The Killer Angels Characters

Meet the Cast

Joshua Chamberlain

Professor of War Ladies and gentlemen, here he is: if there's a hero in this book, it's gotta be Joshua Chamberlain.The Killer Angels is all about the battle between North and South, and Chamberlai...

James Longstreet

Man of Misery In The Killer Angels, we see the Union perspective mainly through Colonel Chamberlain's eyes. But what about the Confederate perspective? Look no further than General James Longstreet...

Robert E. Lee

Man Behind the MythFor a long time, Lee was almost a mythical figure in the South: Superman, Southern style. He was considered the height of Southern nobility and gentility—the kind of aristocrat...

John Buford

Buford's cavalry troops are the first soldiers to intercept the Confederate Army. Although the South technically wins the first day of fighting—at least they kill more people—Buford makes sure...

Lewis Armistead

Armistead is yet another tragic Southern general. The big Pickett's Charge chapter focuses on his perspective, since he's the one Confederate officer whose troops make it the farthest. They actuall...

Arthur Fremantle

Fremantle may be English, but he's a total Southern fanboy. He even wrote a book, after Gettysburg, arguing that the South could still win the war. He's at Gettysburg on behalf of the British gover...

Buster Kilrain

Kilrain is the only fictional character in the whole book. He helps give a kind of streetwise Irish-American perspective on the war. He's not an abolitionist like Chamberlain—he's a scrappy, kind...

Harrison the Spy

No, not Harriet the spy—Harrison the spy. This raggedy, Shakespeare-quoting ex-actor shows up at the very beginning of the book. Posing as a farmer searching for a runaway wife, he spots the Unio...

Tom Chamberlain

Tom Chamberlain is Joshua Chamberlain's brother. He refers to Joshua Chamberlain by his middle name, Lawrence, which annoys his brother, since it sounds too familiar. Chamberlain wants Tom to speak...

George Pickett

General Pickett is a classic Southern cavalier—all perfume and curls and chivalry. Buster Kilrain probably wouldn't be down with this dude at all, since Southern aristocracy is the very thing he...

Minor Characters

Major Moxley SorrelSorrel is Longstreet's chief aide-de-camp, or assistant. He mainly serves as an information tool, stopping off to alert Longstreet to some new development or sitting around a cam...