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Little Round Top Essay

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Brigadier General Gouverneur K. Warren
Many attribute the Union’s defense of Little Round Top during The Battle of Gettysburg to Chamberlain, a colonel in the 20th Maine Infantry and defended Little Round Top. It may be true that Chamberlain played an important role in defending Little Round Top, nevertheless all the credit should not go to him. Gouverneur K. Warren was a bona fide key player to the success at Little Round Top, because of his ability to realize the Union’s weak point and form a strong defense in time to fight off the Confederates. If it were not for Warren the Confederates, from the words of Robert McNamara “could have overrun the left flank of the entire Union Army, and possibly won the battle and conceivably the entire Civil …show more content…

The two named Gouverneur Kemble after a prominent local congressman and industrialist. Warren would grow up and join the military after graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1850. Warren would then go on to pop up in numerous battles from the beginning of the war to nearly the very end. Warren started off by getting commissioned into the Corps of Topographical Engineers, and worked along the Mississippi River, as well as taking part in creating one of the first comprehensive maps of the United States west of the Mississippi River. He commanded his regiment during the Siege of Yorktown, and commanded a brigade of Sykes’ Division during the Seven Days Battles. Warren took part at the battle of Gaines’ Mill, and at the Battle of Malvern Hill. He commanded a brigade under Fitz John Porter at the Battle of Second Manassas, as well as during the Battle of Antietam. For his accomplishments during these battles, Warren had received a promotion to brigadier general of volunteers on September 26, 1862. Warren led his brigade through the Battle of Fredericksburg, and then served as an engineer for General Joseph Hooker during the Battle of Chancellorsville. (Hull 1) After this battle Gouverneur Warren next took part in the Battle of Gettysburg, where he would prevent the Union from getting utterly taken …show more content…

The position and view of the hill allowed for anyone to oversee the entire Union Army, therefore this would be a huge advantage to the Union. As Warren observed atop the hill, he watched as the Union made an inordinate left flank by the foot of the hill. The Union were not the only ones making a move, however, the Confederates were advancing towards the hill and shrouded from the Union’s sight by a line of trees. The Confederates managing to capture the practically barren hill meant the likely end to the Union at Gettysburg. The position would allow the Confederates to attack the Union in the side and rear with their artillery, which significantly weakening the Union to the point of no hope. If this were to happen then the Union would have to evacuate Cemetery Ridge, and the field would be left to Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederates. (Savior

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Angels on the Battlefield In the Battle of Gettysburg that took place on July 1, 1863, and ended on July 3, many casualties and injuries resulted from the fighting between those few days, leading to the victory of the Union Army. It is roughly estimated that 620,000 men lost their lives fighting, many for liberty and freedom, others for new opportunities. The Civil War was considered the deadliest and bloodiest battle. Medicine has come a long way now, in comparison to the 19th century, although many lives were lost on the way.

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Chamberlain was skilled like no other general. On June 13, 1863, Chamberlain’s men headed north, pursuing General Robert E. Lee’s Confederates toward Pennsylvania. The armies clashed at the small crossroads town of Gettysburg, a name and place that would become quite special for Joshua Chamberlain. On July 2, his 20th Maine was sent to the top of a small hill called Little Round Top with orders to defend his position to the last. The 20th Maine regiment was a small regiment numbering only 358 men.

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If the Confederates gained the land, than they could rain fire on the Union troops below. The 20th Regiment of Maine was responsible for defending the extreme left side of Little Round Top at all costs (Official Records). Joshua Chamberlain was told that his Regiment was most likely going to be attacked (Official Records). It was probably going to be a dire attack. Chamberlain’s 20th Regiment of Maine had roughly 250 men at the time of the Battle of Gettysburg (The Killer Angels).

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The 54th Massachusetts Infantry(Colored), commanded by COL Robert G. Shaw, was chosen to lead the attack on Fort Wagner. While not the first major engagement by a colored regiment, the decision to push the 54th as the lead advance unit was a first time this happened since the formation of all-colored units. The heart and effort showed by the 54th proved inspirational to friendly units and positively affected the efforts of Union forces. The Union forces suffered substantial casualties during the initial charge on the fort, but did not let that deter them and they eventually scaling the slopes and breaching the fort walls. As forces continued to move into the fort, and many hand-to-hand battles ensued, the numbers pointed towards a sure victory for the Union forces.

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As www.civilwartrust.org states, “During the battle of Gettysburg, although still new to the command of his army, and suffering great losses of such leaders as John Reynolds, Meade was able to both hold off Lee’s attacks and finally smash the Confederate army on the third day.” Confederate efforts to breach Meade’s well strategized lines during the attack of ‘Pickett’s Charge’ failed miserably and resulted in numerous casualties and caused a mass retreat off enemy land. Meade however approached the situation with caution and did not go after Lee’s army as they stumbled back across the Mason-Dixon line. According to www.history.com, “Meade immediately came under harsh criticism—in particular from President Abraham Lincoln—for what was seen as his failure to destroy Lee’s battered army, which had escaped across the Potomac River before it could be intercepted.”

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The Confederates had won a series of battles but were stopped in their tracks when they fought at Gettysburg (Kagan and Hyslop 143). This slowed down Confederate momentum considerably. After several small skirmishes, the Union retreated back to higher ground south of the town (Maxwell). This proved beneficial to both sides; Confederates improved their morale and the Union got a tactical advantage. After both the Union and Confederate armies were bolstered with new troops, more fighting broke out on the 2nd of July (Kagan and Hyslop 144).

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Lee says they won’t attack because they wouldn't want to move. Chamberlain heads towards Little Round Top and argues with a Southern, Kilrain. Longstreet orders the Confederates to attack the Union on their left side. Then he orders the army attack once more and suddenly the Union army was gone. Longstreet is in distressed and orders his men to a frontal attack on Peach Orchard.

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The Union pushed back the Confederates, there were many lives lost and soldiers wounded and even missing, the confidence of soldiers and generals were gained and lost. They both had their own advantages for the battle and each knew that the higher ground was better, but one side came out with the victory and that was the Union. Let's find out more about why the Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point of the war. The first reason that this battle was a turning point, according to (Doc. A) was that the Union pushed back the Confederates and won this battle.

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The battles fought that day are some of the most prominent in military history according to HistoryNet, (2017). The plan was for the First Corps to attack the northern end of the Federal Line going from south to north and use three of his four divisions. His fourth division was unavailable at the time because it was still on the way to Gettysburg. According to General Lee’s Account of the Battle of Gettysburg (1863), “One division from the corps would capture two hills (Round Top and Little Round Top, the latter also known locally as Sugarloaf) just beyond the end of Cemetery Ridge. Sweeping over the hills, they would hit the Federal flank and drive northward astride Cemetery Ridge.

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The report by Joshua Chamberlain is another example of an impeccable resource for understanding the battle of Gettysburg. He describes the furious defense against the Confederate hoard where

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This took place on the hills south of Gettysburg where the Union successfully held their ground. On the second day they continued the battle where the Confederates gained very little ground but not enough to change the war involving 100, 000 soldiers and with 20,000 killed or injured. It was the final day where the Confederates took a full assault with 12,000 confederates known as Pickett’s Charge which was a center line attacked against the Union. The Union held their ground using artillery fire and rifles which led to retreat of the confederates while successfully pushing them back south.

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