Robert E. Lee’s Dominating Role in Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels

The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest engagement in American history, and the turning point in The Civil War. The South was at the height of its power. Robert E. Lee had led the army of Northern Virginia through a string of defensive victories leading up to the summer of 1863. Inspired by past successes, General Lee would bring his army of 70,000 men across the Potomac and onto Union soil. By going on the offensive for the first time in the war, Lee hoped “to draw the Union Army out into the open,” (xv) and force a military engagement.
Michael Shaara’s historical novel, The Killer Angels, depicts the Battle of Gettysburg from the perspective of Robert E. Lee and other Confederate and Union military leaders. Through the use of first person perspective, Shaara is able to explore what motivated Lee, Longstreet, Chamberlain, and others during the battle. Shaara’s novel is arranged to highlight the importance of generalship in determining the outcome of Gettysburg and the Ci...