Worthiest Civil War Hero

[syscom3]

By Sep he was BGen. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but it would be taken as an insult to call an O-6 or O-7 low ranking! There are only a few ranks above that!



Col and above are treated with VIP status.

I dont think Gen grant ever thought much of his "VIP" status.

But the point is.... his first actions in the war were as an officer where he was required to be up front on the lines with his raw troops.

[timshatz]

I believe he was also an officer of Volunteers as a Colonel. Probably Regular rank of Capt. But most of his upgrades were of Volunteers before his Regular rank moved.

[mkloby]

I believe he was also an officer of Volunteers as a Colonel. Probably Regular rank of Capt. But most of his upgrades were of Volunteers before his Regular rank moved.

Just out of curiosity - how do you draw that Col in the vols is the equivalent of a Capt in regulars?

Was the billet he held the same as the billet a Col in regulars would hold, or did he hold a billet equivalent to a Capt - which is basically just a company commander???

[renrich]

Soundbreaker, the Texas Brigade was the Grenadier Guard for Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. They fought at Eltham's Landing, Seven Days, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredricksburg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Wilderness, Petersburg, etc and were the rear guard during the final retreat to surrender at App. Courthouse. At the Wilderness when told that the Texas Brigade was leading the counterattack against Hancock's Corps, Lee said "Good, my Texans always move them" He also remarked about their foraging that " When the Texans are out foraging the chickens have to roost mighty high" Maybe that explains why they did not die from disease at the same rate as others.

[drgondog]

[QUOTE=mkloby;268237]By Sep he was BGen. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but it would be taken as an insult to call an O-6 or O-7 low ranking!
[QUOTE]

Only at the Puzzle Palace

[mkloby]

Only at the Puzzle Palace

I have no idea what that means!

[pbfoot]

The Pentagon

[mkloby]

The Pentagon

Geez - I've never heard that one before...

[drgondog]

Geez - I've never heard that one before...

Jeez - Mkloby you ARE a young toad.. my father served in both capacities, last as Dpty Chief of Staff Air Defense Command - Missles Div under Sandy McCorkle - and hated it. He was a line animal and cared less about the politics of the Pentagon. He decided to retire at 20 rather than do what had to be done in late 1950's to make 0-8 or 9

[Maharg]

Nathan Bedford Forrest gets my vote as well. IMHO the man was an 1860's version of todays Special Forces. He kept a lot of Union troops tied up protecting so called safe areas that could have been used elsewhere.

[Cota1992]

When I said eyeball to eyeball, I meant actually met the enemy like a common soldier and personally dispatched him as Forrest did. Chamberlain was certainly valiant but I don't believe there are any accounts of him actually being seen killing an enemy soldier although some of his pistol shots may have struck Confederate soldiers at Little Round Top if he actually fired his sidearm.

The hard part about this list is that you have men in diffent levels of command on it. Forrest to me is like a fighter pilot, in his kind of command you are mixing it up wither you are a private or a general.
Chamberlain's job is to stand firm, control his men, think under pressure and act on orders and adapt to the situation. Killing is not his first duty, but on the other hand, standing firm under fire (And such as Peterburg)even after being hit shows just as much resolve and bravery as burning powder to me, mind you I'm not knocking Forrest either.

Here's some quotes from Wikipedia (To save me some typing) Most of it sounds pretty eye ball to eyeball to me, he sure wasn't watching from a spy glass a mile to the rear.

Chamberlain's regiment marched to the Battle of Antietam, but did not participate in the fighting. They fought at the subsequent Battle of Fredericksburg, suffering relatively small numbers of casualties in the assaults on Marye's Heights, but were forced to spend a miserable night on the freezing battlefield among the many wounded from other regiments. Chamberlain chronicled this night well in his diary and went to great length discussing his having to use bodies of the fallen for shelter and a pillow while listening to the bullets zip into the corpses.

Battle of Gettysburg
Chamberlain achieved fame at the Battle of Gettysburg, where his valiant defense of Little Round Top became the focus of many publications and stories. Sent to defend the southern slope of Little Round Top by Col. Strong Vincent, Chamberlain found himself and the 20th Maine at the far left end of the Union line, with the 83rd Pennsylvania, 44th New York, and 16th Michigan infantry regiments to their right. He quickly understood Vincent's insistence of the tactical significance of Little Round Top, and thus the need for the 20th Maine to hold the Union left at all cost. The men from Maine waited until troops from the 15th Alabama regiment, under Col. William C. Oates, charged up the hill, attempting to flank the Union position. Time and time again the Confederates struck, until the 20th Maine was almost doubled back upon itself. With many casualties and ammunition running low, Col. Chamberlain recognized the dire circumstances and ordered his left wing (which was now looking southeast, compared to the rest of the regiment, which was facing west) to initiate a bayonet charge. From his report of the day: "At that crisis, I ordered the bayonet. The word was enough."

The 20th Maine charged down the hill, with the left wing wheeling continually to make the charging line swing like a hinge, thus creating a simultaneous frontal assault and flanking maneuver, capturing many of the Confederate soldiers and successfully saving the flank. Chamberlain was slightly wounded in the foot at that battle by a spent bullet. For his tenacity at defending Little Round Top he was known by the sobriquet Lion of the Round Top. Later in 1863, he developed malaria and was taken off of active duty until he recovered.


[edit] Brigade command
In May 1864, Chamberlain returned to the Army of the Potomac and was promoted to brigade commander shortly before the Siege of Petersburg. There, in a major action June 18 at Rives' Salient, Chamberlain was shot through the right hip and groin. Despite the injury, Chamberlain withdrew his sword and stuck it into the ground in order to keep himself upright to dissuade the growing resolve for retreat. He stood upright for several minutes until he collapsed and lay unconscious from loss of blood. The wound was considered fatal by the division's surgeon, who predicted he would perish; Chamberlain's ostensible death in battle was reported in the Maine newspapers, and Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant gave Chamberlain a battlefield promotion to brigadier general. Not expected to live, Chamberlain displayed surprising will and courage, and was back in command by November. Although many, including his wife Fanny, urged Chamberlain to resign, he was determined to serve through the end of the war.

In early 1865, Chamberlain was given command of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division of V Corps, and he continued to act with courage and resolve. On March 29, 1865, his brigade participated in a major skirmish on the Quaker Road during Grant's final advance that would finish the war. Despite losses, another wound (in the left arm and chest), and nearly being captured, Chamberlain was successful and brevetted to the rank of major general by President Abraham Lincoln.

In all, Chamberlain served in twenty battles and numerous skirmishes, he was cited for bravery four times, had six horses shot under him, and was wounded six times

Receiving the Confederate surrender at Appomattox
On the morning of April 9, 1865, Chamberlain learned of the desire by Lee to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia when a Confederate staff officer approached him under a flag of truce. "Sir," he reported to Chamberlain, "I am from General John Gordon. General Lee desires a cessation of hostilities until he can hear from General Grant as to the proposed surrender." The next day, Chamberlain was summoned to Union headquarters where Major General Charles Griffin informed him that of all the officers in the Federal Army, General Grant had selected Chamberlain to preside over the ceremony of the surrender and parole of the Confederate infantry at Appomattox Court House on April 12.

Thus Chamberlain was responsible for one of the most poignant scenes of the Civil War. As the Confederate soldiers marched down the road to surrender their arms and colors, Chamberlain, on his own initiative, ordered his men to come to attention and "carry arms" as a show of respect. Chamberlain described what happened next:

“ The gallant John B. Gordon, at the head of the marching column, outdoes us in courtesy. He was riding with downcast eyes and more than pensive look; but at this clatter of arms he raises his eyes and instantly catching the significance, wheels his horse with that superb grace of which he is master, drops the point of his sword to his stirrup, gives a command, at which the great Confederate ensign following him is dipped and his decimated brigades, as they reach our right, respond to the 'carry'. All the while on our part not a sound of trumpet or drum, not a cheer, nor a word nor motion of man, but awful stillness as if it were the passing of the dead. ”

Chamberlain's salute to the Confederate soldiers was unpopular with many in the North, but he defended his action in his memoirs, The Passing of the Armies. Many years later, Gordon, in his own memoirs, called Chamberlain "one of the knightliest soldiers of the Federal Army."


To read the whole thing thius is the address
Joshua Chamberlain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There's many great choices on this list and many not on there such as Tom Custer, but you can only have so many..

NBF would be high on my list as well

Art

[Njaco]

Thanks, Cota. That is why I picked him. Saluting a fallen enemy is about the worthiest thing one can do.

[syscom3]

Actually, I would change my vote for him.

Good choice.

[Maharg]

Cota I haven't looked at anything about the American Civil War for some time, and I had forgotten about Chamberlain he was a great soldier and certainly a man of honour.

[renrich]

Cota, Good post on Chamberlain. He was a good un. He went back to become the president of Bowdoin College and, I think, the Governer of Maine. Lived to a ripe old age in spite of after effects from many wounds. Interesting fact: The two generals who commanded the armys at the actual surrender ceremony, Gordon commanding "Lee's Miserables" and Chamberlain the Army of the Potomac had strikingly similar service records with Chamberlain being famous for his stand at Little Round Top and Gordon for his stand at Sharpsburg(you non Southrons know it as Antietam) However I will stick with Forrest both because of previously stated factors and also because I can't vote for a "damn yankee" "Save your Confederate money boys the South will rise again"