The Killer Angels

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1974

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Foreword-Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

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Themes

The Role of God in War

One theme found within The Killer Angels is that of faith and reliance on God’s will, acknowledging that everything is in His control. Lee is particularly religious, always seeking God’s hand in what he does and what happens throughout the battle. When he thinks about Ewell and Early being new to their commands, he believes that it’s “all in God’s hands” (96). When he feels frustrated because his commanders are not working well together, he relinquishes control: “It was all in God’s hands […] God has decreed a fight here” (100). Later, Lee hears a bit of good news about a Union corps retreating. The narrator says that he “closed his eyes once briefly. God’s will. My trust in Thee. Oh Lord, Bless You and thank You” (104). In a discussion with Longstreet, Lee says, “The issue is in God’s hands. We will live with His decision, whichever way it goes” (182). When trying to plan his attack, Lee prays for confirmation and knows that “this was the way, as God would have it” (257). Before sending Longstreet’s division into the final doomed charge, Lee justifies his choice by saying, “Well, we have left nothing undone. It is all in the hands of God” (287). These examples illustrate Lee’s focus on doing what he believes God wants, even if it means defeat.

Lee also uses prayer to help him through difficult situations throughout the book. On the first day of the battle, the narrator says of Lee, “He bowed his head and prayed once quickly, then was able to relax and compose himself” (95). Not long after, when Lee sees the dead on the battlefield, he thinks of his wounded son and, the narrator says, he “closed his eyes, prayed for his boy; for all of them” (101). The most powerful example of prayer occurs the night before the final day of the battle. Lee has felt conflicted over what to do, knowing that he wants to end the war as soon as possible even if his commanders disagree with his methods of achieving it. In Traveler’s pasture, the narrator says, he “knelt and began to pray. His engineer’s mind went on thinking while he prayed. He could find no flaw. […] By the end of the prayer he was certain: he felt a releasing thrill. […] The weight of it was gone” (257). Prayer is a balm for the old general, and it provides him with ample comfort and peace when everything around him is in conflict.

Armistead also demonstrates strong faith and dependence on God. When reflecting on his oath that God should strike him dead if he raises arms against Hancock, he, too, acknowledges that “it is all in His hands” (302). He likewise uses prayer when heading into the final Confederate charge. In particular, he prays for Garnett, as he knows Garnett wants to die honorably in battle to help erase the stain Jackson’s court-martial left on his reputation. Shaara writes, “Armistead closed his eyes, prayed silently. God protect [Garnett]. Let him have justice. Thy will be done. Armistead opened his eyes. Had not prayed for himself. Not yet. It was all out of his hands, all of it; there was nothing he could do about anything anywhere in the whole world” (305). Not only does Armistead seek God before battle, especially for the sake of his friend, but he also does so knowing that the outcome is out of his hands.

Longstreet creates a stark contrast to Lee and Armistead, having a negative outlook on God and His will. Riding alone outside Gettysburg, Longstreet thinks about the death of his children in Richmond, which causes him great pain. He thinks about God’s place in this situation. The narrator says that Longstreet “had not thought God would do a thing like that. He went to church and asked and there was no answer. He got down on his knees and pleaded but there was no answer” (121). Like Lee, Longstreet desires to know God’s will but cannot understand it in such a tragic situation. Later, the narrator says that he “remembered that day in church when he prayed from the soul and listened and knew in that moment that there was no one there, no one to listen” (241). His experience praying about the loss of his children has stayed with him and likely affects his faith in all aspects of his life. When Longstreet and Lee are discussing their plan to attack the Union’s center, Lee says that they have done all they can and that the rest is up to God. Longstreet thinks, “[I]t isn’t God that is sending those men up that hill” (287). He knows that the plan will fail, but he can no longer argue with Lee, nor does he have faith that God is anywhere near the battlefield.

The Power and Influence of Instinct

Another theme present throughout the novel is that of instinct, intuition, and premonition. As the battle begins to intensify on July 1, Lee notices that something about the situation is off. Shaara states, “Lee waited. It did not feel right. There was something heavy and dark and tight about the day, riding stiffly in the broad barren field, in harsh sunlight” (99). However, not long after, he says, “Lee’s instinct sensed opportunity” (100). So, one moment causes Lee to feel one thing, only for that feeling to be replaced by something different soon after. Later still, the narrator says that Lee “could begin to feel the weight of the Union Army, the massive blue force pouring his way” (105). At this point, Lee is still blind because of Stuart’s absence, but that doesn’t prevent him from knowing that the Union is present at Gettysburg and coming at him in full force.

Two other examples occur from Longstreet and Armistead, who are likewise sensitive not only to matters of faith but also to intuition and the unseen. Longstreet, even before the Confederacy is doomed with an impossible task, “smelled disaster like distant rain” (121). He tries adamantly to convince Lee of the error in his plan because he knows something is going to go wrong. This is similar to his feeling after the last charge that the Confederacy will never recover their loss that day and that they can no longer win the war; both, of course, turn out to be true.

Armistead, on the other hand, has a more personal connection with premonition. He feels that Garnett is doomed in the battle, but he also feels that something about his own fate is at stake. Before the final attack, Armistead says to General Pickett, “Here, George, send her this. My compliments” (301). He then gives Pickett a small ring, which he takes off one of his little fingers. A short time later, he reflects on why he did this, thinking, “I gave him the ring. Premonition? Well, many will die. I’m a bit old for war. Will do my duty. I come from a line…no more of that. No need of that now. An Armistead does his duty, so do we all. But I wish, I wish it was not Hancock atop that hill. I wish this was Virginia again, my own green country, my own black soil. I wish…the war was over” (303). This tragic reflection, along with the giving of his ring to Pickett, shows that Armistead knew his time was coming. Like the other military men in his family, he knows that he is going to do what he must for his country, but he also acknowledges that he wishes he were home and the war over.

Fighting for a Cause

War is always fought for a reason—what each side is fighting for as well as what each soldier is fighting for. In Part 1, Chapter 4, some of the Confederate commanders discuss the cause of the South. They tell Fremantle that the war isn’t about slavery but about the South’s ability to govern itself. Jim Kemper says, “[W]hat we are fighting for is our freedom from the rule of what is to us a foreign government. That’s all we want and that’s what this war is all about. We established this country in the first place with strong state governments just for that reason, to avoid a central tyranny” (61-62). Longstreet, however, feels differently, believing that “the Cause was Victory” (59), a much simpler reason to fight spoken by a brilliant career commander. Fremantle continues to think about this throughout the battle, especially when he considers Americans as Englishmen who have transplanted themselves. In considering the South and what they’re fighting for, Fremantle thinks, “But the point is [the South does] it all exactly as we do in Europe. And the North does not. That’s what the war is really about. The North has those huge bloody cities and a thousand religions, and the only aristocracy is the aristocracy of wealth” (156). Fremantle sees a clear connection between the Confederacy’s cause and what the English value, which explains his respect for it and those who fight to defend it.

The Union’s reasons are no less complicated. Chamberlain eloquently reflects on his outlook on race and the purpose of America when he tries to find a way to inspire the mutineers to join his regiment. In contrast to Fremantle, Chamberlain feels that slavery in America, “this incredibly beautiful new clean earth” (26), is appalling. But even worse, in his opinion, is “the horror of old Europe, the curse of nobility, which the South was transplanting to new soil. They were forming a new aristocracy, a new breed of glittering men” (26). Chamberlain fights for what he feels America represents and stands for, which is something new and wonderful: freedom and equality for all. Kilrain, on the other hand, doesn’t fight to free a race or anything so noble. He tells Chamberlain he’s “fighting for […] the right to prove I’m a better man than many […] No two things are equal or have an equal chance, not a leaf nor a tree” (170). Kilrain has a more cynical outlook on the causes of the Civil War, yet he still fights and ultimately loses his life in the defense of what matters to him.

By the end of the battle, the causes of both armies matter less than before it began. When Chamberlain looks out on the battlefield as night falls and the storm approaches, his brother questions why the Confederates would fight so hard for something like slavery. Chamberlain is startled by this comment and realizes that “[h]e had forgotten the Cause. When the guns began firing he had forgotten it completely. It seemed very strange now to think of morality” (329). Even the noblest causes are forgotten in the heat of battle. When the time comes, a soldier simply puts his head down and does his job, which is to fight.