Tuesday, May 10, 2022

An Odd Civil War Story

      We found Joshua at Sally's. Well, not HIM, per se...but it is a wonderful print of Mort Kunstler's painting. Chamberlain is leading his regiment, the 20th Maine, in a charge down Little Round Top. 

During 1863's Battle of Gettysburg. In America's Civil War.




(The Brick, who grew up a North Carolina boy, is reminding me that this was also called The War of the Rebellion. Or The War of the Northern Aggression. As in "Naw-than." You have to say it right.)

We both are huge fans of Joshua Chamberlain, a modest college professor (and Christian) who ended up leading the 20th Maine, a Union regiment, during the War Between the States. Unlike his predecessor, he was considered a softie because he would feed deserters and try to re-enlist them, rather than just shooting them. 

     One of his greatest challenges came on July 2, 1863 at Gettysburg's Little Round Top -- a steep hill critical for its strategic position overlooking the battlefield. Chamberlain's 20th Maine barely beat General Longstreet's Confederates in occupying it -- then the men were ordered to hold it "at all hazards," while dodging heavy artillery fire.

     Little Round Top, photographed by Timothy O'Sullivan in 1863, long after the battle was over


     The Confederates continued to charge. Soon there was close fighting all over, with artillery fire behind them, as well. They were surrounded. Chamberlain knew they had to do something -- and soon. The soldiers were exhausted, and wavering. He was weak, feeling the effects of malaria and dysentery. If the Union line broke, the battle might be lost.

So he did a foolhearted, incredibly brave thing -- he ordered a bayonet charge down the hill. And he led it. 

Here's the strange thing.

As the soldiers prepared to advance, suddenly a tall man, dressed in an old-fashioned uniform and tri-cornered hat, appeared in their midst. (He had shown up earlier, when Chamberlain's men took a wrong turn while marching to Gettysburg, and got lost. The man directed his horse down one of the roads in front of them... "Turning slightly toward them, he waved them to follow," which got them to the battlefield in good time. (Thus beating Longstreet and his 15th Alabama regiment to Little Round Top, by only a matter of minutes.)

Now the tall man was back. And ready to help lead the charge. 

It is said that the Union soldiers, already desperately tired and nearly out of ammunition, felt a fresh burst of courage when he appeared. The Confederates who saw him -- and there were a number -- directed fire in his direction. But no bullets hit him, or his "magnificent pale horse."

Chamberlain wrote: 

"Suddenly, an imposing figure stood in front of the line exhorting them to follow. The rays of the afternoon sun set his upraised sword aflame." 

The 20th Maine followed their commander, and the strange figure, without hesitation. They fixed bayonets and charged into the Confederate line. Those men (the 15th Alabama) were so startled by their speed that there was no time to fire defensively. They were caught between the charging men, and the Union's advancing 83rd Pennsylvania. About four hundred Confederates were taken prisoner. (One account says 101 soldiers surrendered.) Chamberlain personally took one soldier prisoner, using his saber. He was wounded when a shot bounced off his sword scabbard and bruised his thigh; a Confederate officer fired near-point-blank at his face, and missed. Shades of this Border Patrol agent. (The captured pistol is on display in the Maine State Museum. The Confederate officer was also detained -- by Chamberlain, of course.)

And Little Round Top held.

Chamberlain and his men believed that the authoritative figure who led them down the hill that day was... General George Washington. Other reports, taken from both Confederate and Union soldiers after war's end, said the same thing. The mystery was never properly explained, and endures to this day. 

Chamberlain survived, and was given the Medal of Honor for his actions. He later became the president of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and one of that state's governors. Chamberlain's memoir, The Passing of the Armies, was later criticized as an "adjectival orgy," and he was accused of exaggerating some incidents. However, it is important to remember, as Wikipedia points out: 

Chamberlain served in 20 battles and numerous skirmishes, was cited for bravery four times, had six horses shot from under him, and was wounded six times.


Chamberlain died in 1914, still suffering from the effects of his wartime wounds -- and still convinced of what he had written: 

     "We know not what mystical power may be possessed by those who are now bivouacking with the dead. I only know the effect, but I dare not explain or deny the cause. I do believe that we were enveloped by the power of the other world that day...and who shall say that Washington was not among the number of those who aided the country that he founded?"




* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

For more, read Joshua Chamberlain's book, The Passing of the Armies, which is still in print, more than a century later. Listverse's 'Ten Coincidences That Helped shape U.S. History'  and History Naked's treatment of "Joshua Chamberlain's Ghost" are also helpful. Wikipedia does NOT mention this incident in its treatment of Chamberlain, though it is otherwise quite complimentary. Interesting...

On a side note, George Washington had two horses he rode throughout the Revolution, including a white half-stallion mix, Blueskin, known for its strength and endurance. However, he preferred a chestnut bay with white legs and blaze on its chest, Nelson, who stayed calmer during the panic and confusion of battle. Both Nelson and Blueskin lived out their lives at Mount Vernon after Washington's retirement.  Nelson, in particular, would come running to greet his master whenever Washington stopped by -- which was often.


 






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