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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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