The Killer Angel By Michael Shaara

     Michael Shaara’s fictional novel, The Killer Angels, is based on the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. The novel allows the reader to recognize the heart and courage of the more than two million men that fought in the war. Shaara focuses the reader to better understand the reason why these men fight and the meaning of the war. Ultimately, the reader observes that the war is fought on an individual level as much as a governmental level. These men are there to fight for what they believe is truly right. The Confederates fought for their rights to hold slaves, their freedom tyranny of the Federal Government, and their

Wars have been fought for many different reasons through the years, and that holds true for the American Civil War (1861-1865). In Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Killer Angels, the reasons for fighting the war are brought about through the officers and soldiers at a famous battle site of the Civil War, Gettysburg. Gettysburg was one of the most documented battles of the whole war. It took place over a span of three days and can be viewed as a turning point from Confederate prominence to Confederate demise. As in any conflict, there are two sides to the story. The Union and the Confederacy each had their own views as to why they were fighting the war. Victors write the history so too often only the Union side is

“Death created the modern American union, not just by ensuring national survival, but by shaping enduring national structures and commitments. The work of death was Civil War America 's most fundamental and most demanding undertaking”— Drew Gilpin Faust. Death in the Civil War was indeed a principle in creating the America we know and love today. This was the bloodiest war in United States military history. Within the war was the Battle of Gettysburg, a battle that was engulfed in massive suffering and loss of life. July first through the third 1863, A rural town in the eastern United States, Gettysburg Pennsylvania, is host to the largest, most fierce, battle ever to occur on American soil. At the start, Rumors were circulating that Lee was marching his army over the Potomac river and into southern Pennsylvania. Eventually, solid military intelligence confirmed this, and with an equally sized army, under the command of Gen. George G. Meade, the Union began on a collision course with the confederate army, and so began the Battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg was a turning point because, the south’s morale declined while the north’s increased; northern casualties were lower than the south’s; and the north gained a geographical advantage from the battle.

The Battle of Gettysburg brought the dueling North and South together to the small town of Gettysburg and on the threshold of splitting the Union. Gettysburg was as close as the United States got to Armageddon and The Killer Angels gives the full day-to-day account of the battle that shaped America’s future. Michael Shaara tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of the generals and men involved in the action of the battle. The historical account of the Battle of Gettysburg gives the reader a chance to experience the battle personally and not the history book manner taught in schools. A historical novel gives the facts straightforward and provides no commentary by the people involved in history. The

In The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara fictionally illustrates the historical facts of the battle at Gettysburg. Shaara gives action and words to characters of another time, and then places these players on the stage of this great battle. Through the use of powerful biblical and non-biblical imagery and themes the epic nature of the battle at Gettysburg and its characters are enhanced. Such imagery and themes, combined with Shaara's fictionalization, help to contribute to why this single battle holds such monumental significance and influence upon the lives of Americans over a century removed from its occurrence.

The pain, joy, bloodshed, death, and sorrow of the Civil War are all contained in the book called, "The Killer Angels." This book will show you the thoughts, feelings and actions of many of the leaders of both armies. By reading this book you will get an in depth view of the bloodiest days of the Civil War. Even if you know absolutely nothing about this war, you can still read and understand everything that is portrayed. This story not only gives you the view of many of the major leaders, but it also gives you the maps an strategies used in this war. It also shows you the conflicts in making these strategies. This book has inspired many, but the true question is will it inspire you? Reading this book will cause

The Civil War was one of the most important and bloodiest wars in American history. It tore a nation apart and then brought it back together. An author, Michael Shaara wrote a book about the Battle of Gettysburg and how both sides, the Union and the Confederate, interpreted it. This novel was named The Killer Angels. After reading the book, visiting the Atlanta History Center allowed to learn and experience the life of soldiers during the War. The Civil War began on April 12th, 1861 and came to a much wanted end on May 9th, 1865. When walking through to Turning Point at the Atlanta History Center, the learning tools there helped bring to life the purpose, challenges, cost, and the long lasting effects of the War by allowing visitors to read,

The setting takes place in the midst of the Battle of Gettysburg as the two sides prepare for the fight. The Confederate officers include: General Robert E. Lee, General James Longstreet, General George Pickett, General John F. Reynolds, and several others. The Union officers have: Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, Colonel William Gamble, Lieutenant John Buford, and many others. The main views that are looked at are Lee, Longstreet, Chamberlain, and Buford. The main conflict that started the civil war is the issue of slavery. In The Killer Angels, it happened in the most important battle of the civil war, which was the Battle of Gettysburg and talked about the plans to either unite the union or destroy it.

The Civil War began because of uncompromising differences between free and slave states over the power of government, in April 12, 1861. Most people died in the Civil War because of deadly diseases. The Battle of Gettysburg is considered the most important event in the Civil War. Soldiers fought from July first to July third 1863. Do soldiers really know how to treat an injury during a war? In the book The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara’s published in 1974, we are exposed to historical figures that could have treated their injuries and made them minor if they had modern medicine. With the medical training we have today the figures could have saved their limbs and known how to take better care of themselves in such uncomfortable situations.

The battle of Gettysburg was one of the most important battles in the Civil War. If I was a Union soldier on cemetery ridge or little round top, I would be scared. Imagine bullets tearing down your friends around you, blood spattering the ground and yourself. I would be thinking “imgoingtodieimgoingtodieimgoingtodie” over and over. However, I would grasp onto that little light at the end of tunnel, hope. I would feel tortured inside, but I’d have to kill fellow human beings to save my own life. I would wonder if this was the most ethical way to settle a problem. But I would have to kill other soldiers, and that would kill me inside. With the fear of getting killed, the adrenaline rushing through my veins, taking the shot to end one life, and save another. And I would have to face this internal conflict over and over until it was safe, or until another soldier decided to make that same decision and chose me as their target. This is what I would feel if I was a Union soldier in the battle of Gettysburg.

There was never a bloodier war on American soil in history than the Civil War. Those short four year took the lives of thousands soldiers and destroyed many infrastructures of America. The war, however, was more than a battle between Lincoln and Davis, North and South, slavery and freeman. The Civil War was a war of ideals. The accounts told by the soldiers shown that, although the two sides did not agree on most topics, the North and the South did held certain ideals. In The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, the eyes of James Longstreet and Joshua Chamberlain expresses the battle between the North and the South as an opportunity to show their major contributions, their loyalties to their troops, and their opinions of the war that shaped them.

The Killer Angels is a novel written by Michael Shaara which tells the story of the four day battle of Gettysburg from June 30 and ended July 3, 1863.There were two armies in the novel the Union and the Confederate soliders who eneded up fighting in a town called Gettysburg located in Pennsylvania. In the novel, there are four major characters who were all Generals, General Lee, General Longstreet, General Pickett, and Colonel Chamberlain.The main cause of the war was the confederate wanting to split from the North and be an independent nation. The book allows the reader to see the problems, the decisions, and the reactions of individuals.

The book I chose to read over the summer was the book The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara. The Killer Angels tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg. On July 1, 1863, the Confederate army, and the Union army, fought the largest battle of the American Civil War. When the battle ended, fifty one thousand men were KIA (Killed In Action), wounded, or MIA (Missing in Action). All the characters in this book are based on real figures that fought in this great battle. The characters include General Robert Lee, commander of the Confederate army; General James Longstreet, Lee’s second in command; and Union Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, who fought in one of the most famous parts of the Battle of Gettysburg, the fighting on Little Round Top.

The Battle of Gettysburg, within the writings of Michael Shaara, is written in a narrative form retelling the events of the battle giving the reader the ability to visualize each scene as it unfolded in the past. The Battle of Gettysburg can be defined as the turning event during the Civil War. One of the bloodiest battles fought on American soil, Shaara explains the Battle of Gettysburg through the brutality the war brought. The Confederates fought on the offensive side and the Union defended the high ground. The foretelling of these events is told through the eyes and minds of the Generals, Colonels, and soldiers. In The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara explains in detail the plans, the execution of those plans, and how the soldiers reacted during each day. Shaara explains the means to which men will justify their actions during war to use tactics that show glory and how the idea of winning leads to a blindness towards other possibilities. He justifies this claim by giving an insight into the feelings and justification for the actions between the Union and the Confederates, the emotions of the Generals and Colonels to emphasize the reality of war, and the impact an offensive assault from the Confederates had on the morale of the Confederate and Union armies.

The battle of Gettysburg is seen today as the turning point of the war, and after the analysis of these historical documents its clear why the bloodshed at Gettysburg was as significant as it was being able to turn the tides of the war. Two sources that are going to be used in this are a website article from History.com: “Battle of Gettysburg” and a website article from the NeW World Encyclopedia: “Battle of gettysburg”. These sources will be analyzed by their origin, purpose, content, value and limitation in relation to this investigation.