My ignorance astonishes me. We all know the importance of the battle of Gettysburg, but the details? I have the opportunity to share these stories with my players.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (above) joined the Union Army as a thirty-something professor at Bowdoin College in Maine. He became regiment commander of the Maine 20th regiment. His forces were cut to almost a third (less than 400) in late May 1863, when he was transferred mutineer troops from the Maine 2nd. He was given the task to guard them, integrate them, or shoot them according to their behavior.
He dispersed them within the ranks, fed them well, and asked for their help for the "noble cause" of making men free.
On July 2nd, with short notice, his unit was assigned to hold the hill at Little Round Top against the well-trained, superior forces of the Alabama 15th and Colonel William Oates. Chamberlain had no formal military training and his troops were undersupplied with ammunition.
After a brutal assault with heroic defense, the Army of the Potomac held Little Round Top. Lacking additional ammunition, Chamberlain ordered a bayonet charge before Oates' forces could regroup, leading to a rout of the Alabama 15th and preventing a southern charge by Confederate forces...a precursor to the failed Pickett's charge.
The 20th Maine, supplemented by mutineers of the 2nd Maine, helped win the battle that preserved the Union.
How did a college professor with no military training help spearhead a pivotal victory? He answered, "I know how to learn." According to "The Leadership Moment", Chamberlain read, asked questions, watched, and listened. He read everything about warfare he could find after he received his commission. How he integrated mutinous troops gives us all lessons.
Later, Chamberlain became a Brigadier General and oversaw the handing over of Confederate colors from the Army of Northern Virginia. Chamberlain received the Congressional Medal of Honor and became Governor of Maine. He was widely respected in both the north and south for his conduct during the war.
The enduring lessons include the importance of purpose, the value of study, a willingness to improvise, and conducting oneself with honor on our 'battlefield'.
