Book Reports On Killer Angels By Shaara

Killer Angels, is a historical novel that was written detailing the events that took place just before and during the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. It highlights the trials and hardships that each soldier and officer faced throughout the three-day battle. Throughout the novel, Shaara presents a thesis about the human dimension of war and its impact on the individual and their struggles. How the Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point in the war, and he aims to explore the motivations, fears, and complexities faced by both Union and Confederate soldiers during this crucial moment in the history of the United States. While this book only focuses on a couple of higher-ranking individuals, you can get a sense of what the

The original attitude of many soldiers that volunteered for the Union army was that of a grand adventure in which they could see the Southern countryside, as the war would end very quickly. The First Battle of Bull Run ended that dream of adventure, as the Union army was defeated and sent back towards Washington D.C. Colonel James Chamberlain was a professor at the College of Bowdoin and left the college to finally realize his goal of becoming a soldier. In the early moments of the battle of Gettysburg he is reminded of his previous battle at Fredericksburg where he had to pile up corpses to form a wall to protect himself and his unit. The stench of death and depressiveness is present throughout the story that Shaara is trying to tell. James Chamberlain even orders his own flesh and blood Thomas Chamberlain to reinforce a gap in their lines on a little round top, knowing they have no reinforcements on the extreme left flank. The great saga of General Lewis Armistead and his former friend Winfield Handcock, who will never meet again as Armistead is killed at the end of Pickett’s

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. Lee proves this as he orders General Pickett to charge up on what he assumes is an un-fortified Union center, destroying sixty percent of Pickett’s attacking force. A nation divided, Union vs the Confederacy, the internal struggle that becomes external through the events of the