The Killer Angels :: History, Battle of Gettysburg

THIS IS AN INTRODUCTION!!!!! The commanders that served under Lee were blinded by this admiration. â€Å"His presence is everywhere. They hush when he passes, like an Angel of the Lord.† (pg. 63) Even as he walks down the street people salute him, bow to him, praise him. â€Å"A Pennsylvania woman flirted, asked for is autograph.† (pg. 78) Within the army Lee is worshipped by all members, low and high. When something goes wrong they will find someway to avert the blame from Lee, even though it may have been his fault, to someone else. â€Å"They love him. They do not blame him. They do impossible things for him.† (pg. 250) On the second day of the battle, when everything goes horribly wrong for the Confederate Army, no one blames Lee for the loss. It was his idea to (what was his plan again..) and yet after it failed everyone took it out on Longstreet. As Goree says on page 240 â€Å"They can’t blame General Lee. Not no more. So they take it out on [Longstreet].† Although Lee is one of the most loved Generals of all time, I don’t think he enjoyed it all that much. On page 79 he says that â€Å"Fame came too late. I would have enjoyed it, if I were younger man.† The Confederate Army could, and probably should, have won the Battle of Gettysburg. They started off the battle by overpowering the Union Army on the first day. Everyone is in good spirits and feeling that â€Å"with every step of a soldier, with every tick of the clock, the army was gaining safety, closer to victory, closer to the dream of independence.† (pg. 110) With this in mind they charged into the second day. This is when everything went wrong. Lee’s plan was to â€Å"attack en echelon, to take Cemetery Hill in reverse.† (pg. 184) Although most of the Confederate Army was against the procedure and thought it wouldn’t work, no one could persuade Lee to change his mind. And so the army went ahead and attacked the Union Army following Lee’s plan. The battle raged on for hours and by the end the Confederate Army had suffered an unpleasant loss. If they had used a different strategy I think they could have won on the second day. By the third day, however, things are looking grim. Even Longstreet admits it when he is talking to Lee; â€Å"I have to tell you now, sir, that I believe this attack will fail.