In our latest reading, Killer Angels, we were introduced to a few major characters in the Civil War and in the Battle of Gettysburg. The Confederate men are Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet. The Union men are Joshua Chamberlain and John Buford. All of these men have different viewpoints on how war should be fought and are all interesting and unique in their way of thinking.
Robert E. Lee was a Calvinist, meaning that he took Christianity even more seriously than the Catholics. He also was very moral because of this upbringing and believed that men should be focused at all times not chasing after women, drinking, or smoking. His main strategy was to always be on the offensive. He also believed that to win a battle, men would obviously have to lose their lives, but Lee did not necessarily care how many were killed as long as victory was achieved.
James Longstreet was almost completely different in strategy than Lee. He believed that the best defense would win a battle. Entrenching the men and holding a set position would be the keys to victory. He also believed strongly in a person's right to live and that their lives were not expendable. This can be related to the fact that he had lost three children already and could not stand seeing more people die needlessly.
Joshua Chamberlain should not have been in the war at all. He was a professor of rhetoric at Bowdoin College in Maine. Chamberlain had no experience whatsoever in military strategy but he was charismatic and was able to rally people. The best example of his charisma is when he is faced with 120 deserters from the Union Army. The all happened to be from Maine, Chamberlain's home so Chamberlain had a little bias towards their well being. He also displays his social upbringing as he treats the men fairly and gives them the choice to fight with the Union or be held prisoner.
John Buford was a cavalry commander for the Union Army. Buford believed that cavalry was only good for transportation and were obsolete in battle. As soon as the men reached their position, they were to dismount and fight on foot. In the first few chapters of Killer Angels, Buford has moved his men into the town of Gettysburg and has chased of Confederate Infantry commanded by A.P. Hill. This act allowed the Union army to gain control of the high ground which would play a pivotal role in the battle.
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5 comments:
Ummmmm....really nothing to comment on here. You basically just gave a summary of the characters that we talked about in class. I do think that all of these different view points make for an interesting way of seeing war.
I agree with paul; your blog didn't state anything I didn't already know. Maybe if you had talked about the difference between the union and confederate leaders i would have found this to be different, but you didn't. Overall i think you need to take a step back and look at these leaders as how they would have acted in the actual war, not just as characters in a book.
I'll toss something out there on the comment-unfriendly blog... heheh
I don't think Lee didn't care about men's lives. I think he figured the best way to win was to attack and attack a lot. Sure, lots of people could and would die in the attacks but he figured the more they attacked the quicker they'd win the war and the quicker they won the war the less men would die overall.
I agree with Ed. Maybe Lee didn't think of it as blindly attacking but rather as a quick and fierce attack. Who knows, it just seems like he might have had more success if he had played it out a little more defensively.
Acton, While everything you said, like Paul and Sammy pointed out, is repetitive, it is very detailed and very good for our knowledge and use throughout the readings. And I do think that the variation in views is what contributed to a very close, long war.
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