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Charging into History: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain at Gettysburg, Part I

© Perry Cuskey

Editor's Note - The idea for this series arose from a discussion board post by Civil War author and historian Art Bergeron. It is based largely on two magazine articles that will be cited in the course of these articles and at the end of the series. My thanks to Art for providing the inspiration, indirect though it may have been. And despite whatever he may think of the opinions that follow. ;)

It has become one of the most famous and compelling images of the American Civil War. With his men on the verge of defeat after more than an hour of fighting, dozens of wounded and dead littering the woods and ammunition nearly gone, Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain ordered the exhausted survivors of his regiment to fix bayonets and charge the enemy. Moments later, Chamberlain led the men of the 20th Maine down the slope of Little Round Top in a stunning right-wheel charge, scattering their surprised opponents and, in the process, saving the Union army at Gettysburg.

And so was born on that sweltering July afternoon a legend. A legend based entirely on truth.

Or is it?

Hero of Little Round Top

Over the years, the most widely accepted version of this famous event from the war's most famous battle has been largely based on the words of the man who played the starring role - Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, commander of the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment at Gettysburg.

A gifted writer and speaker, the popular and outgoing Chamberlain was often the main attraction at public gatherings after the war in and around his home state, where he repeatedly took the opportunity to recite the story of that terrible day in 1863. In these numerous and dramatic re-tellings, Chamberlain invariably placed himself center-stage in the action. Before long admirers in Maine began referring to Chamberlain as "The Hero of Little Round Top." A moniker he undoubtely wore with pride.

Ironically, despite his modern-day fame, the remainder of Chamberlain's three years of service during the war receives scant attention. (Chamberlain himself tended to focus most of his war-related attention on Gettysburg.) In spite of his impressive record - including two near-fatal wounds in 1864 - his eventual promotion to brigadier general, a multi-term stint as governor of Maine, and service as the president of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Chamberlain's fame, then and now, rests primarily on that one afternoon on the slopes of Little Round Top. And that epic charge.

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