Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain - Facts

Full Name:

• Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

Birth Date:

• September 8, 1828

Birth Location:

• Brewer, Maine

Parents:

• Joshua and Sarah “Sally” (Brastow) Chamberlain

Education:

• Bowdoin College (1852)

Occupation:

• College professor
• Military officer
• Politician

Career Summary:

• Brigadier General (USVA)
• Brevet Major General (USVA)
• Governor of Maine
• President of Bowdoin College

Spouse:

• Frances “Fannie” Caroline Adams (1855)

Nickname(s):

• Lion of the Round Top
• Bloody Chamberlain

Place of Death:

• Portland, Maine

Date of Death:

• February 24, 1914

Place of Burial:

• Pine Grove Cemetery in Brunswick, Maine

Significance:

• Chamberlain’s parents were Joshua and Sarah “Sally” (Brastow) Chamberlain.
• Chamberlain entered Bowdoin College in 1848 and graduated in 1852.
• Chamberlain met and became friends with Harriet Beecher Stowe while attending Bowdoin College.
• In 1855, Chamberlain earned a bachelor’s degree in divinity at Bangor Theological Seminary.
• Chamberlain married Frances “Fannie” Caroline Adams on December 7, 1855.
• From 1855 to 1862, Chamberlain was a professor at Bowdoin College.
• Chamberlain was fluent in 10 languages.
• In 1862, Chamberlain enlisted in the 20th Maine Regiment, a part of the Army of the Potomac.
• Chamberlain fought at the Battle of Fredericksburg (December 11 -15, 1862).
• Chamberlain was promoted to the rank of colonel in June 1863.
• Chamberlain became famous at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1 – July 3, 1863) for his defense of a hill named Little Round Top.
• Chamberlain acquired the nickname, “the Lion of the Round Top,” for actions at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1 – July 3, 1863).
• Chamberlain was stricken with malaria in 1863 and removed from active duty until April 1864.
• Chamberlain was seriously wounded by a gunshot to the leg and groin during the Second Battle of Petersburg on June 18, 1864.
• Expecting Chamberlain to die from his wounds at Petersburg, Ulysses S. Grant gave him a battlefield promotion to brigadier general on June 19, 1864.
• Chamberlain recovered from his wounds at Petersburg and returned to active duty in November 1864.
• Chamberlain was wounded in the arm and chest at the Battle of Lewis’s Farm (March 29, 1865).
• President Abraham Lincoln brevetted Chamberlain to the rank of major general following the Battle of Lewis’s Farm (March 29, 1865).
• On the morning of April 9, 1865, Chamberlain officially received Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s request for a cessation of hostilities, to arrange for surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
• Chamberlain presided over the surrender of the Confederate infantry at Appomattox Court House on April 12, 1865.
• Chamberlain is remembered for the dignity and respect he accorded the defeated Confederate troops during the surrender ceremonies at Appomattox Court House.
• During the Civil War, Chamberlain was wounded six times.
• In 1866, Chamberlain was elected to the first of four one-year terms as Governor of Maine.
• In 1871, Chamberlain was appointed as president of Bowdoin College.
• In 1883, Chamberlain was forced to resign his position at Bowdoin College due to ill health cause by his Civil War wounds.
• In 1893, Chamberlain was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroics at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1 – 3, 1863) thirty years earlier.
• Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain died on February 24, 1914 at Portland, Maine.
• Chamberlain is buried Pine Grove Cemetery in Brunswick, Maine.
• Chamberlain’s memoirs, entitled The Passing of Armies, were published in 1915, one year after his death.
• He was immortalized in Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Killer Angels, and in the movie Gettysburg, which was based upon that novel.