THE TWENTIETH MAINE
The twentieth Maine (which was a union regiment during the civil war) was formed in
August 1862 after the call to arms by Abraham Lincoln. The twentieth Maine was put
under the command of Colonel Adelbert Ames, who had distinguished himself at the
battle of Bull Run and was a strict military man, who immediately put his men to drilling
to prepare them for the war. Ames developed a quick bond with lieutenant colonel
Joshua L. Chamberlain, who had been a collage professor so he adapted very well to
military strategies, so Ames spent a lot of time teaching him military art.
The twentieth Maine fought in a couple of battles but there part in those battles
was very minor so with my report I will mainly focus on the large battles that they
fought in.
There first major battle was fought at Fredericksburg. The union army under the
command of General Burnside had just reached the Rappahannock River and Burnside
ordered his engineers to build pontoon bridges across the river. On the other side of the
river general lee had sent a group of solders under the command of general Barksdale to
slow down the union attempts to cross the river. After a couple days of this Burnside got
fed up and decided to bomb Fredericksburg and try to dislodge the confederates from
where they were hiding, but the plan failed and Burnside was forced to make a crossing
upstream away from where he had planned. So Burnside sent his men across the river
expecting heavy resistance but, general lee had decided to put up his defenses outside
the city on some hills. The position was a great one the union soldiers would have to
cross open ground to reach the hills and lee new they would have no chance. Burnside
after waiting a couple days sent a brigade against the confederate left flank, which was
commanded by Stonewall Jackson, and the attack almost broke through but Stonewall's
men were able to hold fast. The next day an attack was sent at the right flank, which
was commanded by James Longstreet, the first attack got completely destroyed when it
reached a ditch. The union soldiers were forced to withdraw after leaving a bridge
behind that would allow the next attack to cross with no problems. The twentieth main
was part of the seconded attack. They charged past the ditch and then started heading
for the stonewall that Longstreet’s men were behind. There was so much firing coming
from behind the stone wall that the twentieth Maine was pinned down. The only way
to stay hidden was to pile up dead bodies in front of you so that the confederate
soldiers couldn’t see you to shoot at you. They stayed pinned down over night and the
next day they charged from their position and where able to take the stone wall, the
only problem with this was the fact that the confederate’s behind the stone wall was
the first line of defense and there was an even bigger line of defense behind them. Over
the next night they were recalled and the union army retreated back across the
Rappahannock.
After the way that the twentieth Maine performed in the field colonel Adelbert
Ames was promoted to general, general Burnside was also replaced by General Joe
hooker.
After another failer in the field by the union army, under Hooker at
Chancellorsville, the union forces retreated back north out of Virginia. It was at this
point that lee decided to attack the north instead of defend as his army had been
doing the rest of the time. His army marched to a town called Gettysburg and thus
would start the most important battle in the war. The union army, which had just been
placed under the command of George Meade, had set up a horseshoe shaped defensive
position.
The left side commanded by general sickles moved forward to a different defensive
position to defend devils den, instead of little round top. His men were massacred at
the spot he chose to defend, and the union flank was now open to attack. Another
general by the name of warren saw this developing and quickly took the third corpse,
which contained the twentieth Maine, and put them in a defensive position on the left
flank. The twentieth Maine was put on little round top.
When colonel chamberlain, who was now in commanded of the twentieth Maine,
first got to little round top he sent out company B (there were companies all the way to
K) to defend big round top. Because he saw that if the confederates put cannon up
there his position would be indefensible. He did not here word from company B before
the attack started. The attack came at both his front and flank so he set his men up in
an angle defense. in the first charge the twentieth Maine hadn’t fixed bayonets and the
confederates had but even sow the twentieth Maine was still able to drive them back.
After even more charges by the confederates the twentieth Maine had run out of
ammo, Chamberlain also saw at this point that the confederates were about to charge
so he decided to charge them himself. When the twentieth Maine charged it through
the confederates into a panic and they started retreating. One of the confederate
companies turned and was about to fire a volley that would have ended the union
charge, when B company as well as some union sharpshooters, which had been hiding
behind a stonewall, fired a volley that sent the confederates running.
Gettysburg would be won the next day after Pickets charge. The twentieth Maine
would also go on to fight in more battles such as wilderness. They would also be there
at the end at Appomattox court house, and would be honored by being one of the few
companies present when the confederates laid down their arms. The regiment received
several medals of honor including one for Chamberlain for his actions at little round
top. Chamberlain later in the war was promoted to brigadier general; he was also shot
multiple times during the war and would eventually die from one when he was in his
sixties.