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U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues
Where Duty, Honor and Country
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Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
(1828 - 1914)
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Joshua L. Chamberlain is perhaps most widely known for his role in holding the Federal position on Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg. But before the war would end, the unassuming college professor from Maine would contribute much more than that.
Entering the Union army as a lieutenant colonel, Chamberlain would serve in more than 20 engagements, be wounded six times, and finish his service breveted Major General. His final honor would come when General Ulysses S. Grant designated him to receive the first flag of surrender at Appomattox Court House. The defeated Confederate troops, under the command of General John B. Gordon, anticipated the ultimate humiliation. Instead, they were met with honor and respect. For this, Gordon remembered Chamberlain in his memoirs as "one of the knightliest soldiers of the Federal Army."
The Simple Years of Youth
He was born Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain on September 8, 1828 in a cottage near the family homestead in Brewer, Maine, a farming and shipbuilding community. His parents, Joshua and Sarah Dupee (Brastow) Chamberlain, named him after the heroic Commodore James Lawrence who had immortalized the words "Don't give up the ship!" The eldest of five children, young Lawrence was raised as a Puritan and Huguenot (French Protestant) in a household which prized good manners, cheerfulness, morality, education, and industry.
The Professor from Maine
As a boy, Lawrence was fond of outdoor activities such as horseback riding at breakneck speed across the fields, swimming, sailing, and bird and flower watching. During adolescence, scholastic studies and farm work became of greater significance for the shy, serious, and dutiful youth. While plowing the rough fields, he learned from his strict and taciturn father that sheer willpower followed by positive action could accomplish seemingly impossible tasks. Lessons as these would later be applied to challenges in his adulthood, resulting in great success.
Upon contemplating a career for their eldest born, his father, a county commissioner and former lieutenant colonel in the military, wished for his son to enter the army. Lawrence had already attended Major Whiting's military academy where he fitted for West Point. But his mother, a religious woman, wanted him to study for the ministry. Lawrence was interested in a West Point education, but the idea of being in the military during peacetime held no attraction for him. After much consideration on the matter, Lawrence agreed to enter the ministry if he could become a missionary in a foreign land, a popular career choice of the time.
A New Direction
Fannie Chamberlain - wife of Joshua Chamberlain
In 1848, Lawrence entered Bowdoin College at Brunswick, where he began using Joshua as his first name. During his initial years away from home, the introverted 19-year-old felt lonely and spoke little because he was embarrassed by his propensity for stammering. Joshua learned to overcome this impediment by "singing out" phrases on a "wave of breath." By his third year at Bowdoin, he had won awards in both composition and oratory.
As a student, Joshua had earned a reputation for standing behind his principles even when challenged by authorities. Throughout his life, this sense of honor would never desert him, even under fire. When not pursuing his studies, Joshua enjoyed singing and playing the bass viol on which he was self-taught. As the college chapel organist, he learned to play the organ quite skillfully on his own.
John Chamberlain brother of Joshua and Thomas who also served briefly with the 20th Maine and was at Little Round Top in Gettysburg with Joshua and Thomas.
While attending the local church in Brunswick, Joshua became attracted to the enchanting, dark-haired Frances (Fanny) Caroline Adams who often played the organ for the church choir. She was the reverend's adopted daughter and three years his senior, but this unconventional difference in their ages (for those times) did not matter to them. It was not long before a romance blossomed between them. The two became engaged the next year in 1852, after he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin. They would not be married until 1855, following Joshua's graduation from both a three-year seminary course at Bangor Theological Seminary and Bowdoin College with his master's degree.
In spring of 1856, Joshua was elected professor of rhetoric and oratory at Bowdoin. By 1861, he was elected to the chair of modern languages. Chamberlain was well-qualified for this position, having mastered multiple languages in preparation for a career in the ministry overseas. In all, he was fluent in nine: Greek, Latin, French, German, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and Syriac. Meanwhile, during his early years as a professor, the Chamberlain home had been blessed with the birth of their daughter Grace (Daisy), and son Harold (Wyllys).
Thomas Chamberlain younger brother of Joshua and John. All three brothers served with the 20th Maine and were at Little Round Top during the battle of Gettysburg
With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Joshua felt a strong desire to serve his country. Many Bowdoin alumni had immediately enlisted, and as time passed many men from Maine were wearing the blue uniform. Having already been granted a leave of absence for study in Europe, Joshua decided to offer his services in the military to Governor Washburn. Despite the displeasure of the Bowdoin staff, by August 1862, Chamberlain entered the war as Lieutenant Colonel of the 20th Regiment of Maine Volunteers.
Lessons for a Lieutenant Colonel
Under Commander Adelbert Ames, a recent West Point graduate, Chamberlain learned by observation about soldiering and being in charge of a regiment. He witnessed the transformation of more than 900 unskilled men into trained and disciplined soldiers. Among the officers of the regiment was Joshua's brother Thomas. Tom, the youngest of the Chamberlain's, was appointed a non-commissioned sergeant. Before the end of the war, he would serve as a lieutenant colonel.
Joshua Chamberlain and his wife, Caroline.
The 20th Maine's first order found them marching to the site of the battle at Antietam. But they would not engage in action until late September, in a reconnaissance at Shepherdstown Ford. In mid-October, they participated in another reconnaissance, this one led by Chamberlain at the South Mountain pass. Upon seeing the figure of a slain Confederate youth, Joshua was horrified and saddened to realize that some of the soldiers they fought against were as young as this 16-year-old. Sights as these would never be forgotten.
By December 1862, the Battle of Fredericksburg proved to be a devastating blow to the Union. In an article he wrote, published by Cosmopolitan Magazine in 1912, Chamberlain recalls his bone-chilling "bivouac with the dead" that night on the slopes of Marye's Heights in Fredericksburg. After this engagement, as the defeated Union troops were given orders to evacuate the town, Chamberlain was placed in command of his regiment to lead the retreat from the heights.
The remaining months of winter and early spring passed uneventfully for the 20th. The prevalence of small pox in the ranks kept them out of the Battle of Chancellorsville in the beginning of May 1863. During this time, Chamberlain requested duties to occupy his able-bodied men. Having learned a great deal since his enlistment, and demonstrating strong leadership skills, by the end of the month Chamberlain was appointed Colonel of his regiment.
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