Best known as the hero of Little Round Top at Gettysburg and the
commanding officer of the troops who accepted the Confederates'
surrender at Appomattox, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (1828-1914)
has become one of the most famous and most studied figures of Civil
War history. After the war, he went on to serve as governor of
Maine and president of Bowdoin College. The first collection of his
postwar letters, this book offers important insights for
understanding Chamberlain's later years and his place in
chronicling the war.
The letters included here reveal Chamberlain's perspective on
military events at Gettysburg, Five Forks, and Appomattox, and on
the planning of ceremonies to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of
Gettysburg. As Jeremiah Goulka points out in his introduction, the
letters also shed light on Chamberlain's views on politics, race
relations, and education, and they expose some of the personal
difficulties he faced late in life. On a broader scale,
Chamberlain's correspondence contributes to a better understanding
of the influence of Civil War veterans on American life and the
impact of the war on veterans themselves. It also says much about
state and national politics (including the politics of pensions),
family roles and relationships, and ideas of masculinity in
Victorian America.