Week 2: Joshua Chamberlain

Monday, June 13, 2011

Full name: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

Born: Sept. 8 1828

Died: February 24, 1914

Importance: Awarded the Medal of Honor for his valiant defense of a hill named Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War.

Pictures:

Key Facts

Chamberlain’s given name was Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain.

His father, both grandfathers and two brothers served in the American Military.

Born and raised in Maine, Chamberlain was a college professor at Bowdoin College and is believed to have spoken nine languages other than English.

He was given the honor of commanding the Union troops at the surrender ceremony of the Confederate troops headed by General Robert E. Lee.

After the war, Chamberlain became involved in politics and served as Governor of Maine from 1867-1871.

Quotes from Joshua L. Chamberlain

"In great deeds something abides. On great fields something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear, but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls. And reverent men and women from afar, and generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field to ponder and dream; And lo! the shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls."

Speaking at the dedication of the Monument to the 20th Maine
October 3, 1889, Gettysburg, PA

“Heroism is latent in every human soul - However humble or unknown, they (the veterans) have renounced what are accounted pleasures and cheerfully undertaken all the self-denials - privations, toils, dangers, sufferings, sicknesses, mutilations, life”

"We know not of the future and cannot plan for it much." "But we can hold our spirits and our bodies so pure and high, we may cherish such thoughts and such ideals, and dream such dreams of lofty purpose, that we can determine and know what manner of men we will be, whenever and wherever the hour strikes and calls to noble action."

"I long to be in the Field again, doing my part to keep the old flag up, with all its stars."

Excerpts from Andy Andrews

Excerpt #1 from The Traveler's Gift:

Chamberlain was standing in full view on top of the wall, his arms crossed, staring down at the advancing enemy. Sergeant Spear had returned and was standing at his colonel’s feet. Tozier, Tom, and another lieutenant, a boy named Melcher, were also bunched below. David stood several feet behind the group. “Joshua!” Tom shouted. “Give an order!”

Chamberlain remained stoic. Deep in thought, he was quickly sorting the situation. We can’t retreat, he said to himself. We can’t stay here. When I am faced with the choice of doing nothing or doing something, I will always choose to act. I am a person of action. Turning his back to the Rebels, he looked down at his men. “Fix bayonets,” he said.

At first, no one moved. They simply stared at him with open mouths. “We’ll have the advantage of moving downhill,” Chamberlain said. “Fix bayonets now. Execute a great right wheel of the entire regiment. Swing the left first.”

Lieutenant Melcher spoke up. He was confused. “Sir,” he asked, “what’s a great right wheel?” But the colonel had already jumped from the rocks.

Tozier answered the question. “He means to charge, son. A ‘great right wheel’ is an all-out charge.”

David watched in awe as Chamberlain drew his sword, leaped up onto the wall again, and screamed, “Bayonets! Bayonets!” Turning, the colonel pointed the sword directly at David and slightly bowed his head. Then he wheeled to face the overwhelming odds and slashed his blade through the air. With a power born of righteousness and fear, the schoolteacher from Maine roared, “Charge! Charge! Charge!” to his men. And they did.

Excerpt #2 from The Final Summit:

Without opening his eyes, David shifted and reached out with his left hand. There, on the desk where it always was, rested a book—Soul of the Lion. It was a biography of Chamberlain and had a picture of him as an old man on the cover. David slid it from the desk and nestled it beside his leg.

He’d read the book many times. For years, David had carried it with him, and he practically knew it by heart.

Chamberlain had been a thirty-four-year-old schoolteacher during the fight, but when he got home, the people of Maine elected him governor in what today is still the highest percentage of winning votes in that state’s history. Chamberlain served four terms, leaving office in order to use his time and money to write and teach.

Reading that Chamberlain originally studied to be a missionary, David thought many times, Well, if the hand of God was on anybody, it was most surely on Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. The young colonel had personally shown him the bent and busted belt buckle—destroyed by a Confederate bullet—that had saved his life that day.

Years later, in a museum in Maine, David had read the letter—written to then Governor Chamberlain from a Rebel sharpshooter—that had recounted his peculiar experience in the battle. The sniper had drawn down on Chamberlain, knowing who he was by his uniform and manner, and had him in his sights two separate times—but he had not been able to pull the trigger. Even so long after the event, the Confederate soldier had expressed amazement at being unable to shoot, claiming that a “strange something” had stopped him.

“The hand of God,” was how David explained it. He was certain that Joshua Chamberlain felt the same way.

In researching many books, talking to historians, confirming papers upon papers of military briefings still available from the Civil War, David had confirmed the fact that an astounding six different horses had been shot out from under Chamberlain, and still the officer had not been killed.

The hand of God.