The Killer Angels

As the new day dawns, Chamberlain walks among his men asking how they are doing. He returns to his camp and sits alone under a tree. Kilrain approaches and takes him to an injured Black man some of the soldiers have found. He was shot by a woman in Gettysburg when he came into town to ask for directions. Chamberlain orders a surgeon to assess his injury. The soldiers give him food and coffee. Tom comes to tell his brother that the corps will be moving soon, and Chamberlain realizes that they might be moving into battle. Chamberlain orders the surgeon to bandage the Black man, give him food rations, and leave him be.

Soon after, Colonel Vincent arrives and tells Chamberlain his regiment will likely be held back as reserves, which pleases Chamberlain because it means they’ll go right to where they are needed. He raises his sword and orders his men to advance. They march through farms, fields, orchards, and up and down rises. A cannon sounds in the distance before the regiment is ordered to stop and rest. A courier soon brings a message from Meade that Chamberlain reads to his men. It is a reminder that any man who fails in his duty will be shot. After this unsettling message and a discussion about the Black race with Kilrain, Chamberlain listens to the sound of distant guns and awaits the order to move out.

Longstreet, with Lee and some other generals and officers, is looking at a map on a makeshift table made from a door. They study the Union’s position, which makes the shape of a fishhook around Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill with Cemetery Ridge as the straight shaft of the hook. Longstreet moves off to sit alone, trying to overcome his doubts about Lee’s plan. Taylor arrives and tells Longstreet that Lee wishes to speak with him. Longstreet finds Lee near the seminary, and Lee says that there are at least three Union corps on the left, so Ewell and Early think attacking the right will help them take the hills. Longstreet disagrees but no longer argues with Lee, knowing that he has made up his mind. Lee continues to emphasize that they must attack based on their situation, and as he waits for Longstreet to agree, Longstreet remains silent. After a moment, Lee orders Longstreet to attack the right with the 1st Corps. Longstreet says that he’ll need an hour for another brigade to get into position to support his men.

They move back to the map, and Lee gives his orders to the waiting generals. Each man returns to his unit to get into position. Longstreet and Hood walk together for a few minutes, and Hood speaks about how tired his men are from the heat and marching. They part with a handshake, and Longstreet goes to his men and orders Captain Johnston to move the corps undetected to the Union’s flank to the south.

Longstreet then hears cheering behind him, so he turns and sees Lee riding toward him. As they ride together, they begin to feel the anticipation of the battle. They talk about serving in the Mexican War, being reminded that some of the men they served with are on the other side of the battlefield. Longstreet says how difficult it is to fight the men he used to command. Lee, on the other hand, talks about his illness, causing a strong affection in Longstreet for the gentle, aging general. Lee says that he always expects Longstreet to tell him the truth and that he wants Gettysburg to be the last battle of the war. At this point, a courier arrives and tells the generals that the Union is moving troops to Little Round Top, a hill south of Gettysburg and Cemetery Hill. After the courier leaves, Lee wishes Longstreet well and rides away.

At about one o’clock in the afternoon, Johnston returns to Longstreet and reports that if they continue down this road, the Union will see them. When Longstreet confirms this, he orders the corps to turn around. Longstreet’s anger at Stuart grows since his cavalry could have prevented this mistake. Longstreet moves his men north before curving around and heading south behind the protection of Seminary Ridge between them and the Union forces. Fremantle appears, so Longstreet suggests that he find a tree to watch from. Fremantle wishes the general luck and rides away. Longstreet now receives a message from Hood, explaining that he can’t attack as ordered and requesting to move to the Union’s rear. Longstreet has already thought of this and argued for it with Lee.

The time is now almost four o’clock, and Longstreet realizes that the Union has moved, creating an opening for the Rebels to attack Little Round Top. Longstreet tells the messenger to order Hood to attack as planned. A short time later, another messenger arrives, begging Longstreet to go to Hood to see the poor ground for himself. He does, noting that the ground has low visibility and large boulders and is at the bottom of the hill; the area is aptly called Devil’s Den. Longstreet tells Hood that he can see the problem, but he can’t go against the commanding general. Hood resolves to get to work, and Longstreet returns to his position. After a brief pause, he hears Hood’s guns begin. Longstreet waits to send his men in, allowing the Union to be drawn to the initial fight, trapping them between his and Hood’s units. Finally, Longstreet sounds the advance, and his fight begins.

Still in the field where his regiment was ordered to rest, Chamberlain hears cannons firing and sits up. It is almost four o’clock, and Colonel Vincent arrives and orders Chamberlain to form his regiment. He lines his men up with the rest of the brigade and waits for further orders. Vincent soon returns and calls the men to columns of four, and they begin moving up Little Round Top. They are to defend a position left open when General Sickles moved his corps without orders, leaving the Union in a difficult position. Vincent orders them to double time, and they reach high enough on the hill that Chamberlain can see across the valley. They go down the other side into the deep woods. Vincent orders Chamberlain to hold this spot among the rocks and trees. Chamberlain is now the far left of the line. He must hold his position under any circumstances to prevent the Union Army from being flanked.

The spirits of the men are high, and three of the six remaining mutineers agree to fight. Chamberlain hears firing getting louder and closer, so he walks down his line, awaiting the Rebel attack. He hears the regiment to his right begin to engage, so he orders his men to fire at will. The Rebels come out of the dark, and Chamberlain’s lines bursts into gunfire. Rebel attacks come at his line repeatedly; they charge forward, pull back momentarily, and then advance again. A soldier takes Chamberlain onto a series of boulders, and he sees the Rebels advancing in small groups from cover to cover. As Chamberlain watches, he is hit in the foot and then in the hip, causing him to fall on the boulder each time. He can move, so he continues his work.

Chamberlain realizes the Rebels are flanking him, so he spreads his line and tells them to shift to the left at right angles, deepening their curve until they almost form a U. The Rebels continue their attacks. The line manages to hold against the barrage, but the Union troops are quickly running out of ammunition. Chamberlain orders the men to take ammunition from the wounded and fire carefully. He now learns that Vincent was killed at the beginning of the fight and that two other officers have been killed. He also learns that one-third of his regiment is dead or wounded, over 100 men. Chamberlain begins to question if they can hold against the onslaught, and some of his staff suggest that they pull out. Chamberlain explains that they must hold this position. He orders his regiment to fix their bayonets on their rifles and advance while swinging down to the right. He leads the advance of screaming Union soldiers and charges a Confederate officer, taking him prisoner. As he does so, he sees that the Confederate soldiers are running away, and those who aren’t running surrender. Eventually, the firing lessens, replaced by Union cheers.

With the action calming, Chamberlain goes to Kilrain, who has been wounded. As two officers take care of him, Kilrain tells Chamberlain that he’s never served under a better man and that he killed a Rebel aiming at Chamberlain. Chamberlain leaves Kilrain to rest and returns to the stone wall where his line had been positioned, seeing the aftermath of the attack. He promotes a wounded boy before he dies and continues to review the state of the brigade. He learns that his men faced four Confederate regiments of about 2,000 men, the Union has taken 500 prisoners, and 130 of his men are dead or wounded. Another colonel compliments Chamberlain’s work, and he realizes he has done something significant.

Not long after the attack, Chamberlain learns that General Warren wants him to move his regiment to Big Round Top to prevent another flanking maneuver. Chamberlain orders his men to move out and returns to Kilrain to say goodbye. The two men have been together since Chamberlain joined the army, and they part with a handshake. Chamberlain walks away, treasuring his moment of victory.

Longstreet is visiting Hood in the field hospital, seeing that Hood will likely live but lose the use of his left arm. Hood repeatedly says that he should have moved to the right, and Longstreet simply nods in response. When Hood asks questions about casualties and losses, Longstreet lies to him, making things sound better than they are. Not long after, Hood falls asleep, so Longstreet rides away, feeling a silent rage building within him; he knows that the army can no longer take Little Round Top. He orders one of his captains to spend the night scouting the Union’s position to prevent a countermarch like they had to do today, but the captain hesitates and explains that the men blame Longstreet for their loss. The captain knows that Longstreet tried to argue against Lee’s plan, and Longstreet feels gratitude for the captain’s loyalty.

Riding to Lee’s headquarters on Cashtown Road, Longstreet sees Sorrel who informs him that Hood has likely lost half of his men, about 8,000, in two hours. Another of his aides arrives and announces that Pickett has reached the field and requests to see Longstreet. He sends a reply that he will stop by Pickett’s camp soon, feeling instantly stronger with 5,000 fresh men on the field. When he arrives at Lee’s headquarters, he sees that it is crowded with soldiers, civilians, and reporters. Among the crowd is Stuart who is leaning on a fence. He continues through the crowd to Lee’s headquarters, and Lee comes out of the house showing great relief at seeing him. Stuart also approaches, and the three men enter the house, which is also crowded. Longstreet notices that Lee looks tired and unwell as they discuss their losses for the day, which include several generals and other officers. Longstreet informs Lee that the right is still open for an attack and that he has artillery for one more good fight. When Taylor pushes into the room to get information from Lee, Longstreet, unable to stand the crowd any longer, leaves the house to return when Lee is alone.

As he mounts, an officer grabs his reins and tells him that he has prepared papers to court martial Stuart, but Lee won’t sign them. Longstreet tells the officer that he will talk to Lee and rides away. He pauses and hears Fremantle calling to him. Fremantle is excited and lively, and as they ride together, he chatters about the day’s work. Eventually, they get into a discussion about tactics. Longstreet loses control of his thoughts and words but immediately feels he has been disloyal to Lee by disagreeing with some of his decisions. Fremantle leaves Longstreet alone in the dark.

Longstreet continues down the road to his camp where Sorrel gives him the losses for the day. He sees Pickett telling a humorous story around the campfire, but he also notices Garnett’s depressed look and Armistead’s concern for Garnett. Armistead joins Longstreet who has seated himself away from the group. Armistead tells him that Garnett is too ill to walk and requests that he send someone to examine him. Armistead also asks about Hancock, and Longstreet says that tomorrow might be a good day for the two friends to meet. They continue to talk, and at the end of their conversation, Armistead invites Longstreet to join the group. Longstreet wants to but knows that his presence will spoil their fun. In the end, he decides to have one drink with the others and is finally able to forget about the war.

Lee works through the night, resting between giving orders and contemplating his army’s situation. Eventually, he walks outside and sees the white cupola of the seminary, which Buford occupied previously. He goes to Traveler’s pasture and sits with him as he thinks about his options: stay and fight or retreat to better ground. He feels that he can’t retreat, as it would hurt the army’s morale, so his only option is to stay and fight. He must do so quickly as the Union Army will get stronger as more troops arrive whereas his army will only weaken.

Lee tells Stuart that several officers want him court-martialed. Stuart is shocked. Lee tells him that he has let the army down and forced them into a battle without knowing the enemy’s position or strength or the ground upon which they were to fight. Lee tells him that this must never happen again, but he refuses Stuart’s sword of resignation. Lee ends by saying that he needs Stuart and that he will talk no more of the situation. As Stuart walks away, Lee is aware that he might now make reckless decisions trying to make up for his mistake, but he’s also aware that a court martial would destroy him.

As Lee sits on the fence, one of his aides approaches and reports confusion in Ewell’s camp. Ewell is uncertain of himself and defers too much to Early. The aide also reports that Ewell was late to join Longstreet in the fight and that Early ordered his men to stop soon after they began fighting. Lastly, the aide reports that Rodes got stuck in the streets of Gettysburg, preventing him from fighting at all. Lee sends an order to Ewell to attack at first light then kneels and prays about his plan to stay and fight, feeling the weight of the decision lifting. He decides to stay in the pasture with Traveler, and he falls asleep thinking of what death must be like.