Chamberlain: "There didn't seem to be any alternative."
Chamberlain's men were tired, hungry, and out of ammunition. It seems as if all the union had at Gettysburg was a great spot and some fierce determination. The Confederates were moving in on them the second day. Chamberlain yelled, "Fix bayonets! Charge! Fix bayonets! ..." He leaped down from the boulder, still screaming, his voice beginning to crack and give, and all around him his men were roaring animal screams..." p. 241. I was also moved by the description of Chamberlain running down the hill toward the Confederate soldier with his saber at the man's throat. Swiftly, the soldier hands him his sword and Chamberlain says, "The pistol too." The man surrendered and Chamberlain merely nodded his acceptance.
Here is the difference, Chamberlain leaped and went with his men in the second day battle. Longstreet went in behind his men in the same battle, but the next day when he knew it was hopeless he told his men good bye and sat near a tree. I am still impressed with Longstreet and the things he accomplished. I just think that at the battle of the third day, he should have talked stronger to Lee instead of sacrifice his men straight away. But then where would we be now?
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Tui,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your postings and look forward to reading them.
I agree, Longstreet should have tried harder, but I don't really know how hard he tried. It had to have been quite an emotional agonizing for him to realize that in the coming battle most of his men were going to be killed. I cannot imagine living with the knowledge and the aftermass.
Please remember that Michael Shaara is an author and his book is written as an entertaining version of the Battle of Gettysburg. I often wonder why other narratives of this great battle are very different than the perspective of Shaara. This is one of my favorite books, but I still compare it to other writings. If you read about Longstreet in this and other works, he became a "turn coat" to the South after the war which didn't make him very popular. Also, when in the Army, you make a suggestion to a superior officer and it is rejected, you just don't keep asking you FOLLOW orders. Where was Lee and Pickett? In the back watching. Another history records, "Rejoining Lee, he opposed attacking at Gettysburg in favor of maneuvering Meade out of his position. Longstreet, who had come to believe in the strategic offense and the tactical defense, was proven right when the Confederate attacks on the second and third days were repulsed." (http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/James_Longstreet.htm) Let's not be too critical of either side when most of our information is 2nd hand.
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