Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the Petersburg Campaign

His Supposed Charge from Fort Hell, his Near-Mortal Wounding, and a Civil War Myth Reconsidered

Dennis A. Rasbach

• Publisher: Savas Beatie
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781611213072
• Topic: Historia
• Subtopic: Historia de la Guerra de Secesión

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain earned the sobriquet “Lion of the Round Top” for his tactical brilliance leading his 20th Maine Infantry on the rocky wooded slopes of Little Round Top at on the evening of July 2, 1863. Promoted to brigade command, he was presumed mortally wounded during an assault at Petersburg on June 18, 1864, and bestowed a rare “on the spot” battlefield promotion to brigadier general. He survived, returned to the command in 1865, and participated in the surrender of Lee’s veterans at Appomattox.Chamberlain went to his grave a half-century later believing he was wounded while advancing alone from the future site of “Fort Hell.” His thrust, so he and others believed, was against the permanent fortifications of the Dimmock Line at Rives’ Salient, near the Jerusalem Plank Road, through a murderous flank fire from what was soon to become Confederate-held Fort Mahone. This narrative has been perpetuated by Chamberlain scholars and biographers over the past century. Chamberlain’s wounding and Rives’ Salient are now fused in the modern consciousness. This interpretation was given an additional mantle of authority with the erection of a Medal of Honor Recipient’s placard near South Crater Road by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources on November 8, 2014.In fact, author Dennis A. Rasbach argues, a careful review of the primary evidence left by Chamberlain and his contemporaries suggests that Chamberlain was mistaken regarding the larger context of the engagement in which he fought and fell. An overwhelming body of evidence, much of it derived from Chamberlain himself, demonstrates he actually attacked a different part of the Confederate line in the vicinity of an entirely different road. This part of the Petersburg campaign must now be rewritten to properly understand the important battle of June 18, 1864, and Chamberlain’s role in it.Richly illustrated with photos and original maps, and documented with extensive primary accounts, Rasbach’s Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the Petersburg Campaign dispels a well-established Civil War myth, and sets the historical record straight.

Table of contents

• Foreword
• Preface
• Dramatis Personae
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Smoke, Clouds, and Confusion: The Pitfalls of Embellishing Clouded Hindsight
• Chapter 2: History Sometimes Repeats Itself: And Historians Often Repeat Each Other
• Chapter 3: Chamberlain's “Charge at Fort Hell”: Orders and Objectives
• Chapter 4: Objective One: “Look Out for These Batteries Here”
• Chapter 5: Objective Two: “Those Batteries Out There Must be Dislodged”
• Chapter 6: Objective Three: “Attack and Carry the Works in Your Front”
• Chapter 7: Where Were the Guns? Chamberlain’s Artillery Support
• Chapter 8: Facts Matter: Major Roebling’s Rule
• Chapter 9: A Twist of Irony: Sweitzer’s Position Holds the Key
• Chapter 10: The Confederate View: Bushrod Johnson Speaks
• Chapter 11: Silent Confederate Witnesses: Joseph Kershaw and Charles Field
• Chapter 12: Where Were They Deployed? The Location of Cutler and Ayres
• Chapter 13: More Evidence: The Role of Burnside’s IX Corps
• Chapter 14: Memories Contradicted: Twitchell’s 7th Maine Battery
• Chapter 15: Understanding the Battlefield: The Terrain Never Lies
• Chapter 16: Objections Considered: Was it Fort Mahone?
• Chapter 17: Summary: The June 18 Evidence Speaks for Itself
• Chapter 18: Even Heroes Make Mistakes: Smoke, Clouds, and Confusion
• Chapter 19: For Posterity's Sake: Setting the Record Straight
• Postscript: Walking Into History: My Journey to Petersburg
• Afterword
• Appendix 1: Orders of Battle, June 18, 1864
• Appendix 2: Chamberlain’s Wound
• Appendix 3: Maps and Chamberlain’s Story at Petersburg
• Bibliography
• Index