July 2, 1863, Josh Chamberlain's SWINGING GATE Saved the Union, atop Little Round Top

   In the Civil War there were moments in time, when the South could have won? Should have won? But didn't win  because of a combination of events beyond human planning, or fluke, or karma or luck, or even good vibes.

American history is weird; there are enough examples in it for you to come to the conclusion that  God's hand was at work. From the Divine Fog in the Revolutionary War, to the rainstorm which saved the White House in the War of 1812, to Josh Chamberlain being in command of the Union forces on Little Round Top, all point to the hand of the Almighty at work.

Josh Chamberlain is arguably the greatest American war hero of all time; Josh Chamberlain saved the Union, on the ground, in the trenches, in the blood and gore; Josh Chamberlain saved the Union.

"In all, Chamberlain served in 20 battles and numerous skirmishes, was cited for bravery four times, had six horses shot from under him, and was wounded six times."

He was wounded six times, and carried a bullet in him until his death, remarkably at the age of 85, after serving as Governor of Maine, and President of Bowdoin College.

Chamberlain died of his lingering wartime wounds in 1914. He was the last Civil War veteran to die as a result of wounds from the war."

Before the Civil War, Chamberlain was a teacher of classics at Bowdoin College in Maine, a teacher, of classics. As a teacher of classics he was well versed in the works of Julius Caesar, Roman and Greek military history.

That knowledge saved the Union.

LITTLE ROUND TOP

On July 2, 1863, Robert E. Lee, Commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia decided to win the war, not by Southern courage(as he was going to do on July 3rd, Pickett's Charge) but by Southern wit and genius.

He had a plan, to outflank the Federal Army, and he knew the plan would work, for he had used it before. During the Mexican War, a small invading American Army of 10,000 men led by General Winfield Scott was stopped cold, in the heart of Mexico by a larger Mexican Army who had the high ground. A Mexican army prepared to fight to the last man to hurl back the invading Gringos. Scott could not order a frontal attack,his army would have been cut to shreds, and he had no reinforcements. He asked Lee to come up with a battle plan. Lee did, and the result was the Battle of Cerro Gordo.

Lee found a defile way far to the flank of the Mexican Army; he used it to flank the Mexican Army and defeat them. It is such a legendary maneuver in American military circles, that General Norman Schwarzkopf used it in the first Gulf War to defeat the Iraqi Army, he called it the HAIL MARY.

Lee was going to use his own Hail Mary to win the Civil War.

Lee sent the Alabama boys way way way out on the Federal left; once they flanked the Federal left, they would be behind the Union Army. He would win the Civil War, just as his plan had won the Mexican War.

The last soldiers on the Union left, were the 20th Maine on Little Round Top, commanded by the school teacher, Joshua Chamberlain. All the Southerners have to do is get around him, and the war is won.

Chamberlain's orders were simple, hold at all cost.

All day the Confederates kept flanking him, and flanking him and flanking him until the 20th Maine was doubled back on itself.

And the 20th Maine was running out of ammunition.

One more Confederate charge and the war was lost and the Union dissolved.

But Chamberlain was a classics teacher; at this critical, seminal moment in American history, the man in command was a classics teacher. Not a professional soldier, not a politician soldier, not a careerist, but a classics teacher. It cannot be fluke that someone of his background and his knowledge is at this place, at this time, and in command.

For you see, Chamberlain, as a classics teacher, knew of the military maneuver, THE SWINGING GATE. 

It had not been used since Roman times; a professional West Point graduate would not have used it.

It could not be done, why use it? Why use it when it cannot be done?

West Point was not even teaching the SWINGING GATE; on that whole battlefield this Blogger suspects only two men knew what the SWINGING GATE was, Lee and this school teacher.  The classics teacher was there,in command, and he gave the order to do the SWINGING GATE.

"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. 

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" 

The charge came down the hill, not in a straight line, but  like a gate swinging closed. The man at the furthest extension of the line, charged down and in. It was extraordinary, this Blogger can find no incidence of any other commander using the swinging gate, before or after Little Round Top. Only then, only there.

Only a classics teacher, versed in classical studies would have the knowledge, and chutzpah to give that command...but why, of all the people, in all the world, was Chamberlain in command at the time, at that place?

SIDEBAR

"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:

"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."

SIDEBAR II

Chamberlain's political career ended after he served as Governor because in January 1880, there was a election dispute about who was Governor of Maine( Think Bush/Gore). Armed men  from one side seized the state capital of Maine, and Chamberlain was asked to quell the disturbance. 

He took over the State House from the armed men, sending them home, and declared himself neutral until the court could decide who was the new Governor. Both sides tried to bribe him, and offered him a US Senatorial seat. He refused.

One side even sent 30 men to lynch him; he stood them down, alone. He held the State House until the Court decided who the new Governor would be. All the men who tried to bribe him, or kill him never elected him to public office again.

Seventeen years after saving the Union, fifteen years after leaving a war in which he took SIX bullets for the Union, our Great American Hero was about to be lynched by fellow citizens, liberal New Englanders no less, because he would not do what they wanted.  Truthfully readers, is there anything more American than that? 

Our gratitude has a short attention span; so future heroes, be forewarned, we will idolize you or lynch you as we see fit. It is just the way we are. God can save our Union; but God does not save our heroes from disdain.

Josh Chamberlain