The Killer Angels Book Report

The Killer Angels is a historical Civil War novel by Michael Shaara. The book follows the three day battle of Gettysburg, switching points of view from the generals of the North to the Generals from the South. In the beginning of the novel the Spy, sent out by General Longstreet reports back findings of Northern troops moving prompting General Lee to take action. Though he does not believe the spy, he has no choice but to take the spies word and begins to move the troops towards a small town called Gettysburg. Thus begins his second invasion of the North. With the Southern Troops riding high on morale, a high success rate was predicted. The South was convinced that they were going to succeed, they had their favorite General with them who had never lost them a battle. This was a move they hope
He messed up at Brandy Station despite this and was anxious to redeem himself, thinking that Gettysburg could provide a way to restore his honor which was a big thing with the South. General Lee had given him orders to guard the mountain which he tried to, but his path was blocked by the Union army forcing him to veer further away and as a result was unable to report back to General Ewell. So the Confederacy was practically blind. All of these little mistakes and missed opportunities hurt the South and lost them Gettysburg. The missed opportunity of Gettysburg was what lost them the war though they did not realize it at the time.
The Confederates after losing Gettysburg began to realize that a win might not be possible now and began to hope for a tie at best. They had lost so many of their soldiers at Gettysburg. Gettysburg ended up being a real turning point for the South, it also ended up being the last battle the South was able to fight on Northern Territory. Gettysburg marked the beginning of a gradually decline in Southern military