Chamberlain's Lost Medal of Honor Found in Book

[speagle]

Thought some folks would enjoy this article.

The long-lost Medal of Honor belonging to the "Lion of Little Round Top" has been found.

The Medal awarded to then-Colonel (and later Maj. Gen.) Joshua L. Chamberlain for his "distinguished gallantry" in leading the 20th Maine volunteers on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg came by mail to the Pejepscot Historical Society in Maine in July from a donor who wished to remain anonymous.

Historians from the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress and the U.S. Army have since verified the authenticity of the medal.

"Though it seems almost too good to be true, we are confident that we are now in possession of Joshua Chamberlain's original Medal of Honor," said Pejepscot Historical Society Director Jennifer Blanchard.

"All of the experts we've consulted believe it to be authentic, and we are tremendously honored to return the medal to Chamberlain's home" in Brunswick, Maine, which is now a museum open to the public, Blanchard said in a statement.

After Chamberlain's death in 1914, the medal came into the possession of his last living descendant, granddaughter Rosamond Allen, the Times Record of Maine reported.

When she died in 2000, the contents of her estate were donated to the First Parish Church of Duxbury, Mass., and the anonymous donor found the medal in the back pages of a book he had purchased from the church, the newspaper said. The donor said the medal was given to the historical society "to honor all veterans."

Chamberlain, who served four terms as Maine governor after the war and was president of Bowdoin College, was called "one of the knightliest generals in the Federal Army" by an adversary -- Confederate Gen. John B. Gordon.

The "Fighting Professor" who taught languages and rhetoric had several horses shot out from under him through 24 battles, in which he was wounded six times, from Antietam to Appomattox.

It was on July 2, 1863, that he passed into legend on the second day at Gettysburg in command of the 20th Maine, which held the far left flank of the Union Army on Little Round Top.

Confederate Gen. James Longstreet sent wave after wave of infantry against Chamberlain's position. The Maine volunteers held, but barely.

Longstreet sent his Alabamians up the hill in one last push. Chamberlain later wrote that his troops were nearly out of ammunition. "At the crisis, I ordered the bayonet," he wrote.

In the desperate melee, a rebel officer aimed his handgun at Chamberlain at point-blank range and fired.

"In the excitement, his aim was poor and, strange to say, I was not hit," Chamberlain wrote. "I struck the weapon from his hand with my saber."

The stunned Alabamians fell back or surrendered under the weight of the charge by the 20th Maine. The flank had not been turned; the line had held. The next day, the charge by massed Confederate troops under Maj. Gen. George Pickett would be thrown back by the federals and the Union would be saved.

Chamberlain's feats at Gettysburg were dramatized in the best-selling novel "The Killer Angels," by Michael Shaara, and the Chamberlain character was played by actor Jeff Daniels in the movie "Gettysburg."

"It's a tremendous privilege to join with the Pejepscot Historical Society, and indeed, the people of Maine, in welcoming home General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's Medal of Honor," said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine., in a statement.

"This special moment undoubtedly captures the hearts and minds of all Mainers, as we continue to proudly recognize the legacy of General Chamberlain's leadership and heroism," King said.

Chamberlain continued to serve his state and nation long after the war. At age 70, he volunteered to fight in the Spanish-American War and later wrote that he was "greatly distressed" at being turned down.

[peter monahan]

Fantastic! Always good to read a good news story about honouring our heroes.

[dond]

Excellent news. One could argue that Chamberlain saved the Union that day on Little Round Top. Anyone that has not been to Gettysburg should go and visit the battlefield.

[Rogi]

Wow Thank you for sharing this amazing feet with us

That is one expensive and historical bookmark

I wonder what book it was found in

[azyeoman]

Excellent! I'm glad it will be on display for everyone to enjoy and not on the vault of a mega-museum-

[IrishGunner]

I agree with Don. Visit Gettysburg and walk the ground on the flank where the 20th Maine fixed bayonets and charged down hill through the thicket and woods. Awesome.

Today I am at Fredericksburg Battlefield. Another awesome battle.

[Guest Rick Research]

I haven't been to Gettysburg since 1968--has development been kept at bay? 45 years ago, if you ignored the regimental monuments, on another hot July day it seemed unchanged. It was then very much a walking place, and a climb up and down that hill, into the rocks of Devil's Den, and across that dreadful open field where Pickett's men fell is something one never forgets.

[Les]

The NPS has been actively attempting to make the battlefield look the way it did the last day of June 1863, by removing or planting trees, buying certain properties, installing split rail fences, etc. There is at least one major aspect of the battlefield that will never be the way it was then. During WWI, the military used the fields between the lines where Pickett's Charge took place for camping and training, and in the process, leveled the north-south running swales and small ridges there which paralleled the Union lines. The bulldozed landscape removed the roller-coaster appearance, and today, changes the way both sides would have seen the fields between the lines. The area today appears to be even more of a killing ground than it was at the time. If one can image in the mind's eye, a series of small ridges that would have provided Pickett's men at times with cover from artillery fire, it becomes possible to see why he thought the frontal attack against the Union center was possible.

[speagle]

Thanks to all who commented. I'm glad it was of interest.

Ed

[IrishGunner]

I've been going to Gettysburg off and on since the late 70s; the battlefield hasn't changed much in that time... Still fairly "untouched".

I was at Fredericksburg over the weekend; that battlefield has been totally absorbed by the town. The killing fields before Marye's Heights were built up in the 1920s/1930s with houses.

Edited September 16, 2013 by IrishGunner

[Paul R]

Thanks for sharing this very interesting story. I thought that this medal was lost to time. This is a huge find.

[Michael White]

Why did it take 30 years for Congress to award him this medal when there were 63 given for actions that day. This is the only thing that I do not understand about the award. Hindsight shouldn't be a criteria.

Mike