"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
-Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863
A friend loaned me this book some time ago, so long that I can only guess who it was. It was someone who knew I was a fan of American history and very interested in both Revolutionary times and the Civil War. With my first trip to Gettysburg coming up in October, I decided it was high time I brushed up on the battle. The Killer Angels was not an easy read but it was transformative for me, giving me a real sense of what that fight meant to the actual people involved.
The story of the 4-day engagement at Gettysburg, arguably the most important battle of the Civil War, is told mostly by Generals Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet and Lewis Armistead on the Confederate side and General John Buford and Colonel Lawrence Chamberlain of the Union, in alternating chapters. I would not profess to understand all the military strategies and maneuvers outlined in the book but I feel I came to know some of the characters intimately. Historic figures I had read about in history books became very human and very REAL. I found myself almost feeling Lee's chest pains and Longstreet's agony over the loss of his children. And though I am a GRITS (Girl Raised In The South) I was sympathetic to Buford and Chamberlain, as well.
The novel seems VERY well-researched, with many maps showing placements of regiments/units/brigades (I have no idea what the differences are!) at the various stages of the battle. I found the maps difficult to figure out but I think I will take the book along on my trip and see if they mean more after a visit to that hallowed ground. The writer's style is very descriptive, even poetic at times. Much of what the characters thought and said was so profound I couldn't choose just one to quote, so I went with Lincoln's famous speech of dedication.
There were some humorous parts, mostly provided by Fremantle, a British volunteer among the Confederates, who thinks the Southern fellows are so like the English and predicts eminent victory for the South. I was surprised when Armistead welcomed Fremantle to "Lee's Miserables," named by an officer who read Hugo's novel by a similar name. I had never heard that before.
Needless to say, the last part of the book was very intense. One did not have to understand all the military aspects to be emotionally involved in the action and horrified by the results. I will give this one a 5, not because I really enjoyed it but because I am so glad I read it!
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