Joshua lawrence chamberlain facts
•
Joshua Chamberlain
1828-1914
Who Was Joshua Chamberlain?
Joshua Chamberlain was born in 1828 in Brewer, Maine. He is best known for the courage he showed as colonel of the 20th Maine regiment that fought heroically in the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Chamberlain also accepted the Confederacy's surrender of arms at Appomattox at the war's end. Less well known is the fact that, after the war, he served four terms as governor of his home state and also as president of his alma mater, Bowdoin College. Chamberlain died in 1914 at the age of 85.
Early Life and Education
Joshua Chamberlain was born on September 8, 1828, in Brewer, Maine. His mother instilled in him religious devotion (he grew up in the Congregational Church), while his father passed on a deep interest in the military. As a child, Joshua Chamberlain was shy, and he stammered. (He never fully overcame the stammer, and as an adult, he spoke with unusual pacing.) As a young man, Chamberlain worked in a brickyard and
•
Joshua L. Chamberlain
A Brief Biography:
His extraordinary Civil War career is much admired today, thanks to books like John J. Pullen’s The Twentieth Maine and Alice R. Trulock’s biography In the Hands of Providence, documentaries like Ken Burns’s The Civil War, and novels like Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels (which was made into the movie Gettysburg, with Jeff Daniels portraying Chamberlain). From Antietam in 1862 to the triumphal grand review of the armies in May of 1865, Chamberlain saw much of the war in the East, including 24 battles and numerous skirmishes. He was wounded six times — once, almost fatally — and had six horses shot from under him.
He is best remembered for two great events: the action at Little Round Top, on the second day of Gettysburg (2 July 1863), when then-Colonel Chamberlain and the 20th Maine held the extreme left flank of the Union line against a fierce rebel attack, and the surrender of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox, when Grant
•
Joshua Chamberlain
Union Army general and Medal of Honor recipient
Joshua L. Chamberlain | |
|---|---|
Chamberlain in the 1860s | |
| In office January 2, 1867 – January 4, 1871 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel Cony |
| Succeeded by | Sidney Perham |
| In office 1871–1883 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel Harris |
| Succeeded by | William De Witt Hyde |
| Born | Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain (1828-09-08)September 8, 1828 Brewer, Maine, U.S. |
| Died | February 24, 1914(1914-02-24) (aged 85) Portland, Maine, U.S. |
| Resting place | Pine Grove Cemetery, Brunswick, Maine |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Fanny Chamberlain (m. 1855; died 1905) |
| Children | 5 |
| Residence | Brunswick, Maine |
| Alma mater | Bowdoin College |
| Profession | Professor, Soldier |
| Signature | |
| Nickname(s) | "Lion of the Round Top" "Bloody Chamberlain" |
| Allegiance | United States (Union) |
| Branch/service | |
| Years of service | 1862–1866 |
| Rank | |
| C
| |