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Killer Angles Summary

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Sergeant Richard T. Handy
Commandants Profession Reading Program
Annual Reading Requirement
28 July 2017
Killer Angles
Michael Shaara’s Killer Angles is a Pulitzer Prize winning historical novel published in 1974. It is a very point based written book about four days of battle at Gettysburg during the Civil War. It hit hard on individual experiences and how they handled certain situations. Each chapter within a section is from a different person's viewpoint, though the overall viewpoint of the novel is that of the story teller. It truly focuses and articulates the thought process and emotions of the men who served for General Lee and those who stood against him on the Union side under Colonel Chamberlin.
Early in the book Colonel Chamberlin …show more content…

Shortly after, he was told he would be taking the “center line and leaving his old regiment behind and only taking 20 of his men” to do so (Shaara 414). With a heavy heart he explained to his men the new battle plan and chose the first 20 volunteers, which in my mind is a testament to the loyalty his men had for him. Colonel Chamberlin and his men were tired and battle tested, however; the following morning the Confederates led a charge straight into the center line of the Union. Chamberlin’s men repelled and destroyed the assault; decimating the …show more content…

They knew that the Battle of Gettysburg was now over with the overwhelming loss of General Pickett’s Charge. However, they were not expecting how humble and even remorseful that Colonel Chamberlin was in killing so many Americans and that he “praised them and their men for such a hard fault battle” (Shaara 625). On July 4, 1863, both sides collected their dead and departed the grounds of Gettysburg “in the rain”, which I feel is also a metaphor for washing their hands of blood on both sides (Shaara

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