Summary:
In Killer Angels, many officers during the war followed under the rules that they must care for the well-being of their men, show physical courage, and must be willing to order the death of something you love for the good of the group.
The dictionary defines the word noble as dignified, decent, righteous, and splendid. In the quote by Churchill he describes the civil war as being the noblest of conflicts, but the only noble thing about it was the fight against slavery. The war was not just fought over slavery, but also regionalism, and for power. Right before the war every president except for Adams was from the South, but after the South started to loose power they decided to separate. So the war was fought not only for freedom of slavery, but also greed and power. The war was also not very noble because men were basically fighting their friends and sometimes even brothers. This whole issue of war broke up families and relationships that could never be mended again. Yet even though the war as a whole was fought for these reasons the men who fought in it had many different reasons and many were of noble causes. There were quite a lot of people during that war that had many different beliefs for what they fought for, and what they felt about the military.
Robert E. Lee was one of the most predominant leaders of the Confederate army. He never lost a battle in the war until the battle of Gettysburg, which he paid for dearly. Now Lee was a very devote man of God. He always placed everything in the hands of God. "God's will. My trust in Thee. Oh Lord, bless You and thank You." (P. 107) God was ultimately in control of everything. Lee fought did not fight for anything that started the conflict. "So it was no cause and no country he fought for, no ideal and no justice." (p .263) He fought for the thing he loved most people. "He fought for his people, for the children and the kin, and not even the land... the land was not even worth the war the people were." (p .263) Lee would agree with Churchill's statement because he knew for himself, Lee fought nobly because he fought for the people; the things that matter.
Right under Lee was Longstreet one of Lee's right hand men, but after the loss at Gettysburg Longstreet began to hate Lee. Now Longstreet was a very practical man. He figured that do have courage and no intelligence is stupid. "Honour without intelligence is a disaster." (p. 133) Longstreet most likely fought for states rights because he became an ambassador. Longstreet would agree because he fought for something just and moral.
Fremantle a British soldier was sent to observe the war for England on the confederate side. Fremantle being the some what arrogant and naïve British that he is believes that the war is fought over the return to the old ways of the English. "But the point is they do it all exactly as we do in Europe. And the North does not." (p. 164) He would feel the war is very noble because it is supporting going back to old ways of the British.
Chamberlain, a northerner, although not being extremely popular as Lee had been was still a very predominant man during the war. Chamberlain fought for the freedom of slaves. "But we're here for something new. I don't ...this hasn't happened much in the history of the world. We're an army going out to set other men free." (p. 30) He felt that in order to be a good officer he must love his men and show courage, he also would try to be as level with them as possible. He was a very kind and understanding man. He would agree with Churchill because to him the war was to free men from bondage and give them a chance in life like everyone else.
Buford another Yankee was a very good strategist. He had a way for finding good land to fight on. Buford fought for his state, Pennsylvania. He saved the war because of his ability to choose good ground. He would have thought that the war was a noble cause because he was fighting for the cause of many of the Union officers.
Kilrain one of Chamberlain's close men was a very fiery fighter. He only reason for fighting in the war was to see how much better he was than other people. "What I am fighting for is the right to prove I am a better man than many." (p. 178) He didn't have any other reason not even for the slaves. Kilrain did not respect the blacks at all and almost hated them. He would have disagreed with Churchill's statement because he was fighting for no cause what so ever it was just to prove that he was better.
Many officers during the war followed under the rules that you must care for your men's welfare, show physical courage and in order to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love. Chamberlain cared for his men's welfare because understood them. When he received a bunch of men who he was suppose to kill if they didn't obey, but Chamberlain said he never would kill them, but instead he took them fed them and gave them a choice. (p. 30) All the Southern generals such as Armistead, Pickett, Lee, and Longstreet at Pickett's Charge had to show great courage because they knew many people would die, but they had to show courage so that the men would follow and not loose heart. These same men also were good officers because they had to be willing to kill what you love. They know that many men will die in any battle, but they had to have the courage to send them to their death, in order to accomplish things. The officers on both sides had to show all these attributes because that is what made them great.
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