Michael Shaara’s historical novel Bulky Angels is about the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. The book is written from the perspective of the fighting people and shares their thoughts and feelings about the battle as follows.
The book begins on June 29, 1863, with a scout from the Confederate army reporting to them about the local Union army. Two of the Confederate generals, James Longstreet and Robert E. Lee, are skeptical at first, but then believe what the scout says they saw and begin to move Confederate forces toward Gettysburg. A battle begins on the morning of June 30 between a group of Union cavalry and a few Confederate infantry. Confederate soldiers begin the attack, believing that the Union soldiers are only a state militia. On July 1, the Union soldiers are outnumbered and fear that reinforcements will not arrive soon enough. Union aid arrives in time, but General Reynolds, the nearest Union soldier to arrive, is killed and the troops must attack without a leader. Robert E. Lee arrives at Gettysburg and observes the battle; he is informed by General Heth, who was leading a group of soldiers, how the battle began and what had happened so far. Lee instructs Heth to continue the attack with another leader. Later, Lee is informed that Heth is injured and that the Union army is fighting better than he has fought before. The Union army was driven back by the Confederates and retreated to the nearby hills. General Lee advises another general to pursue and capture the mountains as well, but fearing an attack, he does not follow the general forces to the Union hills. Longstreet tries to convince Lee to move the Confederate forces south and block the Union forces in the capitol, but Lee sees the action as refusing to retreat.
On July 2, General Lee ordered Confederate forces to attack Union forces in the hills. When the troops reach the hills, they see that the Union troops are moving near one of the hills to the orchard and they are not where they thought they were. Longstreet decides that it is too late for General Lee and thinks that Lee’s decision to attack is still there, so Longstreet tells the other generals to attack.
Meanwhile, the Union army moved a group of soldiers led by Colonel Chamberlain to the left edge of the Union line. They were instructed not to return a foot for any reason. Some time after their position, they were attacked by the Confederate forces. They hold off the first wave of soldiers, but are followed by another wave. Every wave of Confederates is driven off by another, and the Union soldiers begin to run from the fortifications. When they were low enough that they could not retreat into the fortifications another wave of Union troops charged. towards the hill of the confederates with their bayonets.
On the morning of the 3rd of August, the Union forces moved from Chamberlain to the center of the Union line so that they could rest on the field without a fight. However, Lee’s plan is to attack the center of the Union line, he tells Longstreet of the plan, and Longstreet disagrees by continuing to propose that he move between the Union and the Capitol. Lee rejects Longstreet’s advice and orders him to prepare for an attack. Meanwhile, General Ewell’s forces were attacked by the Union army as they prepared to attack.
After the Union line was attacked by Confederate artillery, they began to march toward the center of the Union line. Confederate soldiers were hit by Union artillery and many soldiers died. Few of the Confederate soldiers made it to the Union line, and those who got there were soon killed. Lee was brought into the battle and told the soldiers that the loss was his fault, although they did not accept it, and they said it was not his fault. The Union fire ceased and the Confederates withdrew. Longstreet told Lee that he did not think he could win the war after that battle, and Lee neither agreed nor disagreed.
The book is connected with the historical events of the time because it is about civil war and the battle of Gettysburg. New aids bring more understanding of war, and what is being fought and why. each of them decides in war for certain reasons.
I enjoyed how the book put people’s thoughts on the line instead of just presenting the facts. It was useful to use the thoughts of the soldiers to understand the reasoning behind the attack they made on the road. Without the thoughts and opinions of the soldiers, some of the choices would not have made as much sense. The arguments between the notes on how to go about the attack was also interesting because I could understand why an option that was decided on other resources was chosen. The way correctly done with poetry information to increase understanding was useful in reading. I found it interesting to watch foreign war with foreign hosts; I did not know how to read this book before. I learned a lot more about both the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg by reading this.
