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Born in 1828 in Brewer, Maine, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a professor of theology and rhetoric who would volunteer during the American Civil War in the Union Army. He was a highly respected and decorated Union officer, promoted to the rank of brigadier general (upon what was believed to be his death bed).
This thread is devoted to all information on Joshua – the good, the bad, the mythic.
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The movie Gettysburg brought Joshua Chamberlain new-found recognition as history the history of the Civil War was finding a surge of renewed interest during the 1990’s – but many of the ideas that remain unshakable about Chamberlain are based more on the actor’s performance than the man himself.
While described as “Knightly” by contemporaries on the battlefield, Chamberlain was also a strict disciplinarian, at times distant and cold with family members. He was humble – at times almost shy in the way a small boy is shy – but also constantly having to assert and promote himself as he chased recognition for his actions (with the bureaucratic, “highschool” mentality of the upper command of the Union Army, he would have had to made a case for himself). The bottom line is that Joshua Chamberlain was a very complex personality, with many oppositional character traits working upon him.
People study him for insight into leadership skills under fire – they discredit his bravery at Gettysburg on account of him being used as a pawn in a fight between Sickles and Meade – they see him as bad husband and neglectful brother… the goal here is to amass accounts and anecdotes to help define who Chamberlain really was.
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In an version of Chamberlain’s unpublished memoirs, he recounts a story that is both anecdotal and also may represent an overarching analogy for the style of the Chamberlain parents’ interactions with their children.
His father was bringing in a wagon full of hay when it got stuck in a ditch, with a stump between the wheels. The order is shouted to Joshua: “Clear that wheel!”. When the boy asks his father what he should do to it get it clear, the response is “Do it; that’s how!”. Chamberlain would cite this particular incident as one that crystalized his life’s outlook – learning how to take on a problem and be resourceful in himself in the moment. The overall effect of this parenting style would manifest differently in each child’s development into adulthood, but for Joshua is was “an order for life”. While the positive effects are very visible in his story, I sometimes wonder if the coolness or formal tone he took with his family didn’t stem from this influence – he was an ambitious man climbing to the top of a mountain; it was a lonely task and one where he could only rely on himself – he had no time to get hung up on unnecessary sentimentality… he needed to “clear that wheel”.
Maybe… maybe not… it’s just a theory. ?
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