Characterizations, personal relationships, the Cause, emotional attitudes, and beliefs make up the bulk of this chapter.
Longstreet is a deeply emotional man who is trying not to be. He tries not to care too much for his men, but is motherly. He tries not to think of his children and wife, but is overwhelmed with pain. He avoids taking a drink and playing cards with his men, but wants to do both. And he tries to be easy and open with Armistead but is jealous of Armistead's close friendship with Hancock.
He is a romantic. Seeing a falling star, he remembers counting stars at midnight in a pasture with a girl, wondering if she loved him. At the end of the chapter, the falling stars turn to rain, a reflection on Longstreet's life. The past held happiness, joy, life, and connection. The present is loneliness, alienation, death, responsibility, and pain. And all of this is coupled with Longstreet's opposition to fighting an offensive battle, and a gut sense that this whole invasion and approach is a deadly mistake. His sense of foreboding is strong.
