defend or attack...

I'm reading the book Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara right now. It is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel about the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Well researched, well writtin and just plain, well done, this book is a must for any history buff interested in the forming of the United States of America.

The first several chapters of the book are dedicated to introducing the reader to the main characters present at Gettysburg. There is Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, and J.E.B. Stuart of the South and John Reynolds, John Buford and George Meade of the North, among a host of other notable generals and officers. Some of these officers were graduates of West Point, most famously Robert E. Lee and John Reynolds (who both garduated at the top of their respective classes), but others are ordinary men who have risen through the ranks, many of whom were battle tested in the US-Mexican War. Their stories are intriguing and interesting, so much so that I look forward to reading more detailed accounts of these officers in the book (also turned moveie) Gods and Generals, by Jeff Shaara.

Gettysburg was, I think, the bloodiest three days of fighting the US has ever seen, where more than 50,000 US soldiers died in those three days alone. To put that in perspective, 58,000 US soldiers died during the whole Vietnam War, which spanned more than eight years. Generals and enlisted men alike were put to tests of will and courage I will never know.

I did a bike tour once of the Gettysburg battlefield. It's a beautiful scene and horrible at the same time. Having grown up in Pennsylvania I knew of the wonderful rolling hills and glorious farmlands scattered all through the state. Gettysburg is much the same. Riding a bike through places like the Devil's Den, Little Ruund Top and Cemetary Ridge, I had no idea at the time the significance of this battle. Reading Killer Angels has opened my eyes.

I'm sure I will enter a few more blogs about this since it's captured my attention so vividly over the past week or so, but I will leave with two interesting points. First, Robert E. Lee attacked the "north" mainly because Virginia has been so devastated by the war - the ground literally needed time to recover. Confederate troops were underfed and undersupplied, mainy because the physical assets of the territory were demolished. There was no livlihood left. So, the battle went north, even if only 50 miles from the Mason-Dixon line.

Second and more profound is Shaara's account of the internal torment Lee experienced during the war against Federal Troops, but magnified in Gettysburg. As a graduate of the US Military Academy, a seasoned veteran of war, Lee had given his oath to protect the very country he was trying to overthrow. He was not the only one. But Lee was different. He was a Godly man, sharp, honest, humble. It literally caused him pain deep within his heart at what was unfolding before his eyes. Shaara has a great passage telling of the torment...

"...he put his hand to his chest...Lee felt a deeper spasm, like a black stain. I swore to defend. Now I invade. A soldier, no theologian. God, let it be over soon. While there's time to play with grandchildren... he moved to the map table. The guilt stayed with him, ineradicable, like the silent alarm in his fragile chest. Swore to defend. Misty matters. Get on with the fight."

The battle would last three days... more to come.