The Killer Angels

 

The Killer Angels is a historical fiction account of the Battle of Gettysburg. On July 1, 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia, or Confederate army, and the Army of the Potomac, or Union army, fought the largest battle of the American Civil War. When the battle ended, 51,000 men were dead, wounded, or missing. All the characters in the novel are based on real historical figures. They 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, the fighting on Little Round Top.

The author wrote: There have been many versions of that battle and that war. I have therefore avoided historical opinions and gone back primarily to the words of the men themselves, their letters, and other documents. I have not consciously changed any fact. I have condensed some of the action, for the sake of clarity, and eliminated some minor characters, for brevity; but though I have often had to choose between conflicting viewpoints, I have not knowingly violated the action. I have changed some of the language. It was a naïve and sentimental time, and men spoke in windy phrases. I thought it necessary to update some of the words so that the religiosity and naïveté of the time, which were genuine, would not seem too quaint to the modern ear. I hope I will be forgiven that.

On June 15 Confederate General Robert E. Lee led 70,000 troops of the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac at Williamsport and begin the invasion of the North.

They were volunteers, most were self-equipped and most believe they were fighting for states’ rights.

The Army of the Potomac, the Union army, moves to meet Lee at Gettysburg, a small town in Southern Pennsylvania. Major General George Meade had just assumed command of the 80,000-man army and arrived just in time for the battle.

They are volunteers from all walks of life, speak multiple languages and have lost faith in their commanders and all believe they are fighting to free the slaves.

The story begins on 29 Jun 1864 when a confederate spy reports to Lee and Longstreet that the Union Calvary, is within four hours of their location and rest of the Union Army is moving closer. He also, tells them General Hooker has been replaced as the Union commander by George G. Meade. Both men would have rather faced Hooker.

Lee is reluctant to believe this information since his calvary, led by Gen. Jeb Stuart, is the eyes of the army and he hasn’t reported any of this information. He doesn’t believe that Stuart would leave him blind, but he has.

Longstreet believes defense is the best strategy and wants Lee to get between the Union Army and Washington and dig in somewhere, forcing the union army to attack on ground of their choosing. Lee disagrees, he does not believe in a defensive war, and he came to fight.

As Lee and Longstreet study a map of the area, there was one gap east of Chambersburg and beyond that all the roads came together, weblike, at a small town, Gettysburg. That is where Lee selects to attack the enemy.

On 30 Jun 1863, as confederate elements approaches Gettysburg, Gen. Buford, commander of the Union calvary watches from a flat-topped hill by a cemetery surrounded by a stone wall, looking down across flat open ground with a clear field of fire.

The infantry approached and then turn back and marched back out of sight. Buford realizes they don’t have calvary, so they don’t know how big of a force he has.

Buford has only two brigades of 2,500 men. He understands how important that high ground and the stone wall will be during the upcoming battle. He also knows the main infantry is a long day’s march behind him and when the confederates come back in the morning, they will move into those hills giving them the advantage. Gen. Reynolds with the lead infantry would not be here in time to prevent that from happening. He makes the decision to dig in and try to hold the high ground until the infantry can arrive.

WEDNESDAY,

JULY 1, 1863

THE FIRST DAY

Lee’s Confederate Army is spread out over many miles, and he thinks he will have all his troops by nightfall and post orders that he wants no fight until his army is concentrated.

Confederate Gen. Harry Heth’s men attack at dawn anyway and Buford’s men hold until Reynolds arrives with his 20,000-man infantry. Reynolds is killed shortly after his infantry relieves Buford’s calvary.

Two other Confederate generals arrive and send word to Lee that they have engaged the Union troops, who continue to pour in from the south. Lee orders his generals to attack. Meanwhile, Chamberlain’s regiment begins to move northward toward Gettysburg.

The first day’s battle ends with the Union forces retreating into the hills surrounding Gettysburg. There they dig in, setting up cannons and defensive positions behind the stone walls.

Longstreet is nervous—he knows that the hills are good defensive positions, and he knows that Lee plans to attack them rather than swing the army southeast toward Washington, D.C.

Lee meets with his generals and is angry with General Ewell for not following his orders and taking Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill, thereby instead allowing the Union forces to retreat into them. Ewell is a cautious general, perhaps too cautious.

THURSDAY,

JULY 2, 1863

THE SECOND DAY

On July 2, Chamberlain and his regiment begins moving north again toward Gettysburg. On the way, his regiment discovers an escaped slave, the first black man most of them have ever seen and Chamberlain muses on the reasons behind the war and his thoughts on race.

 

Back at Gettysburg, two of Lee’s generals—Ewell and Early—suggest that the army strike the Union’s two flanks to weaken it. Lee likes the plan, but Longstreet still wants to move southeast toward Washington, D.C. Lee refuses, and Longstreet reluctantly agrees to attack the Union’s left flank.

 

As he leads his troops toward the hills to the south of Gettysburg, Little Round Top and Big Round Top, he discovers that the Union army has moved down off the hills and into the peach orchard at the bottom. He decides he has no choice but to attack anyway, and a bloodbath on both sides is the result.

 

Chamberlain’s regiment finally reaches Gettysburg and is placed on Little Round Top. His men are placed on the extreme left of the entire Union line and is told “You cannot withdraw. Under any conditions. If you go, the line is flanked. If you go, they’ll go right up the hilltop and take us in the rear. You must defend this place to the last.”

Chamberlain and his men hold the hill against numerous Confederate attacks and when they run out of bullets, Chamberlain saves the day by ordering a bayonet charge. His screaming regiment, charging down the hill rattles the Confederates. Most turns tail and run, while the rest is either killed or captured.

Chamberlain started with three hundred men and when the attack is over, he has lost 130, almost half his forces.

At the end of the day, the Union still controls Little Round Top, and Longstreet’s men have suffered heavy losses in the peach orchard. That night, Stuart returns, and Lee scolds him for being absent.

Lee then decides on a plan for the next day: now that he has battered the two flanks of the Union army, the middle must be weakened. He will charge through the middle of the Union line and split the army in two, then destroy each half individually.

FRIDAY,

JULY 3, 1863

THE THIRD DAY

The next morning, July 3, Chamberlain’s men who took the brunt of the fighting the day before, are moved to the center of the Union line, where it is supposed to be safe and quiet.

 

At the Confederate camp, Longstreet tries to convince Lee one last time to swing the army toward Washington, D.C. and split the Union forces. Longstreet tells Lee that he is certain Lee’s plan is doomed to failure. 

He believes a frontal assault will be a disaster. He explains to Lee that there are three union corps in the rocky hills on his left flank, 30,000 more to his right and calvary coming up behind. His forces are to spread out, and open to an attack from the rear. He adds that he lost almost half his men and many officers the day before and doesn’t believe they can take the same high ground that they couldn’t take at full strength. Lee refuses to change his mind and reluctantly Longstreet orders the attack and places Pickett in charge of the assault.

The Confederates begin the attack with an hour-long artillery barrage to try and weaken the Union positions. Chamberlain finds himself and his regiment in the middle of this bombardment, and much to his surprise, he survives intact.

The attack begins as Confederate troops start marching across the open field toward the Union lines. The Union cannons, blow huge holes in the Confederate line and kill hundreds of men. When the Confederates come within range, the Union soldiers open fire with their guns, killing hundreds more just as Longstreet had predicted.

Towards the end of the battle as Longstreet looked on, the smoke parted and he saw the green fields littered with mangled bodies, and far across the field what was left of the army was falling back across the road to the safety of the woods.

When Picket requested help, Longstreet says, “Nine brigades went in. That’s all we have.” There was nothing to send now, no further help to give, and even if Lee on the other side would send support now it would be too late. He instructs Pickett to fall back and sends word for a battery to move down the slope in front of him, to fire uphill and protect Pickett as he retreated.

Lee arrives and says, “General Pickett, I want you to re-form your division in the rear of this hill.” Pickett’s eyes lighted as if a sudden pain had shot through him. He started to cry. Lee said again with absolute calm, “General, you must look to your division.”

Pickett said tearfully, voice of a bewildered angry boy, “General Lee, I have no division.” He pointed back down the hill, jabbing at the blowing smoke, the valley of wrecked men, turned and shuddered, waving, then saying, “Sir? What about my men?” as if even now there was still something Lee could do to fix it. “What about my men? Armistead is gone. Garnett is gone. Kemper is gone. All my colonels are gone. General, every one of them. Most of my men are gone. Good God, sir, what about my men?” (Armistead, Garnett, and Kemper were his three generals. He lost all 13 of his colonels and about 50% of his men were killed, wounded, or captured)

Both sides seemed to come to their senses and the killing stopped. The Union troops dropped back rather than continue pressing their advantage and the confederates were too beaten to attack again.

Meade told his generals to prepare for tomorrow because he believed the confederates would be attacking again.

Longstreet and Lee knew that the battle was over, and both suspected that the Confederacy had just lost the war.  After they talked for a few more minutes, Lee departed, and Longstreet turned and went out into the field to say goodbye.

When that was done, he gave the order for the army to retreat, thus ending the bloodiest battle of the civil war.

Aftermath: A light rain started falling on the hills above Gettysburg, but it was only the overture to the great storm to come. Out of the black night it came at last, cold, and wild and flooded with lightning. The true rain came in a monster wind, and the storm broke in blackness over the hills and the bloody valley; the sky opened along the ridges and the vast water thundered down, drowning the fires, flooding the red creeks, washing the rocks and the grass and the white bones of the dead, cleansing the earth and soaking it thick and rich with water and wet again with clean cold rainwater, driving the blood deep into the earth, to grow again with the roots toward Heaven.

It rained all that night. The next day was Saturday, the Fourth of July.

I enjoyed this book very much and recommend it. Most books try to cover the entire battle and this one only covers small segments of it. I like how the author was able to show what the leaders were thinking. It added a lot of background information for me.