Joshua Chamberlain: A Hero's Life and Legacy

by John J Pullen

Overview

From a National Book Award finalist, an “entertaining and inspiring” biography of the heroic Gettysburg commander, college president, and governor of Maine (Senator George J. Mitchell).
 
This is a vivid account of the life of Joshua Chamberlain, whose is best known for leading a successful bayonet charge against a Confederate assault that was memorialized in the film Gettysburg—and earned Chamberlain the Medal of Honor. But his life was long and his military, political, and academic careers were filled with numerous notable accomplishments as well, among them the governorship of Maine and presidency of Bowdoin College, before his Civil War wounds finally caught up with him in 1914. This account, with illustrations included, tells his absorbing, wide-ranging story, explores his continuing mystique, and paints a vivid picture of late nineteenth-century New England.
 
“A worthy tribute to Chamberlain’s lasting legacy.” —Civil War Book Review
“Joshua Chamberlain was much more than a war hero, and Pullen’s thoughtful book fills out the picture of his remarkable life.” —Senator George J. Mitchell
 
“Reveal[s] a complicated character, without diminishing the almost mythic status he has assumed.” —The Washington Times

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811740999
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/14/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	252
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

John J. Pullen, a renowned Civil War historian, also wrote Joshua Chamberlain: A Hero's Life and Legacy (978-0-8117-0886-9). He lived in Maine, writing about the Civil War until his death in 2003.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Prologue 1

1 A Very Perfect Knight 5

2 The Reluctant Republican 17

3 Dealing with Demon Rum 31

4 The Hanging of Clifton Harris 37

5 Maine As Maine Should Be 49

6 Reveille for Bowdoin 57

7 Mutiny of the Bowdoin Cadets 69

8 Maine on the Brink of Civil War 77

9 Another Round Top 89

10 Family Fortunes 107

11 Echoes of Martial Glory 123

12 A Battle Remembered 135

13 "You've Done Enough at Gettysburg," 151

14 Fame Returns 167

15 Recall to Service 175

16 Something Abides 185

Notes 190

Bibliography 202

Index 209

What People are Saying About This

George J. Mitchell

Joshua Chamberlain is much more than a war hero, and Pullen's thoughtful book fills out the picture of his remarkable life. An entertaining and inspiring story. Senator George J. Mitchell

Editorial Reviews

Recently, Joshua Chamberlain has emerged in the popular mind as the archetypal Union military hero, based largely on the actions of his regiment, the 20th Maine, at Gettysburg. His image now appears on T-shirts, and he has been immortalized in film and in prose. In short, his lifelong effort to fashion a heroic image of himself has prevailed. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Pullen's brief examination of Chamberlain's postwar life. Pullen, whose previous work includes a marvelous study of the 20th Maine, falls prey to uncritical hero worship, unpersuasively portraying Chamberlain as a martyr to his belief in sectional reconciliation while unquestioningly accepting his minimal interest in the fate of the freedmen. Pullen does remind us that Chamberlain pursued a public career in Maine politics and at Bowdoin College, but the patchwork nature of the prose, the author's ruminations about today's world, the acceptance of Chamberlain's words at face value, and the unyielding admiration of author for subject result in a flawed book.--Brooks D. Simpson, Arizona State Univ., Tempe

Library Journal