Killer Angels – the Battle of Gettysburg
Essay title: Killer Angels – the Battle of Gettysburg
Killer Angels
The Killer Angels is an awesome and vivid story about the battle of Gettysburg.
Gettysburg was one of the most bloody and horrific battle of the American Civil
War. Author Michael Shaara does an excellent job of showing the bravery and valor of
the men fighting on both sides.
The story begins in a town near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in the town of
Taneytown on June 29, 1863. Harrison, a spy for the confederacy, returns to General
Longstreet late in the night and tells him about the Union troops he spotted moving closer
to their camp and could ambush them at any time. Longstreet doesn’t believe Harrison at
first but Harrison is able to convince him eventually. Longstreet wastes no time and alerts
the commander of the Rebel army, General Robert E Lee. General Lee is skeptical too of
the union movement, but eventually decides to move his troops north towards Gettysburg.
Shaara then switches over to the union perspective, giving you a look at their point of
view. He introduces the reader to Colonel Chamberlain and Buster. Buster wakes
Chamberlain up and lets him know that their troop has picked up 120 men from the
Second Maine that disbanded. The new troops are deserters and Chamberlain is ordered
to shoot anyone that will not march. Chamberlain gets the newcomers some food and
meets with their leaders. The leaders tell him that they are sick of fighting and just want
to return home to their families. Chamberlain can’t let them go so he asks them to please
stay and join the 20th Maine, all of the men except 6 agree to this.
It’s now July 1, 1863 and General Lee is waking up. He is having heart trouble
and tries to take it easy. General Stuart still has not reported back to Lee, so he has no
news on the movements of the union army. Longstreet reports to Lee that the new
commander of the Union forces is George Meade, and that he believes the Union Forces
have occupied Gettysburg. He suggests battle tactics to Lee but they are turned down
because they are too defensive. The confederate forces begin to attack General Buford’s
troops in Gettysburg and are being overwhelmed until General Reynolds troops arrive to
help. Reynolds is shot and killed when he arrives and his troops fight without a
commander. It shifts over to General Lee who is just arriving at the battle. He’s annoyed
because he has had no information about any of this because Stuart is still no where to be
found. Lee wants to fight the Union head on and does not retreat his troops or listen to
Longstreet’s tactics. Lee will not listen to Longstreet, and Lee’s reticence makes
Longstreet depressed. Longstreet starts to think about his children who died from fever
over the winter, and he becomes even more depressed. He knows that the army is all that
is left of meaning to him. Lee meets with three other generals to discuss strategies, Ewell,
Rhodes, and Early. He wants Ewell to attack the right of the northern army the next day,
and the other armies to move to the southeast and block the Union from Washington D.C.,
which was Longstreet’s idea. Lee goes to bed, and now General Buford of the Union is
surveying the Hill that was taken by his
Essay About General Robert E Lee And General Lee
Essay, Pages 1 (579 words)
Latest Update: June 27, 2021
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