In the Hands of Providence: Joshua L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War by Alice Rains Trulock

Deserve[s] a place on every Civil War bookshelf.--New York Times Book Review

"Trulock brings her subject alive and escorts him through a brilliant career. One can easily say that the definitive work on Joshua Chamberlain has now been done.--James Robertson, Richmond Times-Dispatch

"An example of history as it should be written. The author combines exhaustive research with an engaging prose style to produce a compelling narrative which will interest scholars and Civil War buffs alike.--Journal of Military History

This remarkable biography traces the life and times of Joshua L. Chamberlain, the professor-turned-soldier who led the Twentieth Maine Regiment to glory at Gettysburg, earned a battlefield promotion to brigadier general from Ulysses S. Grant at Petersburg, and was wounded six times during the course of the Civil War. Chosen to accept the formal Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Chamberlain endeared himself to succeeding generations with his unforgettable salutation of Robert E. Lee's vanquished army. After the war, he went on to serve four terms as governor of his home state of Maine and later became president of Bowdoin College. He wrote prolifically about the war, including The Passing of the Armies, a classic account of the final campaign of the Army of the Potomac.

I was somewhat surprised that Chamberlain’s life before the war is covered quite a bit more than I expected. We’re given a look at a gentle soul, and then a gentleman, as his courtship of Fannie Adams, his future wife, attested. Yet his sense of honor and love of country would propel him away from his family and to a destiny that none could have prophesied of an academic. It would not take long for him to come to love his new life.

I appreciated that, while Chamberlain’s time during the early years of the war weren’t glossed over, neither is the reader given a blow-by-blow account of each battle. We learn what we need to know, as battles are fought and commanders come and go: McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, Meade. Then there was Gettysburg and Little Round Top and everything would change. Chamberlain’s role in that battle would be decisive, as a loss there would have been devastating for the Union. After the war, he would be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions there.

After Gettysburg he was given permanent command of the 3rd Brigade, but an attack of malaria would have him sent to D.C. and then home to recuperate. During his time away, a new commander-in-chief of the Union Army would be named: Ulysses S. Grant.

The war would go on, and Chamberlain would be wounded at the battle of Petersburg. For his leadership and gallantry there, he would be given a battlefield promotion to brigadier general by Grant, and then to Major general at the Battle of the Quaker and White Oaks Roads.

Because of his outstanding soldiering at Appomattox, he would be chosen by Grant to command the surrender ceremonies of the infantry of the Army of North Virginia.

Chamberlain’s life after the war is, unfortunately, pretty glossed over, even though he would serve four one-year terms as governor of Maine and that his marriage would almost end in divorce. Of course, one does understand that will be the case from the title. One does get the impression, though, that, with age, he would lose much of his progressive leanings.

On February 24th, 1914, nearly fifty years after the minié ball tore through Chamberlain at the battle of Petersburg, the culminated affects of it would finally kill him.




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