Joshua Chamberlain: Difference between revisions

|nickname=''"Lion of the Round Top" and the ''<br>''"Bloody Chamberlain"''

'''Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain''' (born '''Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain''', September 8, 1828{{spaced ndash}}February 24, 1914)<ref name=Eicher/><ref>Trulock, p. 26.</ref> was an American college [[professor]] from [[Maine]] who volunteered during the [[American Civil War]] to join the [[Union Army]]. He became a highly respected and decorated Union [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]], reaching the rank of [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] (and [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Major general (United States)|major general]]). He is best known for his gallantry at the [[Battle of Gettysburg]], leading an unexpected bayonet charge, for which he was awarded the [[Medal of Honor]].

Chamberlain was born in [[Brewer, Maine]], the son of Sarah Dupee (née Brastow) and Joshua Chamberlain, on September 8, 1828. Chamberlain was of English ancestry and could trace his family line back to twelfth-century England, during the reign of [[Stephen, King of England|King Stephen]].<ref>''Soul of the Lion: A Biography of General Joshua L. Chamberlain'' by Willard M. Wallace, p. 17</ref> Chamberlain's great-grandfather Ebenezer, was a New Hampshire soldier in the [[French and Indian War]], and the [[American Revolutionary War]]. Chamberlain's grandfather, Joshua, was a ship builder, and colonel during the [[War of 1812]], notably involved at the [[Battle of Hampden]], before moving his family to a Brewer farm in 1817. Chamberlain's father Joshua served as a lieutenant- colonel in the [[Aroostook War]].<ref name="ww">{{cite book |last1=Wallace |first1=Willard |title=Soul of the Lion |date=1960 |publisher=Stan Clark Military Books |location=Gettysburg |isbn=9781879664005 |pages=17–30}}</ref>

Chamberlain was the first of five children. His father named him after [[James Lawrence]], and favored a military career for his son, while Chamberlain's mother wanted him to become a minister. Chamberlain became a member of the Congregational Church in Brewer in the mid-1840s, and attended Major Whiting's military academy in Ellsworth. Chamberlain then taught himself Greek so he could be admitted to [[Bowdoin College]] in 1848. At college, Chamberlain was a member of the [[Peucinian Society]], [[Phi Beta Kappa]], and the [[Alpha Delta Phi]] fraternity. He taught Sunday school in Brunswick during his freshman and sophomore years, and led the choir at the Congregational Church-First Parish Church during his Junior and Senior years. Chamberlain graduated in 1852, then entered the [[Bangor Theological Seminary]] for three years of study. Besides studying in Latin and German, Chamberlain eventually mastered French, Arabic, Hebrew and Syriac.<ref name=ww/>

On 7 December 7, 1855, Chamberlain married [[Fanny Chamberlain|Fanny Adams]], cousin and adopted daughter of a local clergyman. Their first child was a girl named Grace Dupee, born on 16 October 16, 1856. Their son Harold Wylls was born on 10 October 10, 1858. A second and fourth child died early. In the fall of 1855, Chamberlain returned to Bowdoin, and began a career in education, first as an instructor in logic and natural theology, then as [[professor]] of [[rhetoric]] and oratory. He eventually went on to teach every subject in the curriculum with the exception of science and [[mathematics]]. In 1861 he was appointed professor of modern languages, which he held until 1865.<ref>Chase, p. 63.</ref><ref name=ww/>

At the beginning of the [[American Civil War]], Chamberlain believed the Union needed to be supported against the Confederacy by all those willing. On several occasions, Chamberlain spoke freely of his beliefs during his class, urging students to follow their hearts in regards to the war while maintaining that the cause was just. Of his desire to serve in the War, he wrote to Maine's Governor [[Israel Washburn Jr.|Israel Washburn, Jr.]], "I fear, this war, so costly of blood and treasure, will not cease until men of the North are willing to leave good positions, and sacrifice the dearest personal interests, to rescue our country from desolation, and defend the national existence against treachery."<ref>As cited in: Thomas A. Desjardin, ''Joshua L. Chamberlain'', Greystone Communication, 1999, p. 22.</ref> Many faculty at Bowdoin did not feel his enthusiasm for various reasons and Chamberlain was subsequently granted a leave of absence (supposedly to study languages for two years in [[Europe]]). He then promptly enlisted unbeknownst to his family and those at Bowdoin. Offered the [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]]cy of the [[20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment|20th Maine Regiment]], he declined, according to his biographer, John J. Pullen, preferring to "start a little lower and learn the business first."<ref>As cited in: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Biographies, Ohio State University Ehistory, 30 September 30, 2002.</ref> He was appointed [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] of the regiment on August 8, 1862, under the command of [[Colonel (United States)|Col.]] [[Adelbert Ames]]. The 20th was assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, [[V Corps (Union Army)|V Corps]] in the Union [[Army of the Potomac]]. One of Chamberlain's younger brothers, [[Thomas Chamberlain (soldier)|Thomas Chamberlain]], was also an officer of the 20th Maine, and another, John Chamberlain, visited the regiment at Gettysburg as a member of the [[U.S. Christian Commission]] until appointed as a chaplain in another Maine Volunteer regiment.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

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 101 of the Confederate soldiers and successfully saving the flank. This version of the battle was popularized by the book ''[[The Killer Angels]]'' and the movie ''[[Gettysburg (1993 film)|Gettysburg]]''. Chamberlain sustained one slight wound in the battle, one when a shot hit his sword scabbard and bruised his thigh. Chamberlain also personally took a Confederate prisoner with his saber during the charge. After initiating the maneuver, he came upon a Confederate officer wielding a revolver who quickly fired, narrowly missing his face. Chamberlain remained steadfast, and with his sword at the officer's throat accepted the man's arms and surrender.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://scienceviews.com/parks/chamberlain.html|title = Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain & the 20th Maine at Gettysburg}}</ref> The pistol Chamberlain captured at Gettysburg can still be seen on display in the Civil War exhibit of the [[Maine State Museum]]. For his tenacity at defending Little Round Top, he was known by the sobriquet ''Lion of the Round Top.'' Prior to the battle, Chamberlain was quite ill, developing malaria and dysentery. Later, due to this illness, he was taken off active duty until he recovered.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

In early 1865, Chamberlain regained command of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division of V Corps, and he continued to act with courage and resolve. On March 29, 1865, his 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 that almost caused amputation), and nearly being captured, Chamberlain was successful and brevetted to the rank of major general by President Abraham Lincoln. Chamberlain gained the name "Bloody Chamberlain" at Quaker Road. Chamberlain kept a Bible and framed picture of his wife in his left front "chest" pocket. When a Confederate shot at Chamberlain, the bullet went through his horse's neck, hit the picture frame, entered under Chamberlain's skin in the front of his chest, traveled around his body under the skin along the rib, and exited his back. To all observers Union and Confederate, it appeared that he was shot through his chest. He continued to encourage his men to attack.

US Route 1A is carried across the [[Penobscot River]] between [[Bangor, Maine|Bangor]] and [[Brewer, Maine|Brewer]], Maine, by the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge, a two-lane steel plate girder bridge opened on November 11, 1954.{{Citation needed|date=December 2018}}

In the [[alternate history (fiction)|alternate history]] 2003 novel ''[[Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War]]'', written by Forstchen and [[Newt Gingrich]], Chamberlain is featured as a character. In the book, an alternate history of the Civil War, Chamberlain makes a heroic stand similar to the real life battle on Little Round Top. Unlike in real life, Chamberlain is overwhelmed, wounded, and forced to surrender, but he survives and returns in the third book of the series, ''[[Never Call Retreat]]'' (2005).

|[[File:Union_Army_LTC_rank_insignia.png|75x75px]]|| [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]]|| August 8, 1862 || [[Regular Army (United States) Volunteers|Regular ArmyVolunteers]]

|[[File:Union Army colonel rank insignia.png|75px|class=noviewer]]|| [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]]|| June 20, 1863 || [[Regular Army (United States)|Regular Army]]Volunteers

|[[File:Union army brig gen rank insignia.jpg|75px|class=noviewer]]|| [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]]|| June 1819, 1864 || Volunteers

|[[File:Union army maj gen rank insignia.jpg|75px|class=noviewer]]|| [[Colonel (United States)|Brevet]] [[Major general (United States)|Major General]]|| FebruaryMarch 1629, 18621865 || Volunteers