Chamberlain, Joshua Lawrence (1828-1914), served as a Union Army officer during the American Civil War (1861-1865). He was also an educator and a governor of Maine. Chamberlain was born on Sept. 8, 1828, in Brewer, Maine. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1852 and from Bangor Theological Seminary in 1855. He then began teaching at Bowdoin.
In 1862, Chamberlain volunteered for service in the American Civil War and was made lieutenant colonel of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. In 1863, during the Battle of Gettysburg, Chamberlain and his men played an important role in the Union victory by preventing Confederate forces from taking a hill called Little Round Top. Although he was wounded in the fighting, Chamberlain continued to lead his forces. In 1893, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery.
In 1864, during the siege of Petersburg, Virginia, near Richmond, Chamberlain again continued to lead after being seriously wounded. General Ulysses S. Grant promoted Chamberlain on the battlefield to brigadier general. In 1865, Grant chose Chamberlain, then a major general, to command the Union troops that accepted the formal surrender of the Confederate army.
After his war service, Chamberlain won election to a one-year term as governor of Maine. He was reelected three times, serving from 1867 to 1871. In 1871 he became president of Bowdoin College. He remained in that post until 1883. His writings include Maine: Her Place in History (1877), and The Passing of the Armies (1915) about his Civil War experiences. Chamberlain died on Feb. 24, 1914.
