Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

1. Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain By: Justin Magoon

2. Early Life • J. L. Chamberlain was born in Brewer, Maine on September 8th, 1828, and was raised there. • He attended Bowdoin College and became a professor of rhetoric, also being fluent in 8 languages including English, German, Spanish, Latin, Greek, French, Italian, and more. • When he requested permission to enlist, he was turned down. So he applied for leave to study in Europe. When he left to study, he went right to the enlistment office.

3. Military Life • When he enlisted, he was automatically offered a Colonelcy of the 20th Maine. He declined and was assigned Lieutenant Colonel of the same regiment under the command of Colonel Adelbert Ames.

4. Fredericksburg • The 20th Maine marched to fight at Antietam, but did not. They did fight at Fredericksburg and suffered few casualties at the assault on Marye’s Heights. • He chronicled the night he spent on the battlefield, freezing and using dead friends as pillows and cover from bullets.

5. Chancellorsville • Even though the 20th Maine was supposed to engage at the battle of Chancellorsville, but an outbreak of smallpox among the ranks crippled the regiment and prevented it from fighting. • The smallpox outbreak was what depleted quite a few men. It was acquired from a vaccination that was meant to prevent smallpox.

6. Gettysburg • This is his most famous battle. He is most well-known for ordering a strange maneuver that resulted in the winning of Gettysburg. • When his unit was low on ammo, he ordered an unusual textbook move that changed the course of the battle, thus the war. It’s a long uninteresting story about tactics, so I won’t explain.

7. Petersburg • After Gettysburg, Chamberlain was promoted to Brigade Commander. He was shortly thereafter shot in the hip and groin. He stuck his sword in the ground to stay up and prevent the idea of retreat, but collapsed within minutes. He was pronounced dead later by the surgeon. But, showing resolve and will, he recovered. After being pronounced dead, he was promoted to Brigadier General by Ulysses S. Grant.

8. Appamattox/Post War Chamberlain was given the honor of formally accepting the official surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. General Chamberlain left the army almost immediately after the war ended. Due to being popular from the war, he served four one-year terms as Governor of Maine. In 1898, when he wanted to rejoin the army for the Spanish-American War, he was turned down. At 70 years old, he called it one of the great disappointments of his life.

9. How He Affected The War • Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain basically played a major role in turning the tide of the war. His participation at Little Round Top decided the outcome of the battle that decided the outcome of the war. Had he lost, the South would most likely have succeeded in routing Union forces at Gettysburg, therefore continuing their march North winning the war for the South.