Colonel Joshua Chamberlain

Colonel Joshua Chamberlain
“The Killer Angels”

The Civil War battle of Gettysburg has been called the “High Tide of the Confederacy.” Mr. Shaara places the reader in the shoes of the major characters of the battle, those whose actions influenced the outcome the most. This report is about one such character, Colonel Joshua Chamberlain. The incident he was a part of happened on the second day of the battle.
On that second day, General Lee sent a major part of his army to attack the troops on the steep sided hill, Little Round Top, on the Union right. For the first time in the war his men were attacking the enemy on “the high ground.”
Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and his regiment, the 20th Maine, were placed on the side of Little Round Top that faced south towards the larger hill, Round Top. His men were not even facing the direction that the Confederate attack was expected from. They were facing the narrow gap between the hills.
Colonel Chambe...