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Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's Role In The Civil War

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We all have certain people that we look up to, whether it be a friend, family member, celebrity, or so on, they impact our lives. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the oldest of five ad part of the family with a spectacular history of bravery. All the men before him in his family, served for their country and there’s no doubt that this strongly influenced Chamberlain growing up. Chamberlain was a college professor, but decided to leave his job early to help out with the war. Chamberlain went on to be a hero in the Civil War, most notably, on day two at Gettysburg, when he saved the Union far left flank on Little Round Top. As a young boy, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain grew up with war all around him. When he was grown up, he decided to be a …show more content…

He not only had the phenomenal family history of fighting in American wars, but he was also a very caring man. With that amazing quality, he helped to encourage all of his soldiers to continue even if they were tired, injured, etc. “You must care for your men’s welfare. You must show physical courage.” (Shaara, Michael 66). Chamberlain held strong even through the hardest of times, and he did it all to help his men move along. He not only mentally prepared every soldier for battle, but he also did a fantastic job leading his army on Little Round Top. “The Twentieth Maine, led by Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain, valiantly repulsed a Confederate assault despite being out of ammunition. This prevented Longstreet from turning the Army of the Potomac's left” (“Gettysburg”). This shows how great of a job he did in pushing back the Confederates, which significantly influenced the overall outcome of the battle at Gettysburg. “As a colonel, he commanded a regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 and performed so admirably, despite being wounded, that he was subsequently awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor” (“Chamberlain, Joshua Lawrence” 1). This lastly shows how significant his acts at Gettysburg had been, and, in exchange for his hard work, persistence, and optimism, he received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Obviously, his efforts were highly …show more content…

After he did an outstanding job at Gettysburg, he then went and was given command of another regiment, as this was highly deserved. “Chamberlain was already famous in the Army of the Potomac for his Little Round Top heroics at Gettysburg the previous July, and when he returned to active duty in April 1864 after an extended illness, he was given command of the Keystone State regiments” (Civil War Times 1). Clearly, people had no desire to take what Chamberlain did for granted, in fact, they awarded him the Medal of Honor after his heroic leadership on Little Round Top (“Maine” 1). After he retired from all of the battles that he led, he then went on to be the Republican governor of Maine (“Canada” 1). “One cannot shake the feeling that local hero Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain deserves a grander grave site. After all, the renowned Union general compiled a remarkable list of accomplishments…” (“Brunswick” 1). So many saw Chamberlain as a man of versatility, he was truly

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Joshua Chamberlain, a scholar, had a strong hanker to go into the military despite his family’s wishes for his attendance in college. He went to Maine and was assigned a top-notch role in the Maine 20th Regiment, but declined because he wanted to see the elephant from Col. Adelbert Ames. Chamberlain fought in many battles in Fredericksburg like the battle in Mary Height, but couldn’t fight in the battle of Chancellorsville because of a smallpox outbreak in the army. Despite of the fact that the soldiers were peaked which was the reason why the soldiers missed the battle, small pox did help Chamberlain because Alderbert made brigades out of his army and Chamberlain was a head of one of the brigades of the 20th Regiment. On July 20,

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