Joshua Chamberlain

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Joshua Chamberlain
September 8, 1828 – February 24, 1914

Bvt. Maj. Gen. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
Place of birth Brewer, Maine
Place of death Portland, Maine
Allegiance United States
Years of service 1861 – 1866
Rank Brevet Major General
Commands 20th Maine Infantry
1st Brigade, 1st Division, V Corps
Battles/wars American Civil War
Awards Medal of Honor
Other work Governor of Maine
President of Bowdoin College

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (September 8, 1828 – February 24, 1914) was a college professor who joined the Union Army without the benefit of any formal military education, and became a highly respected and decorated Union officer during the American Civil War, reaching the rank of brigadier general (and brevet major general). For his gallantry at Gettysburg, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was given the honor of commanding the Union troops at the surrender ceremony for the infantry of Robert E. Lee's Army at Appomattox, Virginia. After the war he served as a Republican Governor of Maine for four terms and served on the faculty and as president of his alma mater, Bowdoin College.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was born in Brewer, Maine, the eldest of five children. Chamberlain entered Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, in 1848 and graduated in 1852. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society, and a brother of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity.

He married Fanny Adams, daughter of a clergyman, in 1855, and they had five children, one of whom was born too prematurely to survive, and two of whom died in infancy. Chamberlain studied for three additional years at Bangor Theological Seminary in Bangor, Maine, returned to Bowdoin and began a career in education as a professor of rhetoric. He eventually went on to teach every subject in the curriculum but mathematics. Besides English, he was fluent in nine other languages: Greek, Latin, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Arabic, Hebrew, and Syriac.

[edit] Civil War service

Chamberlain's great-grandfathers were soldiers in the American Revolutionary War and his grandfather had served during the War of 1812. His father also had served during the abortive Aroostook War of 1839. Chamberlain himself was not trained in military science, but felt a strong desire to serve his country.

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Chamberlain wished to enlist, but the Bowdoin College administration felt that he was too valuable to the college faculty. Chamberlain was granted a leave of absence (supposedly to study languages for two years in Europe), but then promptly enlisted. Offered the colonelcy of the 20th Maine Regiment, he declined, according to his biographer, John J. Pullen, preferring to "start a little lower and learn the business first." He was made lieutenant colonel of the regiment on August 8. The 20th was part of the Union Army of the Potomac.

Chamberlain's regiment marched to the Battle of Antietam, but did not participate in the fighting. They fought at the subsequent battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, following which Chamberlain was promoted to colonel of the regiment in June 1863, upon the promotion of its first colonel, Adelbert Ames. One of Chamberlain's younger brothers, Thomas Chamberlain, was also an officer of the 20th Maine, and another, John Chamberlain, visited the regiment at Gettysburg as a member of the Christian Commission until appointed as a chaplain in another Maine Volunteer regiment.

[edit] Battle of Gettysburg

Chamberlain achieved fame at the Battle of Gettysburg, where his valiant defense of Little Round Top became the focus of many publications and stories. Sent to defend the southern slope of Little Round Top by Col. Strong Vincent, Chamberlain found himself and the 20th Maine at the far left end of the Union line, with the 83rd Pennsylvania, 44th New York, and 16th Michigan infantry regiments to their right. He quickly understood Vincent's insistence of the tactical significance of Little Round Top, and thus the need for the 20th Maine to hold the Union left at all cost. The men from Maine waited until troops from the 15th Alabama regiment (under Col. William C. Oates) charged up the hill, attempting to flank the Union position. Time and time again the Confederates struck, until the 20th Maine was almost doubled back upon itself. With many casualties and ammunition running low, Col. Chamberlain recognized the dire circumstances and ordered his left wing (which was now looking southeast, compared to the rest of the regiment, which was facing west) to initiate a bayonet charge. From his report of the day: "At that crisis, I ordered the bayonet. The word was enough."

The 20th Maine charged down the hill, with the left wing wheeling continually to make the charging line swing like a hinge, thus creating a simultaneous frontal assault and flanking maneuver, capturing many of the Confederate soldiers and successfully saving the flank. Chamberlain was slightly wounded in the foot at that battle by a spent bullet. For his tenacity at defending Little Round Top he was known by the sobriquet Lion of the Round Top. Later in 1863, he developed malaria and was taken off of active duty until he recovered.

[edit] Brigade command

In May 1864, Chamberlain returned to the Army of the Potomac and was promoted to brigade commander shortly before the Siege of Petersburg. There, in a major action June 18 at Rives' Salient, Chamberlain was shot through the right hip and groin. Despite the injury, Chamberlain withdrew his sword and stuck it into the ground in order to keep himself upright to dissuade the growing resolve for retreat. He stood upright for several minutes until he collapsed and lay unconscious from loss of blood. The wound was considered fatal by the division's surgeon, who predicted he would perish; Chamberlain's ostensible death in battle was reported in the Maine newspapers, and Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant gave Chamberlain a battlefield promotion to brigadier general. Not expected to live, Chamberlain displayed surprising will and courage, and was back in command by November. Although many, including his wife Fanny, urged Chamberlain to resign, he was determined to serve through the end of the war.

Given command of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division of V Corps, Chamberlain continued to act with courage and resolve. On March 29, 1865, Chamberlain's brigade participated in a major skirmish on the Quaker Road during Grant's final advance that would finish the war. Despite losses, another wound (in the left arm and chest), and nearly being captured, Chamberlain was successful and brevetted to the rank of major general by President Abraham Lincoln.

In all, Chamberlain served in twenty battles and numerous skirmishes, had six horses shot under him, and was wounded six times.

[edit] Receiving the Confederate surrender at Appomattox

On the morning of April 9, 1865, Chamberlain learned of the desire by Lee to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia when a Confederate staff officer approached him under a flag of truce. "Sir," he reported to Chamberlain, "I am from General John Gordon. General Lee desires a cessation of hostilities until he can hear from General Grant as to the proposed surrender." The next day, Chamberlain was summoned to Union headquarters where Major General Charles Griffin informed him that of all the officers in the Federal Army, General Grant had selected Chamberlain to preside over the ceremony of the surrender and parole of the Confederate infantry at Appomattox Court House on April 12.

Thus Chamberlain was responsible for one of the most poignant scenes of the Civil War. As the Confederate soldiers marched down the road to surrender their arms and colors, Chamberlain, on his own initiative, ordered his men to come to attention and "carry arms" as a show of respect. Chamberlain described what happened next:

“ The gallant John B. Gordon, at the head of the marching column, outdoes us in courtesy. He was riding with downcast eyes and more than pensive look; but at this clatter of arms he raises his eyes and instantly catching the significance, wheels his horse with that superb grace of which he is master, drops the point of his sword to his stirrup, gives a command, at which the great Confederate ensign following him is dipped and his decimated brigades, as they reach our right, respond to the 'carry'. All the while on our part not a sound of trumpet or drum, not a cheer, nor a word nor motion of man, but awful stillness as if it were the passing of the dead. ”

Chamberlain's salute to the Confederate soldiers was unpopular with many in the North, but he defended his action in his memoirs, The Passing of the Armies. Many years later, Gordon, in his own memoirs, called Chamberlain "one of the knightliest soldiers of the Federal Army."

[edit] Post-war career

Chamberlain memorial in Brewer, Maine
Chamberlain memorial in Brewer, Maine

Chamberlain left the army soon after the war ended, going back to his home state of Maine, and was elected and served as Governor of Maine for four one-year terms. After leaving political office, he returned to Bowdoin College. In 1871, he was appointed president of Bowdoin and remained in that position until 1883, when he was forced to resign due to ill health from his war wounds. While at Bowdoin he taught every course in the curriculum except for mathematics. Chamberlain also served as an ex-officio trustee of nearby Bates College from 1867 to 1871.

In January 1880, there was a dispute about who was the newly elected governor of Maine, and the Maine State House was occupied by a band of armed men. The outgoing governor, Alonzo Garcelon, summoned Chamberlain, the commander of the Maine Militia, to take charge. He sent home the armed men, and arranged for the Augusta police to keep control. He stayed in the State House most the twelve day period until the Maine Supreme Judicial Court's decision on the election results was known. During this time there were threats of assassination and kidnapping, and on one occasion he went outside to face down a crowd of twenty-five to thirty men intending to kill him, and both sides offered bribes to make him a United States Senator.

He served as Surveyor of the Port of Portland, Maine, a Federal appointment, and engaged in business activities, including real estate dealings in Florida, a college of art in New York, as well as hotels and railroads. Chamberlain also wrote several books about Maine, education, and his Civil War memoir, The Passing of the Armies. From the time of his serious wound in 1863 until his death, he underwent six operations to try to correct the original wound and stop the fevers and infections that plagued him, without success.

In 1893, thirty years after the battle that made the 20th Maine famous, Chamberlain was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg. The citation commends him for his "Daring heroism and great tenacity in holding his position on the Little Round Top against repeated assaults, and carrying the advance position on the Great Round Top."

To the end of his life, Chamberlain was active in the Grand Army of the Republic and made many return visits to Gettysburg, giving speeches at soldiers' reunions. As in many other of the Civil War actions, controversy was made when one of his subordinate officers stated that Chamberlain never actually ordered a charge at Gettysburg. The claim never seriously affected Chamberlain's fame or notoriety, however. In May 1913, he made his last known visit to Gettysburg while involved in planning the 50th Anniversary Reunion. Due to deteriorating health, he was unable to attend the reunion two months later.

Chamberlain died of his lingering wartime wounds in 1914 at Portland, Maine, age 85, and is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, Brunswick, Maine. Beside him as he died was one of the two surgeons who operated on him in Petersburg fifty years before as he lay dying, Dr. Abner Shaw of Portland. He was the last Civil War veteran to die as a result of wounds from the war.[1]. A full study of his medical history strongly suggests that it was complications from the wound suffered at Petersburg that resulted in his death.[2]

His home, located across Maine Street from the Bowdoin College campus, is now a museum owned by the Pejepscot Historical Society, which also maintains an extensive research collection on Chamberlain. Memorabilia on display include the minié ball that almost ended his life and Don Troiani's original painting of the charge at Little Round Top.

[edit] Command history

[edit] In popular media

Chamberlain is a key character in Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning historical novel about Gettysburg, The Killer Angels, and the movie based on that novel, Gettysburg (in which Chamberlain was played by actor Jeff Daniels, who repeated that role in the Gods and Generals prequel).

Tom Eishen's historical novel Courage on Little Round Top is a detailed look at Chamberlain as well as Robert Wicker, the young officer who fired his pistol at Chamberlain's head during the 20th Maine's historic charge down Little Round Top.

Steve Earle's song Dixieland from his album The Mountain refers to Chamberlain and the Battle of Gettysburg:

I am Kilrain of the 20th Maine and we fight for Chamberlain
‘Cause he stood right with us when the Johnnies came like a banshee on the wind
When the smoke cleared out of Gettysburg many a mother wept
For many a good boy died there, sure, and the air smelted just like death
I am Kilrain of the 20th Maine and I'd march to hell and back again
For Colonel Joshua Chamberlain - we're all goin' down to Dixieland

[edit] References

  • Desjardin, Thomas A. (October 1995). Stand Firm Ye Boys from Maine: The 20th Maine and the Gettysburg Campaign. Pennsylvania: Thomas Publications. ISBN 1-57747-034-6. 
  • Eishen, Thomas (2004). Courage on Little Round Top. Skyward Publishing. ISBN 1-881554-38-4. 
  • Levinsky, Allan M. (2006). "Chamberlain's Stand Against Political Upheval: His second Little Round Top". Discover Maine: Maine's History Magazine 3: 18-21. 

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Patrick, Bethanne Kelly. Maj. Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain
  2. ^ Schmidt, Jim. "The Medical Department: A Thorn in the Lion of the Union", Civil War News, October 2000.
  3. ^ Eicher, pp. 168-69.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Samuel Cony		 Governor of Maine
1867–1871		 Succeeded by
Sidney Perham


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