July 22, 1975
Page 24102
JOSHUA CHAMBERLAIN'S FANTASTIC ORDER AT GETTYSBURG
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, an excellent account of the 20th Maine Regiment's successful battle at Little Round Top at Gettysburg was published recently in a letter to the editor of the Washington Star. Jack Ben-Rubin of Arlington, Va., describes the battle led by Joshua Chamberlain, who was later to become Governor of Maine. I ask unanimous consent that Mr. Rubin's letter be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: A BRILLIANT MOVE AT GETTYSBURG
I commend The Washington Star for publishing the interchange of letters on the Battle of Gettysburg, the most important battle fought on American soil.
In my previous letter (May 31), I mentioned the 20th Maine Regiment and Little Round Top, and implied that noticeable honor to these gallant soldiers was overlooked in history. On a corner of the battlefield, this regiment executed one of history's decisive small-unit military actions which baffles students of military history to this day. I think it is one aspect of the battle that should be told:
Little Round Top was the highest point on the Union line. If this position fell into the hands of the enemy, the Confederates would have the key to the battlefield: They would be able to oversee the whole Union line all the way up to the Cemetery Ridge. From this position, the Confederates could enfilade and decimate the Union line, command the critical Taneytown Road, and penetrate between Gen. Meade's troops and Washington.
When Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren saw the strategic and vulnerable Little Round Top was undefended, in desperation he quickly, enlisted the aid of contingents of the 5th Corps who were moving west to support Gen. Daniel E. Sickles' precarious position. The leading brigade were troops led by Col. Strong Vincent, and near the front was the 20th Regiment Infantry, Maine Volunteers, commanded by Joshua L. Chamberlain.
The 20th Maine was positioned to the left of the 83rd Pennsylvania Regiment at the base of Little Round Top and was the end of the Union line. To the left of the 20th Maine was a valley at the foot of Big Round Top, a hill which was covered with thick vegetation and large boulders, practically impassable.
The order was to hold at all costs.
As events were later to reveal, by being situated at the end of the Union line, the 20th Maine had been placed in the spotlight of history.
As the action began, Col. Chamberlain saw the gray mass of Col. William C. Oates' 15th and 47th Alabama Regiments, together with the 4th and 5th Texas Regiments of Gen, Evander M. Law's brigade advancing along the valley toward the left of the 20th Maine The Union regiment was outnumbered almost two to one.
Under such a battle situation, to avert a flank attack, it would be necessary to change the front of the entire regiment. But this maneuver would be precarious because the troops were on the spur of the high ground extending out from Little Round Top, and to swing the whole regiment back would necessitate breaking the link with the 83rd Pennsylvania Regiment. Actually, what Chamberlain did was incredible, considering that the regiment was under intense fire. He ordered the lower half of his line to move to left and rear, in a jackknife movement to be eventually at right angle with the upper half of his line.
Accordingly, while under unrelenting fire (trees were actually cut down by rifle bullets) and inaudible commands (the fray was ear-splitting), the lower half moved backwards, taking sidesteps to the left in a chorus-line manner, meanwhile keeping up their fire to the original front, without regard to targets, in order to conceal their movement. The regiment settled into a new deployment and the "L" formation surpassed and forestalled the Confederate thrust.
The fusillade on the swung troops was relentless: They were steadily being bent back, like the closing of a scissors blade, to the rear of the upper half of the line which had remained stationary throughout. At this time, the regiment lost about a third of its men, almost depleted of ammunition, exhausted, on orders not to withdraw, and knowing that they could not repel an impending Confederate attack.
It was then that Chamberlain gave another fantastic order. He ordered his men to attack — with fixed bayonets. But to do this was a difficult matter, the lower half of the line was bent back so far that a charge might disperse the regiment or cause it to split in two at the pivoting point of the lower and upper halves. The lower half had to swing over 90 degrees around first, until it lined up with the upper half, before the whole regiment could move forward.
This was done successfully, again under intense fire. The entire regiment then charged down on the enemy and the shocked Confederates fell back. Little Round Top was saved for the Union side.
Col. Chamberlain, a theologian and college professor with less than one year of military service at the time of the battle, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. His war record transformed his life and he ascended to the governorship of Maine and the presidency of Bowdoin College.
The greatest tribute came from his brave foe, Col. Oates, who said that there were never harder fighters than the 20th Maine and their gallant colonel, who saved Little Round Top and the Army of the Potomac from defeat.
JACK BEN-RUBIN
ARLINGTON, VA.