The Killer Angels: Part 2

by Michael Shaara
This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel explores the four turbulent days of the Battle of Gettysburg, a decisive moment in the American Civil War.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. tethered
    confined or restricted with or as if with a rope or chain
    He walked slowly to the rail where the horses were tethered: gentle Traveler, skittish Lucy Long.
  2. reverent
    feeling or showing profound respect or veneration
    A bareheaded boy stood in reverent silence, black hat clutched to his breast.
  3. inconsolable
    sad beyond comforting
    The great cold message had come in the spring, and Lee carried it inside him every moment of every day and all through the nights—that endless, breathless, inconsolable alarm: there is not much time, beware, prepare.
  4. requisition
    demand and take for use or service
    Taylor squinted upward at a lightening sky, “I expect he’s already under way. He advises me that there is a shoe factory in the town and his men intend to, ah, requisition some footgear.”
  5. militia
    civilians trained as soldiers, not part of the regular army
    General Hill says he expects no opposition but perhaps some local militia, with shotguns and such.
  6. forsake
    leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
    “Mrs. Pender is, ah, a pious woman, and she believes that now that we have invaded Pennsylvania we are in the wrong, and God has forsaken us—you know how these people reason, sir—and she says she cannot pray for him.”
  7. converge
    move or draw together at a certain location
    The roads all converged, weblike, to Gettysburg.
  8. mottled
    having spots or patches of color
    Out on the road the troops were moving in a great mottled stream: Longstreet’s First Corps, the backbone of the army, moving up behind Powell Hill.
  9. ludicrous
    inviting ridicule
    Lee looked, saw the ludicrous man in the lustrous hat and the wide gray coat.
  10. quixotic
    not sensible about practical matters
    The man made a sweeping, quixotic bow, nearly falling from the horse.
    This adjective comes from the classic novel, "Don Quixote," which is about an old knight who sees things and lives in his own world.
  11. deprecate
    express strong disapproval of; deplore
    Lee smiled, waved a deprecating hand.
    Compare with "reproach" in this list--although this example sentence seems to suggest the opposite, both words connect to disapproval. "Deprecate" has a similar synonym in "depreciate" while reproach has a similar-sounding antonym in "rapprochement" which means "reestablishment of cordial relations, as between two governments or factions."
  12. reproach
    express criticism towards
    “Reproach, I think. I must let him know how badly he has let us down.”
  13. docile
    easily handled or managed
    “Different men, different methods. Docile men make very poor soldiers.”
  14. astride
    with one leg on each side
    He rode off with Venable and then, moving in out of the night to greet him, saw old Isaac Trimble, astride a pale horse, fiery old Isaac.
  15. volley
    rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms
    Then a small volley, a spattering.
  16. flank
    the side of military or naval formation
    Buford listened for the scattered fire of patrols coming in, moving along his flanks, outlining him, but there was nothing.
  17. battery
    a group of guns or missile launchers operated together
    He heard the first cannon: Calef’s Battery opening up down the road, grinned again.
  18. repulse
    force or drive back
    Heth’s Division had formed on a front about a mile, had obviously been repulsed.
  19. immaculate
    completely neat and clean
    An immaculate man, tidy as a photograph, soft-voiced, almost elegant.
  20. maneuver
    perform a movement in military or naval tactics
    Lee said, “If we do not withdraw, and if we do not maneuver in the face of the enemy, then we must attack. There is no other alternative.”
  21. dispatch
    an official report, usually sent in haste
    “We will establish temporary headquarters here. All dispatches to this place.”
  22. disengage
    become free
    Lee was thinking: how do we disengage? how do we fall back? where do we hold until Longstreet comes up?
    In combat, "disengage" means to "become free" from the enemy. Compare with "engagement" in the list for Part 1.
  23. perplexed
    full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment
    He had never been impulsive, like Hill; there was even at this moment something grave and perplexed about him, a studious bewilderment.
  24. implacable
    incapable of being appeased or pacified
    “If Meade is there,” Longstreet said implacably, “it is because he wants you to attack him.”
    The Latin "placare" means "to calm"--an implacable enemy is one who is too intense and severe to calmly sit and negotiate terms for peace.
  25. unfathomable
    impossible to come to understand
    Little humor but sometimes the door opened and you saw the warmth within a long way off, a certain sadness, a slow, remote, unfathomable quality as if the man wanted to be closer to the world but did not know how.
  26. oration
    an instance of formal speaking
    And Chamberlain had gone on to school to make an oration on the subject: Man, the Killer Angel.
    The Latin "orare" means "to speak"--an oration is a formal speech; oratory is the art of formal, public speaking (see "rhetoric" in the list for Part 1); an oratorio is a musical composition that narrates a sacred story with both voices and instruments.
  27. forlorn
    marked by or showing hopelessness
    Sound of troops at route step, shuffle in the dust, dull clink of mess kits, a band in the distance, tinny, forlorn, raw call of a cow in the sunlight.
  28. bivouac
    temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
    At dark, word came forward to go into bivouac.
  29. blunder
    commit a faux pas or a fault or make a serious mistake
    Now there were rumors: a terrible defeat, someone had blundered, two hundred thousand Rebs, the Eleventh Corps had deserted.
  30. discordant
    lacking in harmony
    There was a fire far off, a large fire in a grove of trees, men outlined against a great glare; a band was playing something discordant, unrecognizable.
  31. profound
    of the greatest intensity; complete
    Longstreet felt a depression so profound it deadened him.
  32. contagious
    easily diffused or spread as from one person to another
    Longstreet lectured himself: depression is contagious; keep it to yourself.
  33. induce
    cause to act in a specified manner
    “If Longstreet can be induced to attack on the right, we can give you this hill tomorrow by sundown.”
  34. deference
    courteous regard for people's feelings
    The strange beaked figure waited with deference.
    Compare this noun with the adjective "reverent" in this list--both words connect to respect, but reverence is more deeply felt, while deference is sometimes simply a show.
  35. precedence
    status established in order of importance or urgency
    A major was giving a lecture on military precedence: Howard could not be relieved except by written order or by Meade in person.
Created on Sat Feb 15 14:06:35 EST 2014 (updated Thu Aug 16 14:31:27 EDT 2018)

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