Audio Read by Dr. Jeff McCausland
Excerpt written by Jeff McCausland and Tom Vossler
With the publication of Michael Shaara’s historical novel The Killer Angels in 1974 and production of the follow-on movie “Gettysburg” in 1993, college professor turned soldier Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain emerged as one of the enduring figures in the Gettysburg story. Indeed, the publics’ fascination with him continues to this time. We have included his story in our book Battle Tested because of the numerous leadership attributes he demonstrated at critical moments.
The war had already been underway for well over a year by the time Chamberlain set aside his teaching duties at Bowdoin College to enter military service. Apart from a brief stint as a youth in a private military school in his home state of Maine, Chamberlain had no military pedigree to speak of prior to his being commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of Volunteers in August 1862. His initial army assignment was deputy commander of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
Fortunately for Chamberlain, the commander of the regiment was Colonel Adelbert Ames whose military background included education and training at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and active field service during the war from the very first battle at Bull Run near Manassas, Virginia in July, 1861. Although seven years younger than Chamberlain, Ames effectively served as Chamberlain’s mentor in military leadership and command of a regiment of several hundred soldiers.
A highly intelligent man, Chamberlain made quick study of the lessons Ames provided him in a relative short period of time. In May 1862, only six weeks prior to the Battle at Gettysburg, the twenty-seven-year-old Ames was promoted out of the job, made a Brigadier General and given command of a four-regiment brigade elsewhere in the Union Army of the Potomac. Chamberlain was then promoted to full Colonel and given sole command of the 20th Maine Regiment.
While Ames deserves some credit in bringing Chamberlain up to standard on military leadership and matters of command, Chamberlain’s life accomplishments (he lived until 1914) attest to his innate leadership abilities which became more refined over time but also are a reflection of his inherent character. Chief among his many attributes was the ability to think beyond prescriptive solutions to complex problems while finding alternative, yet achievable, and successful ways to solve the problem at hand. Today we would call this out-of-the-box thinking.
During the second day of the Gettysburg battle, Chamberlain and the 360 men of the 20th Maine were part of a force of 1,100 men in defense of the dominant hill known as Little Round Top. The hill stood at the left (south) end of a three and one-half mile long defensive position of the Union Army. The 20th Maine under Chamberlain’s command was “the last unit on the left”. Such was the nature of the terrain, if Little Round Top fell into Confederate hands or should they successfully maneuver around it, then the entire Union position would have been compromised and the Union Army forced to retreat.
Arriving at their assigned position, Chamberlain was instructed by his commander, Colonel Strong Vincent, that he must hold the position “at all hazards”, meaning hold to the last man. Chamberlain deployed his men in position and awaited the Confederate attack which soon came. Confederate infantry, supported by artillery, repeatedly attacked the position tenaciously held by Chamberlain and his men. Even as a third of his men fell dead and wounded to enemy fire, the remainder of the regiment began to run out of ammunition. The decisive moment had arrived for Joshua Chamberlain.
OUT-OF-THE-BOX THINKING
Chamberlain obviously had two clear options. He could abandon the hill and retreat, or he could stay in place but risk being overrun and defeated. The first was contrary to the orders given him by his commander, Colonel Vincent, who, unbeknownst to Chamberlain, had been mortally wounded on the opposite end of the brigade line. Sadly, Vincent would die the following day. The second was the option no leader wishes to confront—do I sacrifice my team to accomplish the mission?
As previously mentioned, control of Little Round Top was critical to the maintenance of the Union line along Cemetery Ridge. But there was another reason that made defense of the hill critical. Roughly one mile northeast of Chamberlain’s position was the Union army’s reserve artillery park that held the ammunition reserve of seventy wagons, from which 19,000 rounds of artillery ammunition were issued during the second and third day of the battle.[i] If the Confederates had swept over Little Round Top and captured or destroyed this vital ammunition resupply on July 2, there would have been no artillery ammunition to support the Yankee army for a third day at Gettysburg.
Chamberlain determined there was another possible alternative. He turned to his men and ordered them to “fix bayonets” and charge down the hill to break up the Confederate attack. This was obviously out-of-the-box thinking, and his men may have been a bit stunned by the order— “You mean charge?” But they followed his orders, charged, broke up the Confederate attack, and ensured that the Union continued to control Little Round Top. There would be a third day at Gettysburg.
Curiously, his success may have been due to Chamberlain’s emotional intelligence (EQ) even though this concept was not even discussed until the twentieth century. EQ is largely associated with the research of Dr. Daniel Goleman of Yale University. It has to do with a leader’s ability to understand their own feelings, display empathy for others, and control their emotions particularly during difficult moments. Goleman further describes EQ into five domains: (1) knowing one’s emotions, or self-awareness, (2) managing emotions, (3) motivating oneself, (4) recognizing emotions in others, and (5) handling relationships often described as “empathy.”[ii] It is both introspective and focused on personal competence, allowing us to recognize certain tendencies and behaviors that can help move us forward. EQ also emphasizes social competence or a leader’s ability not only to manage critical relationships but also to recognize how the environment can influence behavior. It does appear that Chamberlain was able to manage his emotions and remain relatively calm at that critical moment, despite the enormous strain of the battlefield, and motivate himself. He also was aware of the condition of his men and his responsibilities to them. Chamberlain’s Out-of-the-box thinking on July 2, 1863 prevented the Union Army from being defeated at Gettysburg that day. It created the conditions for the climatic conclusion to the battle that would occur the next day.
[i] Coddington, Gettysburg Campaign, 336, 392. See also Matt Spruill, Summer Thunder—A Battlefield Guide to the Artillery at Gettysburg (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2010), 281.
[ii] Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (New York: Bantam Books, 1995), 43–44.
Parts of this article are excerpted and adapted from Battle Tested! Gettysburg Leadership Lessons for 21st Century Leaders written by Jeffrey D. McCausland and Tom Vossler. The book is available now! Order your copy at: https://bit.ly/battletestedbook.