Buford is an experienced soldier who has served out West. He has learned much from the Indians about guerilla warfare and doesn’t place much emphasis on the glorious cavalry charges and other noble practices popular at that time. He is concerned with preserving the men of his unit and keeping the advantage of high ground for his army. Buford also has the vision to assess the situation and instinctively know what needs to happen to win. He is good at what he does, and just does it.
Buford doesn’t like Union leadership and prefers the openness and freedom of the Wyoming snows to being this close to desk generals. He is bitter that at Thorofare Gap he and 3,000 men held out against Longstreet’s 25,000 for six hours, waiting for help that never came. He has little faith in the Union generals and fears that help will not come in time.
Buford’s disdain toward Southern society is obvious. He is no fan of courtly society or knightly warfare. His western army experience makes him a pragmatic commander interested in using the best and correct tactics for a situation, not ones designed for glory and honor.
The topic of good ground comes up again and again, and it is important to both the Union and to Lee. The owner of the high ground has the advantage, and that advantage can mean the difference between victory and loss, life and death. In the novel, Shaara shows Buford wanting this ground at all costs. This desire may not have been as strong an issue in reality. Buford did want the good ground if the Union decided to fight there. However, Gettysburg was not the only good ground in the area on which to fight. Meade had already selected an area near Pipe Creek as a possible alternative for battle. If the Confederates had captured the high ground at Gettysburg, it is likely that Meade never would have engaged them there.
The image of the white angel surfaces again later as the story and battle progresses. For now, Buford notices the white angel statue in the cemetery, with its arms reaching up to heaven. Near the end of the battle, Shaara shows us this angel again and what has happened to it. It is a symbol for the level of destruction to come.
