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Learn about the life and achievements of Major General Joshua L. Chamberlain, who fought for the Union Army during the Civil War and earned the Medal of Honor at Gettysburg. Find out how he became a leader in the U.S. Army after the war, served as a governor, and wrote a memoir.
- Popular culture
- Early life and family
- Military service
- Later career
- Later years
A veritable icon of Civil War legend, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is best known for his heroic participation in the Battle of Gettysburg. Chamberlain and his regiment, the 20th Maine Infantry, gained notoriety for their desperate bayonet charge down Little Round Top on the Second Day of the Battle, a feat that figures prominently in Michael Shaaras...
Born in Brewer, Maine in 1828, Chamberlain was the eldest of five children born to Joshua and Sarah Brastow Chamberlain. The elder Chamberlain, an admirer of all things military, named his son after sea Captain James Lawrence, famous for his quote dont give up the ship. His namesake, however, had more peaceful ambitions. The studious Lawrence Chamb...
On July 2, 1863, Chamberlain was posted on the extreme left of the Federal line at Little Round Topjust in time to face Confederate General John B. Hoods attack on the Union flank. Exhausted after repulsing repeated assaults, the 20th Maine, out of ammunition, executed a bayonet charge, dislodging their attackers and securing General Meades embattl...
Shortly after Gettysburg, Chamberlain was given command of a brigade in the Fifth Corps and would retain it until the end of the war. Throughout the war, Chamberlain was wounded six times, most grievously at Petersburg in June 1864. Believing this wound to be mortal, Congress promoted Chamberlain to the rank of Brigadier General. Chamberlain, howev...
After the war, Chamberlain returned to Maine, where he served four terms as the states Governor. He later served as president of Bowdoin College alongside former general and Bowdoin alum, Oliver Otis Howard. Prolific and prosaic throughout his life, Chamberlain spent his twilight years writing and speaking about the war. His memoir of the Appomatto...
Jan 12, 2024 · September 8, 1828–February 24, 1914. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a Union military commander during the American Civil War, earning a Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroics at the Battle of Gettysburg. He also served as Governor of Maine and as a professor and a president of Bowdoin College. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was ...
- Harry Searles
Jul 3, 2016 · Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain unquestionably played a critical role in this critical battle and in the Civil War that re-made this nation. He thrived in the army, and postwar civilian life simply could not compare, especially when it included unfulfilling work and an often stormy marriage.
May 22, 2012 · Joshua L. Chamberlain: The Life in Letters of a Great Leader of the American Civil War (General Military) [Desjardin, Thomas, The National Civil War Museum] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.
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- Thomas Desjardin, The National Civil War Museum
Visit. Joshua L. Chamberlain. A Brief Biography: By Charles Calhoun. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was born Sept. 8, 1828, in Brewer, Maine, the eldest of five children. Facing the much larger city of Bangor across the Penobscot River, Brewer was in Chamberlain’s youth a small farming and ship-building community.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (born Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain, September 8, 1828 – February 24, 1914) [1] [2] 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, reaching the rank of brigadier general (and brevet major general ).
