The Twentieth Maine: A Classic Story of Joshua Chamberlain and His Volunteer Regiment (1957)

by John J. Pullen

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
220	4	123,936	(4.02)	5
History. Nonfiction. HTML: It was at Little Round Top that the volunteer regiment, the Twentieth Maine, with Joshua Chamberlain in command, performed one of the miracles of the Civil War and saved the left flank of the Union battle line. Outnumbered two to one, their front doubled back to the shape of a horseshoe. And with ammunition gone, the men fixed bayonets, charged, and not only broke up the Confederate attack but took four hundred prisoners. At Appomattox, the Twentieth Maine was one of the regiments chosen to receive the surrender of General Lee's infantry, and Joshua Chamberlain, the Bowdoin professor who had become a general, was appointed to command the Union troops at the ceremony. Considered by Civil War historians to be one of the best regimental histories ever written, this beloved standard of American history tells how Chamberlain and his men fought at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville on their way to the pivotal battle of Gettysburg, where their heroism earned them a place in the history books. .… (more)

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

adolloffphd, sailorscreek, Jakethetoaster, RevRanger, heybuster, DMStewart, twogreys, jcarso1968, Epic_Books, Laurarutholiver

▾Tags

▾LibraryThing Recommendations

▾Lists

None

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 5 mentions

▾Member reviews

date ▼ | votes

Showing 4 of 4

They held Little Round top on the Secand Day of Gettysburg, and thus were the most heroic unit of that battle. their fame was largely confirmed by Joshua Chamberlain a writer who commanded the unit, but was not so attractive a character as the man portrayed by Jeff Daniels in the movie "Gettysburg". Chamberlain also wrote the classic description of the final pursuit of the Army of Northern Virginia "The Passing" of the Armies." He became rather a "Professional Hero" after the War, but was a good reporter of what he saw and did. He also wrote "Bayonet! Forward": My Civil War Reminiscences and "Through Blood and Fire at Gettysburg", Pullen did a good history of the unit. I read Pullen's book in 1963, thus this is a later edition. (

)

DinadansFriend | Dec 8, 2023 |

I loved this book and I have many Civil War books. Reminds me of the way Bruce Catton wrote. Lots of information, some that one does not find in the more noted Civil War histories, and it feels up close and personal. (

)

kconner | Mar 1, 2015 |

Superb account of a volunteer regiment and of Joshua Chamberlain , who played a key part in saving the Union line on the second day at the battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. I had read an earlier version of this book in my early adult years and it was a pleasure to read this latest version in my senior years. The author conveys a vivid picture of farmers , fisherman and outdoors Maine men and their transformation into veteran soldiers during the course of the war. (

)

tbrennan1 | Jul 10, 2013 |

A history of the now legendary Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine Regiment. Holders of Little Round Top and Saviors of the Union.

JBreedlove | May 29, 2006 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 4 of 4

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (3 possible)

▾Series and work relationships

Is abridged in

Reader's Digest Condensed Books 1958 v01 by Reader's Digest

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

National Book Award (Finalist – Nonfiction – 1958)

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Canonical title

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1957

People/Characters

Adelbert Ames

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

William C. Oates

Important places

USA

Adams County, Pennsylvania, USA

Antietam Creek, Pennsylvania-Maryland, USA

Appomattox Court House, Virginia, USA

Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA

(show all 10 items)

Important events

American Civil War (1861 | 1865)

Battle of Antietam (1862)

Battle of Fredericksburg (1862-12-13)

Battle of Chancellorsville

Gettysburg Campaign (1863)

(show all 7 items)

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

To my parents

First words

Quotations

Last words

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions

History. Nonfiction. HTML:

It was at Little Round Top that the volunteer regiment, the Twentieth Maine, with Joshua Chamberlain in command, performed one of the miracles of the Civil War and saved the left flank of the Union battle line. Outnumbered two to one, their front doubled back to the shape of a horseshoe. And with ammunition gone, the men fixed bayonets, charged, and not only broke up the Confederate attack but took four hundred prisoners.

At Appomattox, the Twentieth Maine was one of the regiments chosen to receive the surrender of General Lee's infantry, and Joshua Chamberlain, the Bowdoin professor who had become a general, was appointed to command the Union troops at the ceremony.

Considered by Civil War historians to be one of the best regimental histories ever written, this beloved standard of American history tells how Chamberlain and his men fought at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville on their way to the pivotal battle of Gettysburg, where their heroism earned them a place in the history books.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Haiku summary