The Killer Angels: an Introduction

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THE KILLER ANGELS: AN INTRODUCTION CONTEXT AND PROLOGUE FOR MICHAEL SHAARA’S RETELLING OF THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG THE UNITED STATES: UNION SITUATION AND KEY FIGURES • While the Union was tremendously successful in the Western Theater, with soldiers like U. S. Grant and W. T. Sherman in command, the Army of the Potomac—the army in charge of defending the Eastern Front— suffered a series of embarrassing defeats at the Seven Days, Second Manassas, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. The East being perceived by Europe as more important, France and England became convinced by the Spring of 1863 that the Confederacy was winning the war. An exasperated Lincoln changed commanders in the East six times in two years. Now, in the Summer of 1863, he names George Meade his commander in hopes of finally suppressing the rebels. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, ABRAHAM LINCOLN ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, COMMANDER MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE GORDON MEADE MAJOR GENERAL JOHN F. REYNOLDS MAJOR GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK MAJOR GENERAL JOHN BUFORD COLONEL JOSHUA LAWRENCE CHAMBERLAIN THE CONFEDERATE STATES: REBEL SITUATION AND KEY FIGURES • In early 1862, things looked bleak for the Confederacy, but fortunes turned quickly when the man most responsible for keeping the Confederacy afloat, Robert E. Lee, took over the Army of Northern Virginia in June 1862. He repulsed George B. McClellan at the Seven Days Battles, embarrassed John Pope at Second Manassas, buried Ambrose Burnside at Fredericksburg, and dominated Joseph Hooker at Chancellorsville. With the Summer of 1863 approaching, Lee decides now to go North once more—his first attempt failed at Antietam in September 1862—and invade the Union to further demoralize the United States, but does so without “Stonewall” Jackson, Lee’s most aggressive lieutenant, who was died following Chancellorsville. PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES, JEFFERSON DAVIS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, COMMANDER GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE LIEUTENANT GENERAL JAMES LONGSTREET LIEUTENANT GENERAL RICHARD EWELL LIEUTENANT GENERAL AMBROSE POWELL HILL MAJOR GENERAL J. E. B. STUART MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE PICKETT BRIGADIER GENERAL LEWIS ARMISTEAD CONFEDERATE SPY HENRY HARRISON HELPFUL RESOURCES • Click here for examples of weaponry used by Union and Confederate forces. • Click here for detailed maps of the Battle of Gettysburg. • Click here for an explanation of military groupings and organization. • Click here for information regarding the diet of Union and Confederate soldiers. • Click here for examples of the notorious “Rebel Yell.” .

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Lee's Mistake: Learning from the Decision to Order Pickett's Charge
Defense Number 54 A publication of the Center for Technology and National Security Policy A U G U S T 2 0 0 6 National Defense University Horizons Lee’s Mistake: Learning from the Decision to Order Pickett’s Charge by David C. Gompert and Richard L. Kugler I think that this is the strongest position on which Robert E. Lee is widely and rightly regarded as one of the fin- to fight a battle that I ever saw. est generals in history. Yet on July 3, 1863, the third day of the Battle — Winfield Scott Hancock, surveying his position of Gettysburg, he ordered a frontal assault across a mile of open field on Cemetery Ridge against the strong center of the Union line. The stunning Confederate It is my opinion that no 15,000 men ever arrayed defeat that ensued produced heavier casualties than Lee’s army could for battle can take that position. afford and abruptly ended its invasion of the North. That the Army of Northern Virginia could fight on for 2 more years after Gettysburg was — James Longstreet to Robert E. Lee, surveying a tribute to Lee’s abilities.1 While Lee’s disciples defended his decision Hancock’s position vigorously—they blamed James Longstreet, the corps commander in This is a desperate thing to attempt. charge of the attack, for desultory execution—historians and military — Richard Garnett to Lewis Armistead, analysts agree that it was a mistake. For whatever reason, Lee was reti- prior to Pickett’s Charge cent about his reasoning at the time and later.2 The fault is entirely my own.
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