General Ray
New member
of on the mug that Vernon posted on his contest, I'll bet that not many do, the picture of the Union officer on the mug was a true American, his name was General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, The oldest of five children, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was born September 8, 1828 in Brewer, Maine. Chamberlain proved to be an excellent student and entered Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine in 1848 where he excelled in his studies and also met his future bride, Fannie Adams. After graduation in 1852, Chamberlain went on to study at the Bangor Theological Seminary. Three years later, he accepted a teaching position at his old college and married. The couple settled into a quiet college routine and a marriage that produced five children. The young teacher was a firm believer in the strength of the American form of government threatened by secession of the south in 1861. Keenly aware of the circumstances of a divided nation and with his passion for the Union cause "undying", Chamberlain left his teaching position to volunteer his services to the state in 1862. Though he lacked any military background, Chamberlain's educational experience landed him the rank of lieutenant colonel for the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment. The regiment left Maine, bound for Washington where it was assigned to Butterfield's "Light Brigade" of the Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac. Chamberlain's first battle experience was during the Maryland Campaign in the fall of 1862. The 20th Maine Infantry was held in reserve during the Battle of Antietam on September 17, though Chamberlain witnessed first-hand the horrors of the battlefield and its aftermath. Events would put the 20th Maine in the forefront of battle at Fredericksburg, Virginia on December 13, 1862. Trapped on the plain west of the city, Chamberlain and his soldiers spent a fitful night on the battlefield while wounded died all about them and the dead froze into grotesque forms.
By the summer of 1863, Chamberlain had been promoted to colonel and marched the 20th Maine northward in pursuit of Lee. On July 1, the Fifth Corps marched to Hanover, Pennsylvania before turning west toward Gettysburg. An overnight forced march got the troops to a location in rear of Cemetery Ridge the next day and Chamberlain's men took a brief but grateful rest. It was here that Chamberlain faced the distasteful duty of addressing "mutinous" soldiers assigned to the 20th Infantry from the old 2nd Maine, which had been mustered out. A group of men whose enlistments had not expired refused to carry arms and were placed under arrest. Chamberlain's brief speech and his pledge to plead their case caused all but a handful to take arms and join the ranks of the 20th for the coming battle.
The Fifth Corps was called to the front when fighting began at 4 o'clock. With the remainder of Colonel Vincent's brigade, Chamberlain's men rushed to the front to be placed on the southern slope of Little Round Top, the extreme left of the Union line. Within minutes they were trading volleys with Confederate skirmishers tramping down the slope of Big Round Top, soldiers from General Law's Alabama Brigade. The 15th Alabama Infantry, commanded by Colonel William C. Oates, had climbed over the summit of the larger hill, reorganized, and were now sweeping northward toward the Union line. The regiments collided on the hillside and Chamberlain's regiment stood firm. It was a tumultuous scene of savagery as smoke, fire, and the groans of dying men filled the woods. Standing behind his thinning ranks, the colonel could see the effect of the Confederate charges on his position:
"The roar of all this tumult reached us on the left and heightened the intensity of our resolve. Meanwhile the flanking column worked around to our left and joined those before us in a fierce assault, which lasted with increasing fury for an intense hour. The two lines met and broke and intermingled in the shock. The crush of musketry gave way to cuts and thrusts, grapplings and wrestlings. The edge of conflict swayed to and fro, with wild pools and eddies. At times I saw around me more of the enemy than of my own men; gaps opening, swallowing, closing again with sharp, convulsive energy; squads of stalwart men who had cut their way through us, disappearing as if translated all around me, strange, mingled roar- shouts of defiance, rally and desperation; and underneath, murmered (sic) entreaty and stifled moans; gasping prayers, snatches of Sabbath song, whispers of loved names; everywhere men torn and broken, staggering, creeping, quivering on the earth, and dead faces with strangley (sic) fixed eyes staring stark into the sky.
"In the very deepest of the struggle while our shattered line had pressed the enemy well below their first point of contact... I saw through a sudden rift in the thick smoke our colors standing alone. I first thought some optical illusion imposed upon me. But as forms emerged through the drifting smoke, the truth came to view. The cross fire had cut keenly; the center had almost been shot away; only two of the color guard had been left, and they fighting to fill the whole space; and in the center, wreathed in battle smoke, stood the Color Sergeant Andrew Tozier. His color-staff planted in the ground at his side, the upper part clasped in his elbow, so holding the flag upright, with musket and cartridges seized from the fallen comrade at his side he was defending his sacred trust in the manner of the songs of chivalry. It was a stirring picture..."
By the summer of 1863, Chamberlain had been promoted to colonel and marched the 20th Maine northward in pursuit of Lee. On July 1, the Fifth Corps marched to Hanover, Pennsylvania before turning west toward Gettysburg. An overnight forced march got the troops to a location in rear of Cemetery Ridge the next day and Chamberlain's men took a brief but grateful rest. It was here that Chamberlain faced the distasteful duty of addressing "mutinous" soldiers assigned to the 20th Infantry from the old 2nd Maine, which had been mustered out. A group of men whose enlistments had not expired refused to carry arms and were placed under arrest. Chamberlain's brief speech and his pledge to plead their case caused all but a handful to take arms and join the ranks of the 20th for the coming battle.
The Fifth Corps was called to the front when fighting began at 4 o'clock. With the remainder of Colonel Vincent's brigade, Chamberlain's men rushed to the front to be placed on the southern slope of Little Round Top, the extreme left of the Union line. Within minutes they were trading volleys with Confederate skirmishers tramping down the slope of Big Round Top, soldiers from General Law's Alabama Brigade. The 15th Alabama Infantry, commanded by Colonel William C. Oates, had climbed over the summit of the larger hill, reorganized, and were now sweeping northward toward the Union line. The regiments collided on the hillside and Chamberlain's regiment stood firm. It was a tumultuous scene of savagery as smoke, fire, and the groans of dying men filled the woods. Standing behind his thinning ranks, the colonel could see the effect of the Confederate charges on his position:
"The roar of all this tumult reached us on the left and heightened the intensity of our resolve. Meanwhile the flanking column worked around to our left and joined those before us in a fierce assault, which lasted with increasing fury for an intense hour. The two lines met and broke and intermingled in the shock. The crush of musketry gave way to cuts and thrusts, grapplings and wrestlings. The edge of conflict swayed to and fro, with wild pools and eddies. At times I saw around me more of the enemy than of my own men; gaps opening, swallowing, closing again with sharp, convulsive energy; squads of stalwart men who had cut their way through us, disappearing as if translated all around me, strange, mingled roar- shouts of defiance, rally and desperation; and underneath, murmered (sic) entreaty and stifled moans; gasping prayers, snatches of Sabbath song, whispers of loved names; everywhere men torn and broken, staggering, creeping, quivering on the earth, and dead faces with strangley (sic) fixed eyes staring stark into the sky.
"In the very deepest of the struggle while our shattered line had pressed the enemy well below their first point of contact... I saw through a sudden rift in the thick smoke our colors standing alone. I first thought some optical illusion imposed upon me. But as forms emerged through the drifting smoke, the truth came to view. The cross fire had cut keenly; the center had almost been shot away; only two of the color guard had been left, and they fighting to fill the whole space; and in the center, wreathed in battle smoke, stood the Color Sergeant Andrew Tozier. His color-staff planted in the ground at his side, the upper part clasped in his elbow, so holding the flag upright, with musket and cartridges seized from the fallen comrade at his side he was defending his sacred trust in the manner of the songs of chivalry. It was a stirring picture..."