THE MAN WHO SAVED THE UNION

Joshua Chamberlain taught himself Greek before he went to college.  After graduating, he became a professor of rhetoric and oratory at Bowdoin College in Maine.  When the Civil War broke out, he enlisted without telling his family, including his wife.  He believed that even intellectuals like himself should sacrifice to save the Union.  He was offered command of the 20^th Maine Regiment, but modestly declined to become second in command.  At the Battle of Fredericksburg, he and his men spent a miserable night on the battlefield using corpses for protection from Rebel bullets.  The Northern Lights added to the eeriness of the situation.  His unit did not participate in the Battle of Chancellorsville due to a smallpox breakout because of a faulty vaccine.  It was at Gettysburg that Chamberlain became one of the greatest heroes of the war.  The 20^th Maine was at the left end of the Union line.  Positioned on a hill called Little Round Top, if it had been flanked the whole Union position would have been untenable.  Robert E. Lee would win the battle and possibly Southern independence.  Chamberlain’s leadership got his men to withstand several attacks.  With ammunition running low, he ordered the most famous bayonet charge of the war.  It worked and the Union flank was held.  Chamberlain became known as the “Lion of Round Top”.  He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1893 for his actions on July 2, 1863.  He ended up serving in 20 battles, having six horses shot from under him, and being wounded six times.  One of the wounds was thought to be mortal and another almost resulted in the amputation of an arm.  He ended the war as a major general.  After the war, he was elected Governor of Maine and then was President of Bowdoin College from 1871-1883.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Chamberlain

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/joshua-lawrence-chamberlain