Joshua Chamberlain

He fell in love with Frances (Fanny) Caroline Adams who was a member of the church choir. She was three years his senior and they got married in 1855.

The couple had five children - one died early and two died in infancy.

He was extremely kind and compassionate towards fellow soldiers and took personal attention to make sure that the personal possessions of the dead were sent back home.

Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain was born to Joshua Chamberlain and Sarah Dupree in Brewer, Maine. He was very close to his mother particularly because his father was always tough on him.

He enjoyed horseback riding as a young boy and also indulged in other activities including sailing, swimming and bird-watching.

A shy boy, he never liked to speak outside of his family too much because of a speech disorder he suffered for the rest of his life. He studied at Bowdoin College in 1848 and graduated from the same four years later.

After his marriage, he studied at the Bangor Theological Seminary and began his career as a professor of rhetoric. He began teaching almost all the subjects in the prospectus except science and mathematics.

He was selected to the chair of modern languages in 1861 and gained proficiency in multiple languages such as Greek, Latin, French, Hebrew, Arabic, Italian and Syriac.

With the eruption of the Civil War in 1861, he wanted to serve his country. Much to the anger of the staff of Bowdoin, he entered the war as Lieutenant Colonel of the 20th Regiment of Maine Volunteers, the next year.

Under Commander Adelbert Ames, he learnt quickly the ways of being a soldier through sheer dedication and observation and was soon put in charge of a whole regiment in 1862. The 20th Regiment was assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, V Corps in the Union Army of the Potomac.

The 20th Maine fought at the Battle of Fredericksburg, which proved to be a demoralizing failure to the Union. The remaining months of 1862 went uneventful.

He was appointed as Colonel of his regiment and they were immediately drawn into a battle on July 2, 1863 at Gettysburg, one of the major battles of his career.

In 1863, Chamberlain made a decisive call during the Battle of Gettysburg, which saved the army, when they decided to attack, leading to a victory. Despite a number of the Union soldiers being mutilated and regardless of being given orders to not give away the Union’s position by Colonel Vincent, he took the decision to counterattack anyway. It was after this major decision, the Unions achieved victory, led by Chamberlain, following which he was given the command of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Fifth Corps. He recounts his experiences at Gettysburg in his book ‘Through Blood and Fire at Gettysburg’.