Meet Colonel Chamberlain
Gettysburg National Military Park Kidzpage

Colonel Joshua Chamberlain (Maine State Archives)

The oldest of five children, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was born September 8, 1828 in Brewer, Maine, a small farming and ship-building community. His youth was spent working his parent's farm where his character and sense of problem solving was developed by a demanding father. Being the oldest of the brothers and sisters, he was also given more responsibility and his sense of duty was formed early. He did well in school and entered Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine in 1848. Chamberlain excelled in his studies and learned several languages. It was during this time that he met his future bride, Fannie Adams. Chamberlain graduated from Bowdoin College in 1852 and then went on to study at the Bangor Theological Seminary. Three years later, he accepted a teaching position at his old college and married Fanny. The couple settled into a quiet college routine and a marriage which produced five children.

At the outbreak of the war, Chamberlain felt strongly on the subject of the Union and was keenly aware of the circumstances of a divided nation. Though he did not possess any military skills or training, he volunteered his services to the state and was assigned as Lieutenant Colonel of the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment in 1862. The regiment was transported to Washington where the men camped briefly before being assigned to Butterfield's "Light Brigade" of the 5th Corps, Army of the Potomac. On September 15th, 1862 the regiment left Washington and headed west to intercept Lee's Army of Northern Virginia which had crossed the Potomac River and was marching through Maryland in the first Confederate invasion of northern territory. The regiment was held in reserve during the Battle of Antietam on September 17, but Colonel Chamberlain viewed the battle and witnessed first-hand the horrors of the battlefield and its aftermath. It left a lasting impression on him though the worst was yet to come.

On December 13, 1862, the 20th Maine was engaged in the Battle of Fredericksburg. At the height of the single-day's battle, Chamberlain's regiment was ordered to attack a strongly fortified height west of the city called Marye's Heights. Previous Union assaults had failed and Union dead and wounded littered the battlefield over which the Maine soldiers rushed, greeted by a perfect storm of Confederate musketry. They could not break the gray line but remained on the field under fire through a bitterly cold night. The battle was a terrible defeat, but the 20th Maine had performed well and the officers had learned from their experiences.

By the time of Gettysburg, Chamberlain had been promoted to full colonel in command of the 20th Maine. His regiment marched northward with the army and arrived on the battlefield on July 2 where the men briefly rested. With the opening of the battle, the brigade, under Colonel Strong Vincent of Pennsylvania, was rushed to the front and placed on the southern slope of Little Round Top, the extreme left of the Union line. Within minutes the Maine men were attacked by a regiment of Alabamians under Col. William C. Oates. The fighting was close and bloody, neither side willing to give way. Colonel Chamberlain was struck with a rifle ball which hit his sword scabbard and caused a terrible bruise. Chamberlain stretched his line and fought on until the men began to run out of ammunition. The moment was a desperate one, but Chamberlain did not waiver. He ordered a bayonet charge and led his regiment down the slope, sweeping up the Confederates and throwing back the final attack. The charge of the 20th Maine Infantry had saved the flank of the brigade line and contributed greatly in the victory at Little Round Top. Chamberlain's regiment spent the remainder of 1863 in several indecisive campaigns including the Mine Run Campaign that fall. In 1864, Colonel Chamberlain was appointed to command a brigade in the 1st Division of the 5th Corps. His troops fought through the Wilderness Campaign to Petersburg, Virginia where he was seriously wounded on June 18. The wound was so serious that surgeons did not believe Colonel Chamberlain would survive but he slowly recovered.

By the following spring, he was strong enough to rejoin the army as a brigadier general, a promotion he had received the day he was wounded. Back in command of his old brigade, General Chamberlain led his troops at the Battle of Five Forks which broke the Confederate hold on Petersburg. Due to a change in corps command, General Chamberlain was ordered to lead the 1st Division of the 5th Corps during the final campaign in pursuit of Lee's retreating army. Chamberlain's men marched for days without rest. Finally at Appomattox Court House on April 9, the 5th Corps helped entrap the last remaining elements of Lee's Army. After the surrender terms were signed, General Chamberlain was assigned the task of accepting the surrender of arms of the Army of Northern Virginia on April 12, 1865. After forming his division up outside of Appomattox Court House, Chamberlain watched the worn, tired gray ranks as they trudged over the muddy road toward the village. Without hesitation he called his men to attention and saluted the Confederates. At the head of the Confederate column, a despondent General John Gordon rose in his saddle, reigned in his horse and boldly returned the salute. Former enemies paid their respects to each other in this last act of the war in Virginia.

At the close of the war, Chamberlain returned to peaceful pursuits in Maine where he was elected as governor. In 1871 he was persuaded to accept the president's position at Bowdoin College where he restructured the college curriculum to include science and engineering. Chamberlain was also active in the GAR, the Grand Army of the Republic, the national organization of Union veterans. He resigned from Bowdoin College in 1883 due to ill health, but continued to write about his war-time experiences and remained active in veteran's circles. He dabbled in several businesses including real estate. In 1893, Congress honored him with the Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry at Gettysburg. In 1900, he was appointed Surveyor of the Port of Maine, a position which he held until his death on February 14, 1914. General Chamberlain is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Brunswick, Maine.

Return to Leaders of Gettysburg

National Park Service
Gettysburg National Military Park
97 Taneytown Road
Gettysburg, PA 17325