Profiles in Character: Joshua Chamberlain Serves with Moral Courage
Honoring Our Veterans - Past and Present
Joshua Chamberlain, who commanded Union troops during the Civil War, died at age 85 on February 24, 1914. It would be easy to assume he was fortunate to make it through the war without debilitating injuries. That assumption would be wrong. He died of wounds suffered near Petersburg in 1864, after living 50 more years in pain and with an early form of a catheter.
The course of his life was far from evident when he finished divinity school and became a professor of rhetoric at Bowdoin College in 1861. Fluent in nine languages besides English, Chamberlain was a man of letters. He also fervently believed in the Union cause and was a staunch opponent of slavery. His request for a leave of absence to enter the war was turned down, so he applied for a sabbatical to study in Europe. When that was granted, he left the college and enlisted in the Union Army.
As an educated gentleman, in August 1862 he was offered the colonelship of the 20th Maine Regiment. He turned it down. He wanted a lesser role, believing he needed to learn more before assuming command. He finally accepted a promotion to take charge of his regiment in June 1863. Altogether, Chamberlain would fight in 20 battles, have six horses shot from under him and be wounded six times.
On the march toward Gettysburg, he was given control of 120 rebellious troops from the 2nd Maine Regiment and told he could shoot them if they got in his way. He not only refused but, appealing to their patriotism, convinced 118 to take up arms again. On July 2nd, assigned the critical task of protecting the Union’s left flank on Little Round Top, Chamberlain led a successful effort to rebuff repeated Confederate charges, though suffering from malaria and dysentery. His brilliant bayonet charge down the hill when his troops were nearly out of ammunition secured victory and for his “daring heroism and great tenacity” the Medal of Honor.
Promoted to brigade commander in time for the Battle of Petersburg in April 1864, a Minie ball penetrated his right hip and groin before exiting his left hip. He stayed upright by leaning on his sword. Expecting him to die, Ulysses Grant gave him a battlefield promotion to Brigadier General. Chamberlain resumed command that November.
Chamberlain led the initial assault in the Battle of Lewis’s Farm at the start of the war’s climactic Appomattox Campaign. Now carrying the moniker “Bloody Chamberlain,” he was wounded again by a bullet that went sideways through the front of his chest. On April 9th, it was Chamberlain who received Robert E. Lee’s staff officer with the general’s request to cease hostilities.
After the terms of surrender were signed, Grant asked Chamberlain to take charge as the Confederate Army relinquished its arms on the road leading from Appomattox Courthouse. In a move that led to some criticism, Chamberlain chose to salute the defeated rebels. As he later recounted:
“At such a time and under such conditions I thought it eminently fitting to show some token of our feeling, and I therefore instructed my subordinate officers to come to the position of 'salute' in the manual of arms as each body of the Confederates passed before us. It was not a 'present arms,' however, not a 'present,' which then as now was the highest possible honor to be paid even to a president. It was the 'carry arms,' as it was then known, with musket held by the right hand and perpendicular to the shoulder. I may best describe it as a marching salute in review.”
Confederate General Gordon, who led his troops past Chamberlain’s line, would later say that he was “one of the knightliest soldiers of the Federal Army.”
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was the last Civil War soldier to die of his wounds. He was formidable in war and honorable in peace. His physical courage in battle came from his moral courage as a man. After the war, he ran for Governor of Maine and was elected for four, separate one-year terms. He then returned to Bowdoin College as its president. Despite his injuries and pain, at age 70 he offered, unsuccessfully, to serve again in the Spanish American War.
Chamberlain visited Little Round Top many times during the remainder of his life. He also visited Petersburg, looking for the spot where he was severely wounded. Writing to his sister, Sarah, from Washington, D.C. on his way back from Petersburg on January 29, 1882, he reflected on the war, the kindness with which he was received in the capitol, and “many invitations to take positions of responsibility.” Due to his obligations to Bowdoin, he declined, but not without noting, with some regret, that “I always wanted to be at the head of some enterprise to transform the wilderness into a garden – both materially & spiritually – to be a missionary of civilization and Christianity at once.” Chamberlain did not fully realize that he already had.
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