The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara [1]
—from a letter of ROBERT E. LEE
Mr. Mason: How do you justify your acts?
John Brown: I think, my friend, you are guilty of a great wrong against God and humanity—I say it without wishing to be offensive—and it would be perfectly right for anyone to interfere with you so far as to free those you willfully and wickedly hold in bondage. I do not say this insultingly.
Mr. Mason: I understand that.
—from an interview with
JOHN BROWN after his capture
CONTENTS
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
LIST OF MAPS
TO THE READER
FOREWORD
THE KILLER ANGELS
MONDAY, JUNE 29, 1863
1. THE SPY
2. CHAMBERLAIN
3. BUFORD
4. LONGSTREET
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1863: THE FIRST DAY
1. LEE
2. BUFORD
3. LEE
4. CHAMBERLAIN
5. LONGSTREET
6. LEE
7. BUFORD
THURSDAY, JULY 2, 1863: THE SECOND DAY
1. FREMANTLE
2. CHAMBERLAIN
3. LONGSTREET
4. CHAMBERLAIN
5. LONGSTREET
6. LEE
FRIDAY, JULY 3, 1863
1. CHAMBERLAIN
2. LONGSTREET
3. CHAMBERLAIN
4. ARMISTEAD
5. LONGSTREET
6. CHAMBERLAIN
AFTERWORD
About the Author
LIST OF MAPS
Situation June 1863: the routes of the armies
Situation Noon, June 30: Buford enters Gettysburg
Gettysburg
The First Day—dawn: Buford’s defense of Gettysburg
Situation Evening, June 30
Dawn, July 1
Situation at 9:00 A.M., July I: Buford’s defense
The First Day—11:00 A.M.: situation after the death of Reynolds
The First Day—3:00–4:00 P.M.: attack of Ewell’s Corps on Howard’s flank
Chamberlain’s route to Gettysburg
Situation at the close of the First Day
The Second Day—morning: estimated Union position
The Second Day—morning: Lee’s plan for Longstreet’s assault on the Union left
Longstreet’s Countermarch
The Second Day—4:00 P.M.: actual line attacked by Longstreet after Sickles’ move forward
The Second Day—5:00 P.M.: defense of Devil’s Den and Little Round Top
Situation at the close of the Second Day
The Third Day—2:30 P.M.: Lee’s plan for Pickett’s Charge
TO THE READER
This is the story of the Battle of Gettysburg, told from the viewpoints of Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet and some of the other men who fought there.
Stephen Crane once said that he wrote The Red Badge of Courage because reading the cold history was not enough; he wanted to know what it was like to be there, what the weather was like, what men’s faces looked like. In order to live it he had to write it. This book was written for much the same reason.
You may find it a different story from the one you learned in school. 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.
The interpretation of character is my own.
MICHAEL SHAARA
FOREWORD
June 1863
I. THE ARMIES
On June 15 the first troops of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee commanding, slip across the Potomac at Williamsport and begin the invasion of the North.
It is an army of seventy thousand men. They are rebels and volunteers. They are mostly unpaid and usually self-equipped. It is an army of remarkable unity, fighting for disunion. It is Anglo-Saxon and Protestant. Though there are many men who cannot read or write, they all speak English. They share common customs and a common faith