Generals make the plans, but soldiers must go out and win the battles—often at an unimaginable cost. Drawing on an immense range of sources, Alexander Rose delves into 18th-century warfare at Bunker Hill, the bloodiest clash of the War of Independence, revealing why the American militiamen were so lethally effective. Focusing on Gettysburg, Rose describes a typical Civil War infantry action, explaining what Union and Confederate soldiers experienced before, during, and after combat. Finally, he shows how in 1945 the Marine Corps hurled itself at the island of Iwo Jima, where nearly a third of all Marines killed in World War II would die.