Freemantle supported the Confederates. Arthur was a part of the British government and was sent to observe to see if Britain should support the Confederates as well. Freemantle could tell that the Civil War was based around slavery but he also noticed how gentlemanly and chivalrous. The reason why he, just like many other British, supported the fight was because in the south there were many cotton fields. In Britain they produced a lot of things with cotton. That is the big reason why Arthur supported and fought for the Confederate Army even though Britain abolished slavery. During the Civil War there were many common soldiers who were fighting with