Thomas A. Desjardin - Stand Firm Ye Boys From Maine:The 20th Maine and the Gettysburg Campaign: The 20th Maine and the Gettysburg Campaign

STAND FIRM
YE BOYS FROM MAINE

The 20th Maine
and the Gettysburg Campaign

FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Thomas A. Desjardin

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Desjardin, Thomas A., 1964
Stand firm ye boys from Maine : the 20th Maine and the Gettysburg
Campaign / Thomas A. Desjardin.Fifteenth anniversary ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-538231-0
1. Gettysburg Campaign, 1863. 2 United States. Army. Maine Infantry Regiment, 20th (18621865)History. 3. MaineHistoryCivil War, 18611865Regimental histories. 4. United StatesHistoryCivil War, 18611865Regimental histories. I. Title.
E475.51.D44 2009
973.7349dc222009031635

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper

This volume is dedicated to the forty-eight men of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment who gave their lives as a result of the Gettysburg Campaign.

Aaron Adams Charles Beadle Charles Billings George Buck Willard Buxton Stephen Chase Seth Clark Alvin Cutler Frank Curtis Moses Davis William Davis Melville Day Isaac Estes Lewis Flanders Elliott Fogg Elfin Foss John Foss Benjamin Grant Charles Hall William Hodgdon Goodwin Ireland William Jordan Warren Kendall James Knight Iredell Lamson Isaac Lathrop George Leach John Lenfest Alexander Lester Arad Linscott Andrew Mabury James Merrill William Merrill George Noyes Willard Pinkham Stephen Prescott John Reed, Jr. Gardiner Schwartz Joseph Simpson Alva Small Charles Steel Oliver Stevens Thomas Townsend Paschal Tripp Orrin Walker Sanford Wentworth John West Oscar Wyer

North From the Rappahannock

The Death-Strewn Slope

The Bigger Hill

Seared by the Horrors of War

In Great Deeds Something Abides

American Legend, American Shrine

Preface

Boots, Pejepscot HS; Sword, Bangor HS; Revolver, Maine State Museum; Flag, Maine State Museum; Memorials, Authors collection.

Chapter One

Sam Keene, Maine State Archives (MSA); Holman Melcher (1864), MSA; Adelbert Ames, MSA; Sgt. Albert Fernald, MSA; Joshua Chamberlain (1860 Yearbook photo), Bowdoin College; Joshua Chamberlain (1862), Pejepscot HS; Ellis Spear, MSA; Walter Morrill, MSA; John Chamberlain (1858), Pejepscot HS; Tom Chamberlain, MSA; William Livermore, GNMP, Charles Hamlin.

Chapter Two

Atherton Clark, MSA; Musicians of the 20th Maine, Pejepscot HS; William Oates, from Oates, The War ; Michael Bulger, Alabama Dept. of Archives and History; Elisha Coan, Bowdoin College; Henry Sidelinger, MSA; Joe Land, MSA; Officers of the 20th Maine, Abbott and Marjorie Spear; Waud sketch, Library of Congress.

Chapter Four

Looted dead, National Archives, courtesy William A. Frassanito; Trostle house, Library of Congress, courtesy William A. Frassanito; Trostle barn, Library of Congress, courtesy William A. Frassanito; Isabella Fogg, Ruth Kintzer.

Chapter Five

Lavinia Lenfest, Pejepscot HS; The Battle Flag, Abbott and Marjorie Spear; Choosing a site, Abbott and Marjorie Spear; Dedication of the monument, Authors collection; 15th Alabama Reunion, from Oates, The War ; Oates sketch, GNMP; Chamberlain (1905), Pejepscot HS; Oates (1898), Alabama Dept. of Archives and History.

Chapter Six

Battlefield road construction, GNMP (Tipton photos).

Wouldnt it be nice to know what really happened? How often have we asked ourselves that question when thinking about some legendary event of the distant past or even some relatively recent happening such as the fight at Little Round Top on July 2, 1863. This action has been particularly difficult to analyze and comprehend. It was fought by irregular formations of men among rocks and trees amidst thick smoke and under conditions of terrible stress. Understandably, the survivors came out of it with many different versions of what had taken placeeach version perhaps true as far as it went but not all-encompassing as a portrayal of the battle.