The omniscient viewpoint gives the author a way to communicate many details, something that would be difficult to do through the eyes of only one person. This approach also allows for a broader perspective to the whole story because you see it through the eyes of so many people. The changing viewpoints and locations make it an active structure, which serves to intensify the emotions of the reader.
Shaara selects four main people as the viewpoint characters and moves back and forth among them to progress the story. This approach builds tension and allows personal connections to be made with the characters. Their backgrounds, desires, beliefs, and fears are revealed, and you see how these things, set against the canvas of events, will affect decisions and actions in the story.
On the Confederate side he focuses on Lee and Longstreet, while on the Union side he focuses on Buford and Chamberlain. He adds a couple of additional viewpoints to round out the story, using the characters of Harrison, a Confederate spy, Armistead, one of the Confederate commanders under Pickett, and Fremantle, an English observer on the Confederate side.
The viewpoint characters selected have significance for a few reasons. First, they give the reader a view of the action from the different levels of command. Secondly, they let you see the battle from two different locations: the sidelines and the action. Shaara's alternating of character viewpoints and locations provides glimpses of the planning, reasoning, and strategy sessions, as well as the in-the-moment battle experiences.
