Without Tozier, there would not have been an opportunity for Chamberlain to attack. The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors database lists 3,600 men on its roster for this unit. Chamberlain whose right foot had been pieced by a shell fragment or a stone chip then limped along the regimental line giving instructions to align the left side of the regiment with the right. It runs just over 300 crow-flight miles from Fort Kent in the north to Kittery in the south. Moved to Manchester, thence marched to Washington, D.C., May 1-12. Moses Davis, Priv. By ord. wounded Duty at Ball's Cross Roads until June 5. Henry W. Slocums XII Corps and Daniel Sickles III Corps. Second Lieutenant, Elisha Besse, Jr., Oakiield Plantation. They were all very helpful and informative in their role as "honor guard" for the exhibit. Corporal Elisha Coan, a member of the 20th Maines color guard, claimed that 1st Lt. Holman S. Melcher, the acting commander of Company F, actually conceived the idea to advance the colors and that Colonel Chamberlain initially hesitated, fearing that it would be extremely hazardous. It was this group that Oates believed caused panic in his men. Instead of shooting them, Chamberlain wisely distributed the 2nd Maine veterans evenly to fill out the 20th Maines ranks and integrate experienced soldiers among the untested 20th Maine. 2. The last thing Vincent told Chamberlain was: This is the left of the Union line. The 16th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment lost 9 officers and 172 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded and 2 officers and 257 enlisted men to disease during the Civil War. Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Spear was brevetted colonel for faithful and meritorious service, 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 5th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 5th Army Corps, Organized at Portland and mustered in under Colonel Adelbert Ames and Lieutenant Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain, Left State for Alexandria, Va. The regiment saw limited action at the battles of Antietam in Maryland, and Fredericksburg . A highly cultured, somewhat sedentary professor of modern languages at Maines exclusive Bowdoin College, he had sat out the first year of the war on Bowdoins stately campus. The Union Army won a strategic victory as Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia withdrew after suffering considerable losses. The regiment lost four men killed and 32 wounded, charging deadly Maryes Heights late in the day on the 13th and spending the next day and two nights lying in the open in front of Confederate positions. Toziers bravery sparked the 20th Maine and changed the course of the engagement. Another crisis soon faced the Maine soldiers when the left side of the regiment drew even with the right, short of its planned position. The regiment wasreduced to around 400 men. Charles W. Steele, Serg.George W. Buck, SergIsaac M. Lathrop, Priv. You are to hold this ground at all costs! When their ammunition had almost run out, Chamberlain decided to fix bayonets and charge down into the two Alabama regiments. Stay up-to-date on the American Battlefield Trust's battlefield preservation efforts, travel tips, upcoming events, history content and more. Captain Samuel T. Keene, wounded, side, severely. 20th Maine Regiment Infantry ROSTERS: The composite rosters of this unit contain the names of 1 man. Meade reinforced his Union position with the I Corps, which was now led by Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday since Maj. Gen. John Reynolds had been mortally wounded earlier that day. Geary was ordered to rejoin the rest of his XII Corps at Culps Hill after elements of Sickles III Corps took his place. In late 1865 Joshua Chamberlain wrote of the 20th Maine, "It was made of the surplus recruits drifted together, the last of a call for 300,000 more. At that time, the brigade also consisted of the 16th Michigan, the 12th, 17th, and 44th New York, 83rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry regiments, and a Michigan company of sharpshooters. battery C, ist N. Y.; Joseph Linscott, Newcastle, regimental armorer; James Major General J.E.B. The 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment lost 9 officers and 138 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded and 1 officer and 145 enlisted men to disease during the Civil War. Color sergeant was a dangerous but coveted position in Civil War regiments, generally manned by the bravest soldier in the unit. There is some disagreement about exactly what Chamberlain said to order the bayonet charge. 1st. John Wentworth; Co. F, Priv. First Lieutenant, Holman S. Melcher, Topsham. Aaaron Adams, Priv. On Special Duty or Detached Service: Marcellus Blake, Carmel, [5][6], The participation of the 20th Maine in the Battle of Fredericksburg is depicted in the 2003 feature film "Gods And Generals" (prequel movie to 1993's Gettysburg based on Michael Shaara's son Jeff Shaara's historical novel of the same name). But did Chamberlain really deserve the credit he received? Chamberlain seemed to have been blessed with both good timing and luck. 1863. Gettysburg, and Descriptive rolls of the 2nd and 20th ME and personal With the new information from Nichols, Chamberlain ordered a right-angle formation, extending his line farther to the east. Company G at Gettysburg . Right wheel or Bayonet! Chamberlain called his company commanders together and told them his battle plans. Henry W. Getchell, Winslow, James H. Harrington, Bumham. Second Lieutenant, Warren L. Kendall, Belfast. (Chamberlain himself claimed later to have said, yes, sir, in a moment! On Special Duty or Detached Service: Charles W. Jackins, Bangor, The 2012 music video for the pop song "Some Nights" performed by Fun includes American Civil War Union soldiers serving in the regiment. George W. Buck, Linneus, promoted on the field, from Private. Later in life, Chamberlain wrote that his regiment was the first in line, but it actually took up its position last, curving its line back around to the east and forming the Union Armys extreme left flank. The men took up a position in a ravine east of Little Round Top. Grand Review May 23. He deployed Company B, recruited from Piscataquis County and commanded by level-headed Captain Walter G. Morrill of Williamsburg, forward to the regiments left front flank as skirmishers. After Chamberlain returned to the regimental center, Melcher asked permission to retrieve his wounded from the front. The 20th maine volunteers regiment at Gettysburg. Whitten, Isaiah, Alfred, Wardwell, David S., Clinton. Historic Blakely State Park. Bangor, battery C, ist Mass. At the Wilderness, May 6, 1864, as a part of Webb's Brigade, Gibbon's Division, Hancock's (2d) Corps, the 20th was heavily engaged on the Plank road losing Maj. Abbott and 35 officers and men killed or mortally wounded. Stevens. Chamberlain replied, If we couldnt do anything else we would give the Rebels the smallpox! Instead, the regiment wasassigned to guard duty on the telegraph line from headquarters to United States Ford, although Lt. cook. Captain, Atherton W. Clark, Waldoboro, acting Field Officer. Major Spear brevetted lieutenant colonel of volunteers for gallant and distinguished serves at Peebles Farm, Brevet Colonel Spear was promoted to full colonel, Regiment mustered out under Colonel Spear. He hastily sent messengers to Meade and Sickles, requesting immediate assistance. Charles M. Beadle, Corp. Willard Pinkham, Corp.Andrew D. Maybury, Priv. Morrill led his unit at the decisive point of the bayonet charge without orders. Gen. James J. Pettigrew approached the town leading a 2,584-man brigade that was part of Maj. Gen. Henry Heths division, he became aware of the Union cavalry force positioned there. Source: Acting Field Officer, Captain Atherton W. Clark, Waldoboro, company E. Acting Field Officer, Captain Ellis Spear, Wiscasset, company G. Acting Adjutant, First Lieutenant Thomas D. Chamberlain, Bangor, co. G. Quartermaster, Alden Litchfield, Rockland. Please enable JavaScript on your browser to best view this site. Alabama. Some take his deeds out of context, however, and mythologize him. It was assigned to the Army of the Potomac in the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, V Corps, where it would remain until mustered out on July 16, 1865. Stephen C. Chase, Priv. The 34-year-old Chamberlain was one of the most interesting figures in the Civil War. Captain Nichols wrote in 1882 that Company K never hesitated. On June 28, as the bulk of the Federal troops enjoyed a brief respite near Frederick, Md., Meade replaced Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac. On Little Round Top the 120 experienced combat veterans from the 2nd Maine brought the 20ths ranks up to 386 infantrymen and helped hold Chamberlains wobbling line together. The regiment's sudden, desperate bayonet charge blunted the Confederate assault on . mortally, shot in left lung, died July 24, buried 6th Corps In the confusion of shifting troops, however, Geary pulled his men out too soon, before Sickles men had moved to replace them. Although spread thinly, the Union troopers held their ground with repeating carbines. If the Southern troops could take and hold the hill, they could theoretically roll up the entire Union line. Strategically, Little Round Top held the key to the developing battle. Field and Staff ; A . Thomas A. Desjardin, Stand Firm Ye Boys From Maine: The 20th Maine and the Gettysburg Campaign, Gettysburg, Pa.: Thomas Publications, 1995. Company B, with its 44 men, was subsequently cut off by a flanking attack by the enemy, leaving the 20th with only 314 armed men on the main regimental line. Joshua Chamberlain was promoted to Colonel and commander of the regiment. He issued the more detailed Proclamation in January 1863. Chamberlain declined, saying that he would like to learn the position first and took the rank of lieutenant colonel instead. Soon, the 20th traveled by rail and steamer to Washington, D.C., to join the Army of the Potomac as part of Butterfield's "Light Brigade" of the Fifth Corps. ; Henry H. Butler, return Abner R. Small summed up the war well when he wrote in a letter to a friend, "War and heroes sound well in history but the reality is known to but the few that survive the strife.". Both Vincent and ORorke paid with their lives for their heroism. His source was the Maine Adjutant General's Annual Reports, Maine at Gettysburg, and Descriptive rolls of the 2nd and 20th ME and personal correspondence and . Stuart, directing Lees cavalry, had not returned to the main Southern column from his screening mission around the Union forces. Confederate General Ewells failure to carry out his orders and attack Cemetery Hill on the afternoon of July 1 wasted a golden opportunity for a quick, decisive victory.