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Summary Of The Killer Angels By Michael Shaara

1037 Words5 Pages

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.
The Union believed that the war was a means to restore unity to the country and to free the slaves. Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain, an “idealist” and a charismatic speaker, …show more content…

The Union did not want to annihilate the Confederacy and did not charge straight at the Confederacy. Instead, they opted to hold their grounds and defend against the south’s offensive attacks until Pickett’s Charge where Lee had a majority of his remaining troops charge straight into the center of the Union line where the Rebels were decimated and forced to retreat due to substantial loss in forces as “most of [Pickett’s] men” were killed (Shaara 333). After the Rebels were coerced into retreating from their failed charge, the Union chose not to pursue the attack and instead ceased fire, knowing they had been victorious in tearing down the Confederacy’s numbers and …show more content…

The Union army were aware of their cause of fighting “for each other” to restore equality and union among the people (Shaara 30). This strengthened the army’s desire to win while some of the Rebels were merely fighting for “some rights [they] didn’t know nothin’ about”(Shaara 171). Therefore, the Union had a greater sense of cause towards winning and held more spirit. The northern army wanted the south to surrender or retreat from Gettysburg, they did not push forward when the Rebels pulled back and instead held their position until it was determined that they were the victors. By doing so, they did not risk losing the battle by pushing for a total win because they knew that they had dealt a crushing blow to the south and that was enough. Although the Union also lost a great deal of soldiers, they still held the advantage because the south had less soldiers overall and the losses at the Battle of Gettysburg would leave a hole in their forces for quite some

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The confederate had a lot of trained tactics in the war for their generals and soldiers as show in this quote by SIR “Finding that our battery did not provoke the enemy to discover his force and his batteries, I ordered Colonel Richardson to advance his brigade and to throw out skirmishers to scour the thick woods with which the whole bottom of Bull Run was covered. This order was skillfully executed, and the skirmishers came out of the wood into the road and close to the ford without provoking any considerable fire from the enemy.” This is because the confederacy troops were a little more trained then the United States troops and even the generals of the United States didn’t believe they were trained enough for the upcoming battles and the battle at bull run which this would give the United States a disadvantage compared to the more trained troops and officers of the south. Another quote told by R. Patterson explains how he felt “That I have suffered additional injustice at the hands of the General-in-Chief who sanctioned and fixed the impression that the enemy at Winchester was inferior to me in force in every arm of service, and yet has not corrected that report, although he knew two days after the battle of Bull Run that siege artillery heavier than mine, and three times as numerous, had been left by the enemy at

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It ended with the retreat of the Confederate Army after the failure of General George Pickett’s last charge. The Civil War would last another two more years until General Lee’s surrender at the Battle of Appomattox Court House. Michael Shaara’s book, The Killer Angels, tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg and gives great insight on why soldiers fought, their motivations, and how they face death. Each soldier had their own reasons to fight, but one common theme stands out overall, soldiers fight for freedom. During the war soldiers looked for motivation before and during battles, they often find that motivation from their officers.

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The Unions leaders had General George B. McClellan. He commanded the Army of the Potomac. He was very well loved by his men and always wanted the best for them but at the expense of the Union. He disliked abolitionists and the Republican Party and had very little respect for Abraham Lincoln himself but his biggest problem was that he was a perfectionist. Because of this, McClellan was almost always ready to move but not quite.

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Introduction The Battle of Antietam (Battle of Sharpsburg) was a battle of the American Civil War, battled on September 17, 1862, in the Southern United States between the Potomac army led by Union General George McClellan and Northern Virginia army led by Confederate General Robert Lee near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam (McPherson, 2003). September 17th, 1862, has been termed as one of the bloodiest day in the U.S. History, with more than 23,000 men becoming causalities of the war. The research paper will then highlight the forces engaged, assets, and liabilities of both side, the battle overview, and significance of the Battle of Antietam to American History. The Battle of Antietam is one of the most significant battles of the American Civil War.

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Southern soldiers viewed the confederacy as their country and were compelled to fight for the safety of it. Confederate soldiers enlisted to protecting their native lands from what they understood as invaders. The Confederacy sentiments of the Union was they were imposing upon the southern way of life. For instance, a young soldier from Kentucky wrote “sink or swim, survive or perish” (McPherson 11). The average Confederate soldier felt that they the Union was trying to destroy the legacy of the founder fathers by enslaving them and reversing the actions of the American Revolution.

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What led to this battle, was General Robert. E. Lee, was leading his army to Pennsylvania, to try to gain a food advantage over the North. Unbeknownst to both sides, this would be the first battle in the North. Lee had hoped that with a northern victory, external countries would view the south as an organized country, and not a group of “rag tag bandits”, as some northerner’s called the south. He also hoped that a northern victory would finally make the Union allow the South to become its own country.

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For example, data compiled by many sources shows that 23,040 soldiers from the Union had casualties, and 20,000-25,000 Confederate soldiers had casualties, (Doc B). This is important because the Union was ready to fight the South and helped motivate them to fight the Civil War. This matters because it gives the Union more confidence. In conclusion, the Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point in the Civil War because so many casualties set back the Union and the

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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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On the other hand, the Confederates had the small amount of 278,000, and 1,200,000 military age men (B). The grounds of Gettysburg took place on the Union state grounds, which means that they had easier access to more military help if it was needed at any time. The confederates were hurt the most in result of the battle of Gettysburg, which allowed Robert E. Lee to lose his confidence as a general, and change the way they fought turning the war a different

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Antietam Battlefield Report The Battle of Antietam took place on September 17th, 1862 and lasted for only 12 hours. However, it was not only the bloodiest day of the American Civil War, but the bloodiest single day in all of American history (www.historynet.com). The most important Union officer that fought in the battle was Major General George B. McClellan. The Battle of Antietam was the only battle that Mr. McClellan fought from start to finish (www.civilwar.org). Ezra Carman, a Union colonel, recalled “more errors were committed by the Union commander than in any other battle of the war.”

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But “when the South attached less significance to its defeat than the North did to its victory, Confederate morale would no longer match the task of maintaining public will at a level necessary for victory.” (Richard Beringer, Herman Hattaway, Archer Jones, and William Still: “Why the South Lost the Civil War” , Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1986, page 49). Additionally, the Confederates lacked a true sense of nationhood, for many Confederates could not agree on why they fought or what the Confederacy actually stood for.

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Tessa Daley Beilein History 130 25 April 2024 Union Victory in the Civil War: Strategy, Emancipation, and Surrender The Civil War was a conflict that reshaped the United States and was represented by brutal battles, strategic advancements, and both social and political consequences. Initially, the Union, with its greater industrial capabilities and larger population, struggled to translate these advantages into early military success. The war's early years highlighted this struggle, with battles often characterized by traditional military tactics and the Anaconda Plan aimed at cutting off the Confederates’ resources, along with cutting it off economically. However, the true turning point in the Union’s approach came after the summer of 1863,

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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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The Confederates strategy was a defensive attack, whereas the Union's strategy was an offensive attack. The Confederates had the idea that if they drew out the conflict long enough, they would be capable of convincing the Union that it was going to be too costly to support. The one downfall of the Confederates was that they had less men, less industrial capacity and less capital support then the Union. They attempted to convince England and France that victory for them would be greater than a victory for the Union. The Union strategy however was to fight and win an offensive war.

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The North new that it was going to be a long war, but it would benefit them in the long run. The South didn’t have to win; they just didn’t have to lose. The Union knew that they had to conquer the South or the founders of the nation would have failed. The Union was in high favor to win the war.

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