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The Killer Angels Sparknotes

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The book first copyrighted in 1974 by Michael Shaara is “The Killer Angels”. This book is a historical fiction book and takes place in Gettysburg in 1863. The story starts on June 29, 1863, the four main characters that we see the most are General Robert E. Lee, Lieutenant General James Longstreet, Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, and Major General John Buford. The book changes it’s point of views between these four men to get different perspectives of what is going on from June 29th to July 3rd of 1863. It all starts with a spy showing up and informing Longstreet that he saw the Union army moving nearby, this information shocked him because General Stuart was supposed to be on the lookout for the Union. Due to this information the Confederate …show more content…

With the troops of the Union and Confederate army both in Gettysburg the fight begins, on the first day the Union retreats into nearby hills and Buford is blamed for what happened that day. The Confederate army wants to attack both of the Unions flanks to weaken them in spite of what Longstreet wants. They compromise and Longstreet agrees to attack the left side and the result is a complete bloodbath on both sides of the flank. Chamberlain finally makes it to Gettysburg with his regiment and is told that he is not allowed to retreat and will attack no matter what. July 3rd Chamberlain and his men move to the middle of both Union flanks. Longstreet still wants to move the army to D.C. but Lee still refuses. They plan an attack on the Union army but it doesn’t do much harm to them because of the artillery shooting too high. The Union start their fire and most of the soldiers are killed leading the Confederate to retreat and the Battle is …show more content…

So many soldiers are shoot and blown apart from artillery and 51,000 people died during this war, everybody knew that they were most likely not going to make it out alive and they all learned to deal with it. Another major theme is division among the nation because it was a fight between the north and the south of the United States. Both sides had to make themselves think that the other side was filled of people that were less than human like if they were fighting a different country or something because if not they probably wouldn’t be able to handle this war. So I would say that this book has a new and original

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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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“On the afternoon of July 2,1863, the second day at Gettysburg, Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain led the 20th Regiment Maine Volunteers, fewer than 500 officers and men, up the steep slope of Little Round Top and into the pages of history.” ( Longacre ) . In May 1863, Gettysburg began with General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia's second invasion of the North. On its second day, Lee ordered an attack on the Union army just south of Gettysburg. By the third day, the Confederate army was forced to retreat back as a result of a failed Pickett’s Charge.

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Chamberlain was skilled like no other general. On June 13, 1863, Chamberlain’s men headed north, pursuing General Robert E. Lee’s Confederates toward Pennsylvania. The armies clashed at the small crossroads town of Gettysburg, a name and place that would become quite special for Joshua Chamberlain. On July 2, his 20th Maine was sent to the top of a small hill called Little Round Top with orders to defend his position to the last. The 20th Maine regiment was a small regiment numbering only 358 men.

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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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Historical Analysis Red Badge of courage reflects the time it takes place because it takes place during the civil war. The teenage boy wants to go fight in the war, which was common back then, because it brings you great honor. The Battle of Chancellorsville resembles the first battle Henry takes part in. When Henry runs away and finds himself in a forest it resembles this battle because it took place in a forest as well. Some strategies also appear in the book like splitting into two attack parties instead of one large one.

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They started descending down the hill. Herold walked up to them and realized that they were Confederates. After a few questions, Booth and Herold discussed a plan with the soldiers to get across to the other side. The soldiers, Booth, and Herold went to the farm of Richard H. Garrett for a night. Meanwhile, in southern Maryland, Lafayette Baker, a detective and a War Department Agent, was brought news about men crossing the Potomac and started investigating.

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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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Longstreet points out that the Confederates can easily win the battle because of their defensive strengths and the only way the Union can win is by great offence. Both decide the best option is to try to get between the Confederates and Washington D.C. in order to even have a chance at defeating the Union Army. As the Battle begins, Buford and his men wait for General Reynolds and his troops to come and help fight. Reynolds is killed.

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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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Michael Shaara, in The Killer Angels, gave life to the events and to the individuals involved in it, providing us with a more customized and adapted comprehension of the war. In The Killer Angels the lives of some of the survivors of Gettysburg are relived. The book portrays slavery as the major reason the civil war started. The South was against freeing the slaves, and the North fought for the latter.

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The Killer Angels, written by American author Michael Shaara, is a constant third person narrative, which is about the Battle of Gettysburg (a small town in Virginia). The novel begins on the date of July 1, 1863, during the time of the Civil War where the Confederate army, and the Union army, fought the most substantial sized battle of the American Civil War. In my research based outside of the book, I discovered that several of the characters in the novel are based on real historical figures. Those characters include, General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate army; General James Longstreet, Lee’s second in command; and Union Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain, who participated in one of the most famous segments of the Battle of Gettysburg,

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The book describes perfectly how soldiers and civilians struggle during the war, both soldiers and civilians struggle with hunger, fear of the unknown, fear of not being reunited with your loved ones. War destroys way more than it fixes, it impacts generations after generations for reasons that seem to be driven by money and power at the expense of the little

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In the battle of Gettysburg, Generals Robert E. Lee and George G. Meade used their strategies to form an unforgettable battle. The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle in the history of North America. The battle lasted three days long. The general of the Confederacy was Robert E. Lee, and the general of the Union was George G. Meade. The Battle of Gettysburg started off when Robert E. Lee formulated a plan to attack the Union in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

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This took place on the hills south of Gettysburg where the Union successfully held their ground. On the second day they continued the battle where the Confederates gained very little ground but not enough to change the war involving 100, 000 soldiers and with 20,000 killed or injured. It was the final day where the Confederates took a full assault with 12,000 confederates known as Pickett’s Charge which was a center line attacked against the Union. The Union held their ground using artillery fire and rifles which led to retreat of the confederates while successfully pushing them back south.

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