Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

Professor, war hero

• Born: September 8, 1828
• Birthplace: Brewer, Maine
• Died: February 24, 1914
• Place of death: Portland, Maine

Also known as: Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain

Education: Bowdoin College; Bangor Theological Seminary

Significance: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was an American educator and respected Civil War soldier. He specialized in teaching rhetoric and modern languages, and was a professor at Bowdoin College in Maine for many years. He volunteered to serve in the Union army during the American Civil War and became a war hero. He died in 1914 at the age of eighty-five.

Background

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was born on September 8, 1828, in Brewer, Maine. His birth name was Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain. He was the oldest of five siblings. Brewer was a small farming and shipbuilding community. Growing up, Chamberlain worked on his father’s farm. He spent a short time attending a military school in Ellsworth, as his father hoped he would pursue a military career. Many of Chamberlain’s ancestors had served in the military. He later decided to train as a teacher.

He enrolled at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, in 1848. He studied the classics and a number of languages. He proved very adept at language learning during his time at Bowdoin. He also joined one of the college’s secret societies. Chamberlain was serious about his studies and dedicated himself to higher learning. At college, he was introduced to Harriet Beecher Stowe, the wife of one of his professors. In 1851, he visited the Stowe family to hear a reading of Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which became a major success of nineteenth-century American literature.

Chamberlain graduated from Bowdoin College in 1852 and continued his studies at Bangor Theological Seminary. He studied there for three years before returning to Bowdoin. He was offered a chance to become a minister or missionary but turned down the opportunity to teach at Bowdoin. Chamberlain taught rhetoric and later began teaching modern languages. Although he was considered a professor of rhetoric, he would go on to teach classes in every subject except science and math.

Military Career

When the American Civil War erupted in 1861, Chamberlain wanted to join the Union army. His forefathers had served in the military before him. His father was a troop leader in the Aroostook War of 1838. His grandfather earned recognition for his local role in the War of 1812. His great-grandfathers had fought in the American Revolution (1775–1783). Bowdoin College was eager to keep him on staff, however. To persuade him to stay, they offered him paid leave to go study languages in Europe. He accepted the offer but then immediately volunteered to be a part of the military service to Maine’s governor. Shortly after, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. In 1863, he was appointed colonel.

Chamberlain participated in many conflicts throughout the Civil War. He fought in twenty-four battles and engaged in many other smaller skirmishes. His time in the military is remembered for two specific events. In July 1863, he and the troops under his command warded off a Confederate attack against the Union army’s left flank during the Battle of Gettysburg. Chamberlain and his men ran out of ammunition and initiated a bayonet charge against the Confederate forces. The group managed to fend off their attackers, and Chamberlain was later awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry.

Chamberlain sustained six wounds during his service. One of his wounds was very serious, and he was promoted to brigadier general in 1864 because Congress believed the wound was fatal. He survived, however, and played a major role in the surrender of General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army at Appomattox in Virginia. Chamberlain was chosen to receive the Confederate’s formal surrender of weapons and colors on April 12, 1865.

After the war’s end, Chamberlain briefly returned to teaching at Bowdoin. He was considered a war hero throughout Maine. He eventually decided to use this popularity to run for governor of the state as a Republican. He served as governor from 1867 to 1871. During this time, Chamberlain helped establish a college for agriculture and technical education that later became the University of Maine.

Chamberlain returned to Bowdoin in 1871 to serve as president of the college. During his tenure, he instituted new science and engineering curriculum into the college’s catalogue. He also established a new practice that required all students to partake in uniformed military drills. The students rebelled against these drills in 1874, however, and this persuaded the college’s governing board to eliminate the practice despite Chamberlain’s pushback.

He continued to serve as the school’s leader and taught classes as well. Chamberlain’s health began to decline in 1883, forcing him to resign from the Bowdoin presidency. His final decades were spent writing accounts of his war days and speculating in Florida real estate. Chamberlain was named surveyor of the port of Portland, Maine, in 1900. He lived in Portland until his death in 1914.

Impact

Chamberlain's contributions to the Civil War were largely forgotten in the years following the conflict. No monuments were erected in his honor following the war. He was hardly mentioned in US history books. His heroic deeds eventually saw recognition in the 1990s as interest in the Civil War rekindled. Chamberlain has since been acknowledged as a brave and level-headed figure of the Civil War.

Personal Life

Chamberlain married Fanny Adams in 1855. The couple had five children together, but only two survived to adulthood. Fanny died in 1905.

Bibliography

Calhoun, Charles. “A Brief Biography.” Pejepscot Historical Society, pejepscothistorical.org/chamberlain/biography-of-joshua-l-chamberlain. Accessed 10 Sept. 2018.

Hickman, Kennedy. “American Civil War: Major General Joshua L. Chamberlain.” ThoughtCo., 5 May 2017, www.thoughtco.com/major-general-joshua-l-chamberlain-2360679. Accessed 10 Sept. 2018.

“Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.” American Battlefield Trust, www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/joshua-lawrence-chamberlain. Accessed 10 Sept. 2018.

“Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.” Bowdoin College, learn.bowdoin.edu/joshua-lawrence-chamberlain/. Accessed 10 Sept. 2018.

“Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.” Ohio State University, ehistory.osu.edu/biographies/joshua-lawrence-chamberlain/. Accessed 10 Sept. 2018.

“Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Resources.” Bowdoin College Library, library.bowdoin.edu/arch/subject-guides/joshua-lawrence-chamberlain-resources.shtml. Accessed 10 Sept. 2018.