ays, "He was not only to serve in it but he was to lead it, to make the plans,
and issue the orders to kill and burn and ruin...he could not do that" (Shaara
263). The Civil War is not in the taste of General Lee, but feels it is his duty, and
he cannot just stand by and watch the war pass him by. Michael Shaara says of
Lee's reason for fighting the Civil War ", He found that he had no choice...Lee
could not raise his hand against his own. And so what then? To stand by and do
nothing? It had nothing to do with causes; it was no longer a matter of vows"
(Shaara 263). Shaara, through his commentary on General Lee, explains that Lee
did not want to fight the war but had to. Lee felt it was his duty to fight for his
fellow countrymen, but not for a cause, land, or slavery. "So it was no cause and
no country he fought for, no ideal and no justice. He fought for his people, for the
children, and the kin, and not even the land, because the land was worth the war,
but the people were," General Lee says (Shaara 263). General Lee fights for
himself and has no choice but to fight, knowing in the end that he might be wrong
with his cause and pay the price someday. General Lee is not a proponent of war,
but he will serve his country with honor and duty if necessary.
A man of ideals and honor represent the character of Union Colonel Joshua
Chamberlain. Being a man of education, Chamberlain knows the demeaning and
repulsive nature of slavery and has come to fight to end it. Chamberlain hates the
whole idea of the Civil War and the death and destruction that goes along with it.
"I used my brother to plug a hole. Did it automatically as if he were expendable,"
says Chamberlain (Shaara 304). He hates the idea that men, including his brother,
are dying out in the fight for slavery. The only reason he believes in the Civil War
is that if he the North did not fig...