Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Quotes

A collection of quotes by Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a prominent American military officer and leader in the Civil War. He was born on September 8, 1828, in Brewer, Maine. Chamberlain began his career as a professor of rhetoric and modern languages at Bowdoin College. However, when the Civil War broke out in 1861, he enlisted as a Lieutenant Colonel in the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

Chamberlain played a pivotal role in numerous battles, but his most famous moment came during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. As commander of the 20th Maine, he led a bayonet charge on Little Round Top, a crucial position on the Union left flank. Against fierce Confederate attacks, Chamberlain's leadership and courage helped secure the Union's defense and turn the tide of the battle.

Following the war, Chamberlain served as the Governor of Maine for four non-consecutive terms and later as the President of Bowdoin College. He also remained actively involved in veterans' organizations. Chamberlain's accomplishments and heroism earned him the Medal of Honor in 1893.

Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was widely respected for his bravery, tactical skills, and unwavering commitment to preserving the Union. He is remembered as a key figure in American history and a symbol of the valor displayed by soldiers on both sides during the Civil War. Chamberlain passed away on February 24, 1914, leaving behind an enduring legacy of honor and sacrifice.

But out of that silence rose new sounds more appalling still; a strange ventriloquism, of which you could not locate the source, a smothered moan, as if a thousand discords were flowing together into a key-note weird, unearthly, terrible to hear and bear, yet startling with its nearness; the writhing concord broken by cries for help, some begging for a drop of water, some calling on God for pity; and some on friendly hands to finish what the enemy had so horribly begun; some with delirious, dreamy voices murmuring loved names, as if the dearest were bending over them; and underneath, all the time, the deep bass note from closed lips too hopeless, or too heroic to articulate their agony...It seemed best to bestow myself between two dead men among the many left there by earlier assaults, and to draw another crosswise for a pillow out of the trampled, blood-soaked sod, pulling the flap of his coat over my face to fend off the chilling winds, and still more chilling, the deep, many voiced moan that overspread the field.

Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

War