Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (born September 8, 1828 in Brewer , Penobscot County , Maine , †  February 24, 1914 in Portland , Maine) was a general in the US Army during the Civil War and a politician . He was particularly famous as the commander of the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg . After the war, he was elected governor of his home state Maine four times in a row for one year each and led its militia as commander .

Life

Childhood and youth

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was born the first of five children to Joshua Chamberlains Jr. and Sarah Dupee Brastow Chamberlains. Its original name was Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain, named after Commodore James Lawrence , who had become famous through the war of 1812 . Chamberlain later changed his name to Joshua Lawrence, however.

The family had a great military tradition: Chamberlain's great-grandfathers had fought in the French and Indian Wars and the War of Independence , while his grandfather Joshua Chamberlain Sr. had made it to Colonel in the militia in the war of 1812. Joshua's father also held this rank.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain lived in the immediate vicinity of the famous writer Harriet Beecher Stowe . Already in his youth he was her guest and later heard her reading from her work on Uncle Tom's Cabin when visiting her . This brought him into contact with abolitionist ideas early on .

After Chamberlain attended Major Whitings Military and Classical School in Ellsworth , his father intended to send him to the US Military Academy in West Point , New York . His deeply religious mother wanted to see him as a pastor or missionary.

After his 18th birthday, he successfully studied Classical Literature, Greek and Latin to gain admission to Bowdoin College in Brunswick . Chamberlain joined there in 1848 and showed his talent for languages, including Greek, Latin, French, German, Spanish, Hebrew and Arabic.

As a student he attended First Parish Church in Brunswick. There he became a choirmaster and met his future wife, Frances Caroline Adams, the adopted daughter of Pastor George E. Adams. They married in 1855. Chamberlain later referred to her as "the constant focus of each of his dreams and the soul of each of his thoughts".

Professor in Bowdoin

Chamberlain attended the theological seminary in Bangor from 1852. During this time he earned money on the side by teaching German and playing the organ in his home church. Chamberlain graduated in the summer of 1855 and subsequently turned down several offers to pastor a church. Instead, he accepted the invitation from Bowdoin College to teach logic and theology . In 1856, the college appointed Chamberlain Professor of Rhetoric and Speech and later Professor of Modern Languages ​​in Europe. In October of the same year, his first child, Grace Dupee, called Daisy, was born. In 1858 "Fanny" Chamberlain gave birth to Harold Wyllys.

In the civil war

Chamberlain was offered a two-year stay to study in Europe as a professor of modern European languages ​​in 1861. He took time off from college but didn't go to Europe. Chamberlain renounced this trip because the civil war had broken out shortly before with the attack on Fort Sumter . For Chamberlain, as he later wrote, this was an insult to the flag of the United States and a contempt for the "honor and authority of the Union."

"The completeness and existence of the people of the United States have been attacked in open and bitter war."

Instead, he offered his services to the governor of Maine, Israel Washburn . He wrote to him that the men of the north had to

“To sacrifice the most dear personal interests to save our country from devastation and to defend the national existence against treason at home and resentment abroad. This war must be ended with a swift, strong hand, and every man should step forward and ask to be put in his proper place. "

Chamberlain was appointed deputy commander of the newly formed 20th Maine Infantry Regiment on August 8, 1862 , led by Colonel Adelbert Ames . The new regiment was trained at Camp Mason in Portland. Chamberlain's brother, Thomas Davee, was also a sergeant in the regiment. The regiment was subordinated to the 1st Division of the V Corps of the Potomac Army in Virginia after the training of the 3rd Brigade . It did not take an active part in the Battle of Antietam , but took part in some skirmishes in pursuit of the evasive Northern Virginia Army . The 20th Maine was used with Chamberlain during the Battle of Fredericksburg in the most violent fighting in the attack on Marye's Heights and suffered heavy losses. On 27 August 1862 Chamberlain became a member of the Federation of the Freemasons ( Loge United Lodge # 8 in Brunswick ).

Little Round Top at Gettysburg (photography by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, 1863)

The Confederate (red) attack on the far left flank of the Union (blue) at Little Round Top on day 2 of the Battle of Gettysburg

In the Battle of Chancellorsville , the regiment again did not take an active part. The regimental commander Col. Ames was promoted to brigadier general and took over a brigade and Chamberlain, now a colonel , was given command of the 20th Maine. He led it to the Battle of Gettysburg and had his greatest hour there as the defender of the Little Round Top. With a bayonet attack led by him personally at the end of the fighting , the 15th Alabama Infantry Regiment attacking his regiment was able to repel. Chamberlain was wounded a second time during the fight.

Chamberlain was given command of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division of the V Corps in August 1863. Due to illness he had to leave his troops in winter and was only able to join them again in May 1864 for the battle of Spotsylvania . He led his brigade in combat at Bethesda Church and then, after the reorganization of the V Corps, took command of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division. The brigade consisted of six regiments from Pennsylvania .

Chamberlain's Brigade held a position in front of the main line of the Union Army at Rives Salient during the siege of Petersburg on June 18, 1864 . The brigade was to attack a fortified Confederate position from there . During the attack, Chamberlain was hit by a bullet and collapsed. Doctors believed he would not survive the wound. When Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant , the Commander in Chief of the US Forces, learned of this, he promoted Chamberlain to Brigadier General . Chamberlain recovered contrary to expectations and was able to take command of the brigade again. He led them on horseback on March 29, 1865 against Confederate positions on Quaker Road , where he was again wounded on his horse. Because Chamberlain despite the injury continued the Brigade, he was for this achievement for certification - Major General appointed.

John Brown Gordon

Chamberlain was selected to accept the formal surrender of the Northern Virginia Confederate Army. When he presented the rifle to the surrender formation in front of the approaching Confederate troops under the command of General John Brown Gordon as a show of respect, he received great recognition. This earned him a lot of criticism in the north, but Gordon later called him one of the "most chivalrous soldiers in the Union Army". During the victory parade of the Union Armies in Washington , he commanded the 1st Division of the V Corps.

Chamberlain took part in 24 battles and skirmishes during the Civil War and was wounded six times and his horse was shot from under him five times. The soldiers under his command captured eight flags in these battles and captured 2,700 opponents. Chamberlain never lost his emotional bond with his family during all his time in the field. This was expressed in numerous letters in which he complained about not being able to be with his wife and children.

After the civil war

After the war, Chamberlain received an offer to continue serving as an officer in the US Army, which he did not accept. Instead, he resumed teaching as a professor at Bowdoin College, giving speeches and lectures about his war experiences. In 1866 he was elected by a very large majority as the Republican candidate for governor of Maine (1867–1871); he prevailed with 62.2 percent of the vote against the Democrat Eben F. Pillsbury (37.5 percent). The State of Maine repaid much of its debt during Chamberlain's reign. Chamberlain also campaigned for the expansion and improvement of the “insane asylums” (for which there was more need after the Civil War) and laid the foundation stone for the University of Maine with the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts . Chamberlain became increasingly frustrated with the office. He made enemies within his own party , for example through his opposition to the impeachment proceedings against US President Andrew Johnson . His political career also affected his marriage, as his wife Fanny preferred the quieter life as the wife of a professor in Bowdoin. Chamberlain even so disappointed the office that he offered his services to the Prussian King Wilhelm in a letter.

Chamberlain finally returned to his life as an academic: after the end of his last term as governor - he was confirmed three times with a secure majority - he was unanimously elected President of Bowdoin College in 1871. President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Chamberlain seven years later addition to the Commissioner of Education for the Universal Exposition for the World Exhibition in Paris . That is why Chamberlain spent five months in Europe. During this time he wrote a 165-page report for the US government in which he was positive about the European education systems. He was especially full of praise for the French, for which he received an award from the French government.

Statue of Chamberlain in Chamberlain Freedom Park in Brewer

In 1876 Chamberlain was named major general of the militia. In the gubernatorial election three years later, there were violent clashes in Maine. None of the three candidates was able to win a majority, so the decision went to Parliament. This had only previously been re-elected and had a Republican majority. The candidates of the Greenback Party and the Democrats accused the Republicans of fraud and demanded a recount of the votes in the general election, which changed the majority to the Republicans' disadvantage. After further arguments, decision-making was transferred to the Maine Supreme Court. At the time, the state was on the verge of civil war, as armed groups made their way to the state capital Augusta to enforce their candidates by force.

On January 5, 1880, the incumbent governor Alonzo Garcelon mobilized the militia. It then fell to Chamberlain to maintain order until the Tribunal made a decision. Chamberlain had the militia mobilized, but did not send them to Augusta. Instead, with the help of the local police, he tried to resolve the conflict peacefully. He finally managed to calm the angry mood and the Supreme Court ruled the election. Republican candidate Daniel Davis was elected governor and was able to take office.

In 1893 he received the Medal of Honor for the defense of the Little Round Top. The laudation read "for the bravest heroism and great determination in the defense of the position on the Little Round Top against repeated attacks and the support of the position on the Great Round Top" In the following years Chamberlain served as president of several societies, including one Railroad company in New Jersey . He planned to write a history of the V Corps but did not find time, and in 1896 another book appeared on the same subject. He was later appointed and settled as an inspector of the port of Portland. He was also involved in the Grand Army of the Republic , a Union veterans organization. He visited the old Gettysburg battlefield many times and appeared as a speaker at veterans' meetings.

His wife Fanny died on October 18, 1905, which he could never get over. Chamberlain devoted himself to his memories of the civil war in the last years of his life. He wrote an article for Cosmopolitan Magazine in 1912, My story of Fredericksburg , and Through Blood and Fire at Gettysburg in Hearst's Magazine in 1913 . He also planned a story about the Battle of Gettysburg. In 1913 he was appointed organizer of the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, but was unable to attend the meeting due to illness.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain died in Portland on February 24, 1914. It was only after his death in 1915 that The Passing of Armies , Chamberlain's description of the Appomattox campaign, appeared . He is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, Brunswick .

Chamberlain in literature and film

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is featured in several literary works and films. In addition to his self- reports Through Blood and Fire at Gettysburg and The Passing of the Armies , he is the subject of several biographies; personal wartime letters and notes were collected and edited, as were some of his most famous quotations. Chamberlain also plays an important role in well-known fictional texts and novel adaptations about the civil war. He is one of the main characters in Gettysburg, based on Michael Shaara's ( Pulitzer Prize- winning) novel The Killer Angels . Here he is portrayed as the charismatic leader of his regiment. With a rousing and poignant speech he succeeds in convincing 117 mutineers to fight in battle. He, the rhetoric professor, cares about his men and is respected by them. His good relationship with Master Sergeant Buster Kilrain, the commander of the NCOs in his regiment, illustrates Chamberlain's almost paternal relationship with his subordinates. Chamberlain's academic background is also presented at the same time: In a dialogue with Sergeant Kilrain about slavery, he quotes a monologue from William Shakespeare's Hamlet , What a piece of work is a man!

Chamberlain's characterization in the film Gods and Generals , based on the novel of the same name by Jeff Shaara, is similar to that in The Killer Angels or "Gettysburg": He is described as an educated professor who sees his duty in defending the interests of his country. In both novel adaptations he is played by the actor Jeff Daniels . When saying goodbye to his wife, a poem about the English Civil War is quoted; on the heights before Fredericksburg, words from the epic about the Roman Civil War, Pharsalia , by Marcus Annaeus Lucanus are put in his mouth. Analogous to the crossing of the Rappahannock by the Union Army, the quote describes how Caesar crossed the Rubicon . These words mark Chamberlain as a highly educated professor. He seems detached and unworldly, but this is relativized by various scenes during the battle: Chamberlain, for example, takes a soldier crying and calling for his mother in his arms and comforts him and is thus again portrayed as more fatherly and caring.

Chamberlain also starred in Jeff Shaara's book Last Full Measure . The book is about the last two years of the war and portrays, among other things, Chamberlain's rise from regimental to division commander and his participation in the battles for Petersburg and at Five Forks.

Quotes from Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

As a rhetoric professor, Chamberlain had a special linguistic ability to express himself, which was evident in many of his works and speeches. Some examples of this:

• On Slavery : “We did not go into this fight to fight slavery directly; we did not think of solving this problem, but God, in His providence […] put it in front of our eyes and it flew aside like a hurricane. "
• About the assassination of Abraham Lincoln shortly after the Northern Virginia Army surrendered : “But, in the midst of all triumph, in this hour of jubilation, this day of strength and joy and hope, when our stars and stripes united with the stars of heaven, It suddenly fell to half mast, darkness filled the sky and the President of the United States, with his heart full of reconciliation and love and forgiveness, was struck down by the hand of an assassin. Words cannot express the reaction with which this army received the news. "
• On the occasion of a speech in Gettysburg in 1889: “In great deeds, something persists. Something remains behind in large fields. ”(Also chosen as an inscription for a US commemorative coin from 1995).

literature

• Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain: The Passing of Armies: An Account of the Final Campaign of the Army of the Potomac . Bantam Books, 1993, ISBN 0-553-29992-1 .
• Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain: Through Blood and Fire at Gettysburg: General Joshua L. Chamberlain and the 20th Maine . Stan Clark Military Books, 1996 (not consulted).
• Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Jeremiah E. Goulka: The Grand Old Man of Maine: Selected Letters of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, 1865-1914. B&T, 2004, ISBN 0-8078-2864-5 (not viewed).
• Alice Rains Trulock: In the Hands of Providence: Joshua L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War . University of North Carolina Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8078-4980-4 .
• Mark Nesbitt: Through Blood & Fire: Selected Civil War Papers of Major General Joshua L. Chamberlain . Stackpole Books, 1996.
• John J. Pullen: Joshua Chamberlain: A Hero's Life and Legacy . Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA 1999, ISBN 0-8117-0886-1 (not viewed).
• Edward G. Longacre: Joshua Chamberlain: The Soldier and the Man . Da Capo Press, 2004, ISBN 0-306-81312-2 (not viewed).
• Randall J. Bedwell (Ed.): May I Quote You, General Chamberlain ?: Observations & Utterances of the North's Great Generals. Cumberland House Publishing, 1998, ISBN 1-888952-96-2 (not viewed).

Fictional literature

The works listed here are novels in which Chamberlain plays a prominent role

• Michael Shaara: The Killer Angels. u. a. Birlinn Ltd, 2001, ISBN 1-84158-082-1 , first published in 1974
• Jeffrey Shaara: Gods and Generals. u. a. Ballantine Books, 1998, ISBN 0-345-42247-3 , first published in 1988
• Jeffrey Shaara: Last Full Measure. Ballantine Books, 1998, ISBN 0-345-40491-2 .

Web links

Commons : Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Pat Finnegan: Extensive site on Chamberlain (English)
• Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Joshua Chamberlain in the National Governors Association (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chamberlain to his wife on October 10, 1862, in: Mark Nesbitt: Through Blood & Fire: Selected Civil War Papers of Major General Joshua L. Chamberlain , p. 24
2. ^ "The integrity and the existence of the People of the United States had been assailed in an open and bitter war." , In The Hands of Providence , p. 60
3. ↑ : "This war [...] will not cease until the men of the North are willing to leave good positions, and sacrifice the dearest personal interests, to rescue our country from desolation, and defend the National Existence against treachery at home and jeopardy abroad . This war must be ended, with a swift and strong hand; and every man ought to come forward and ask to be placed at his proper post. " , Chamberlain to Israel Washburn on July 14, 1862, in: Mark Nesbitt: Through Blood & Fire: Selected Civil War Papers of Major General Joshua L. Chamberlain , p. 10
4. ↑ Todd E. Creason: Famous American Freemasons , Volume 2, Paperback (281 pages). Published by Lulu.com (December 2007) ISBN 978-0-557-07088-6 (pp. 141f.)
5. ^ H. Paul Jeffers: The Freemasons In America: Inside Secret Society ; Paperback (280 pages) published by Kensington Books (Citadel Verlag) September 2007; ISBN 978-0-8065-2836-6
6. ↑ Civilwarhome.com: Biography of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain , access on Sept. 8, 2007
7. ↑ James M. McPherson in the introduction to The Passing of the Armies , p. 11
8. ↑ Alice Rains Trulock: In the Hands of Providence: Joshua L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War , p. 333
9. ↑ In August 1863, for example, he wrote: “I am happy to see you all back home - now my little darlings are all huddled together - all - before this word I stopped - tears filled my eyes, a dull, violent one Pain streamed through my heart. But it's all good, good and happy with the one whose sweet face still shines in my heart. Come and let me kiss your precious lips, precious woman ”, in: Through Blood and Fire , p. 106
10. ↑ Ezra J. Warner: Generals in Blue , 1964, p. 76
11. ^ ME Governor Race - Sep 10, 1866. In: Ourcampaigns.com .
12. ↑ ^{a b c} Governor of Maine. In: Lurker00.com .
13. ^ In the Hands of Providence , p. 342
14. ↑ In the Hands of Providence , pp. 351 ff.
15. ^ The Twelve Days. In: Lurker00.com .
16. ^ Thomas A. Desjardin: Stand Firm Ye Boys from Maine: The 20th Maine and the Gettysburg Campaign. Thomas Publications, Gettysburg, PA 1995, ISBN 1-57747-034-6 , p. 148.
17. ↑ James M. McPherson in the introduction to The Passing of the Armies , p. 13.
18. ↑ In the Hands of Providence , pp. 373 f.
19. ↑ grave site:
    • Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in the database of Find a Grave (English)
20. ↑ What a piece of work is a man! how Noble in
    Reason? how infinite in faculty? in forme and mouing
    how expresse and admirable? in Action, how like an Angel?
21. ↑ In the Hands of Providence , p. 303.
22. ↑ Ibid., P. 313.
23. ↑ Chamberlain giving a speech in Gettysburg, October 3, 1889 (E-Text).

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on January 3, 2007 in this version .