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The Maine lesson of Gettysburg: real history is never so romantic as reel The Maine lesson of Gettysburg: real history is never so romantic as reel
(3 months later)
The story goes like this: 150 years ago today, Little Round Top was the key to the Union position at the battle of Gettysburg. If the Confederates had taken the hill, they would have won the battle. If the Confederates had won the battle, they would have won the war.The story goes like this: 150 years ago today, Little Round Top was the key to the Union position at the battle of Gettysburg. If the Confederates had taken the hill, they would have won the battle. If the Confederates had won the battle, they would have won the war.
But the Confederates didn't take the hill, because a professor of languages and rhetoric from Bowdoin College commanded a bunch of Mainers in a heroic defence and, when their ammunition ran out, an even more heroic bayonet charge. Hollywood's version, in Gettysburg – a Ted Turner-funded epic based on The Killer Angels, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Shaara – goes like this:But the Confederates didn't take the hill, because a professor of languages and rhetoric from Bowdoin College commanded a bunch of Mainers in a heroic defence and, when their ammunition ran out, an even more heroic bayonet charge. Hollywood's version, in Gettysburg – a Ted Turner-funded epic based on The Killer Angels, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Shaara – goes like this:
Would that it were true. Would that the American Civil War was won by a "fighting professor" who looked like Jeff Daniels. (The only other actor I'd have play Chamberlain would be the other great Jeff, Jeff Bridges, but as he rode with Quantrill we'll count him out for now.)Would that it were true. Would that the American Civil War was won by a "fighting professor" who looked like Jeff Daniels. (The only other actor I'd have play Chamberlain would be the other great Jeff, Jeff Bridges, but as he rode with Quantrill we'll count him out for now.)
The thing is, a lot of people think Chamberlain did win the war on Little Round Top, in the way portrayed onscreen. Until I sat down to write this piece, I did.The thing is, a lot of people think Chamberlain did win the war on Little Round Top, in the way portrayed onscreen. Until I sat down to write this piece, I did.
After reading The Killer Angels and making it through all 366 minutes of Gettysburg, I thought I knew what happened on Little Round Top: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain became a hero. Of course, in the immediate circumstances of the battle he acted perfectly heroically, as did his men and theose who fought against them. But I needed Chamberlain to be something greater. I wanted to see Chamberlain's war as a "good war", fought solely to end slavery, and Chamberlain thus as the ultimate good soldier, an educated man fighting for equality with a 20th Maine which seemed, in my somewhat diseased brain, more like some sort of soviet than a regiment. If such a soldier could have won such a war in such fashion, he could – with some poetic licence – be held up as an example to modern-day liberals, an inspiration for the fight against reaction and the right. That was what I intended to propose here.After reading The Killer Angels and making it through all 366 minutes of Gettysburg, I thought I knew what happened on Little Round Top: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain became a hero. Of course, in the immediate circumstances of the battle he acted perfectly heroically, as did his men and theose who fought against them. But I needed Chamberlain to be something greater. I wanted to see Chamberlain's war as a "good war", fought solely to end slavery, and Chamberlain thus as the ultimate good soldier, an educated man fighting for equality with a 20th Maine which seemed, in my somewhat diseased brain, more like some sort of soviet than a regiment. If such a soldier could have won such a war in such fashion, he could – with some poetic licence – be held up as an example to modern-day liberals, an inspiration for the fight against reaction and the right. That was what I intended to propose here.
I should, of course, have known much better. So should anyone – liberal or conservative, northerner or southerner, history grad with a wildly overstated enthusiasm for 19th-century facial hair or normal person. The Killer Angels is a fiction, of which the film Gettysburg is an exaggeration. Such storytelling is hardly wrong – the book and the film are finely done. But it is the way such fictions assume the role of real history that is troubling. I should know, as ever since I took my degree I have said so at inordinate length to anyone unfortunate enough to be close by when some film or other has pretended the Americans broke the Enigma code, or Robin Hood had a mullet and a Californian drawl.I should, of course, have known much better. So should anyone – liberal or conservative, northerner or southerner, history grad with a wildly overstated enthusiasm for 19th-century facial hair or normal person. The Killer Angels is a fiction, of which the film Gettysburg is an exaggeration. Such storytelling is hardly wrong – the book and the film are finely done. But it is the way such fictions assume the role of real history that is troubling. I should know, as ever since I took my degree I have said so at inordinate length to anyone unfortunate enough to be close by when some film or other has pretended the Americans broke the Enigma code, or Robin Hood had a mullet and a Californian drawl.
Regarding Chamberlain and Little Round Top, my fondly held view first began to wobble when, after watching and re-watching Ken Burns' seminal documentary, The Civil War, I read Shelby Foote's The Civil War: a Narrative. (Which I enjoyed, honestly, and not just because it means I can tell everyone I read the whole thing.) In the chapter titled Stars in their Courses, a description of the Gettysburg campaign so evocative it was published as a separate book, Foote mentions Chamberlain just once, thus:Regarding Chamberlain and Little Round Top, my fondly held view first began to wobble when, after watching and re-watching Ken Burns' seminal documentary, The Civil War, I read Shelby Foote's The Civil War: a Narrative. (Which I enjoyed, honestly, and not just because it means I can tell everyone I read the whole thing.) In the chapter titled Stars in their Courses, a description of the Gettysburg campaign so evocative it was published as a separate book, Foote mentions Chamberlain just once, thus:
The conflict was particularly desperate on the far left, where the 20th Maine, made up of lumberjacks and fishermen under Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, a former minister and Bowdoin professor, opposed the 15th Alabama … composed for the most part of farmers.The conflict was particularly desperate on the far left, where the 20th Maine, made up of lumberjacks and fishermen under Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, a former minister and Bowdoin professor, opposed the 15th Alabama … composed for the most part of farmers.
Foote does write that the fight on Little Round Top might "perhaps" have decided the war. But of the commander of the side that won it, he says no more. Nothing about heroics. Nothing about eloquence under fire. This gave me pause. But Foote was a southerner and, more importantly, he was a novelist, not a historian. His book is a literary masterpiece. That explained that.Foote does write that the fight on Little Round Top might "perhaps" have decided the war. But of the commander of the side that won it, he says no more. Nothing about heroics. Nothing about eloquence under fire. This gave me pause. But Foote was a southerner and, more importantly, he was a novelist, not a historian. His book is a literary masterpiece. That explained that.
It took an excellent history of the fight for Little Round Top – Stand Firm Ye Boys from Maine – to dispel my wishful thinking for good. The book's author, Thomas A Desjardin, considers every contemporary and subsequent version and view of the fight, not just from the men of the 20th Maine but from the 15th Alabama, under Colonel William C Oates, who tried to take the hill from them. He thus produces a convincing picture of a haphazard, terrifying and – at the time and after, to combatants and historians alike – terminally confusing scrap. Desjardin also considers the historiography of Little Round Top, to the point of deconstructing his own title – a famous phrase which turns out to have been written in 1882 by a member of the 20th Maine who was in Philadelphia at the time of the battle.It took an excellent history of the fight for Little Round Top – Stand Firm Ye Boys from Maine – to dispel my wishful thinking for good. The book's author, Thomas A Desjardin, considers every contemporary and subsequent version and view of the fight, not just from the men of the 20th Maine but from the 15th Alabama, under Colonel William C Oates, who tried to take the hill from them. He thus produces a convincing picture of a haphazard, terrifying and – at the time and after, to combatants and historians alike – terminally confusing scrap. Desjardin also considers the historiography of Little Round Top, to the point of deconstructing his own title – a famous phrase which turns out to have been written in 1882 by a member of the 20th Maine who was in Philadelphia at the time of the battle.
As preparation for writing this piece, reading Desjardin – and indeed Chamberlain's memoirs, James MacPherson's superb general history, Battle Cry of Freedom, and more – was priceless. It reminded me that though historical fiction and drama has its place, written history must be the first source for the lay reader as well as the specialist.As preparation for writing this piece, reading Desjardin – and indeed Chamberlain's memoirs, James MacPherson's superb general history, Battle Cry of Freedom, and more – was priceless. It reminded me that though historical fiction and drama has its place, written history must be the first source for the lay reader as well as the specialist.
So far as any historian can be sure – and Desjardin has gone further towards certainty than anyone – the fight on Little Round Top was shaped by chance, circumstance and human error. By the time the Union troops came down the hill, the Confederates were exhausted and out of water: the men sent to fill their canteens had been captured. The Rebels' end was hastened by a Union company who missed most of the fight, until an accident of geography brought it to them. The famous bayonet charge did not save the day, because the day had already been saved. Nor did Chamberlain order the right wheel to the charge for which he has become known, partly thanks to Jeff Daniels and Ted Turner; he wasn't even sure he had completed any order at all, beyond shouting the word "bayonets". There was at the time – as after, as now, as forever – great confusion over who ordered the charge and how.So far as any historian can be sure – and Desjardin has gone further towards certainty than anyone – the fight on Little Round Top was shaped by chance, circumstance and human error. By the time the Union troops came down the hill, the Confederates were exhausted and out of water: the men sent to fill their canteens had been captured. The Rebels' end was hastened by a Union company who missed most of the fight, until an accident of geography brought it to them. The famous bayonet charge did not save the day, because the day had already been saved. Nor did Chamberlain order the right wheel to the charge for which he has become known, partly thanks to Jeff Daniels and Ted Turner; he wasn't even sure he had completed any order at all, beyond shouting the word "bayonets". There was at the time – as after, as now, as forever – great confusion over who ordered the charge and how.
Little Round Top did not decide the fate of a nation. It was not a great victory for equality, light and good. It was a horrible little fight in a large battle which was part of a vast, bloody and appalling war that we would do well to remember, primarily, that way. Had the Union soldiers lost it, the Confederates would not necessarily have won all else. After the Union won it, the Confederacy had not necessarily lost all else. After it, the war continued for two years.Little Round Top did not decide the fate of a nation. It was not a great victory for equality, light and good. It was a horrible little fight in a large battle which was part of a vast, bloody and appalling war that we would do well to remember, primarily, that way. Had the Union soldiers lost it, the Confederates would not necessarily have won all else. After the Union won it, the Confederacy had not necessarily lost all else. After it, the war continued for two years.
Considering modern attitudes to Thomas Jefferson, the historian Gordon Wood wrote:Considering modern attitudes to Thomas Jefferson, the historian Gordon Wood wrote:
We make a great mistake in idolizing and making symbols of authentic figures, who cannot and should not be ripped out of their time and place.We make a great mistake in idolizing and making symbols of authentic figures, who cannot and should not be ripped out of their time and place.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a brave man who lived a fascinating life – he survived illness and serious wounds, presided over the surrender of arms at Appomattox, and later won four terms as governor of his state. (He was against the prohibition of alcohol but in favour of capital punishment. Wood really does have a point.) What he did on 2 July 1863 makes for a hell of a story. But as anyone reading The Killer Angels, watching Gettysburg or walking the battlefield should remember with every page, frame and footstep, a hell of story is not the same thing as a proper history.Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a brave man who lived a fascinating life – he survived illness and serious wounds, presided over the surrender of arms at Appomattox, and later won four terms as governor of his state. (He was against the prohibition of alcohol but in favour of capital punishment. Wood really does have a point.) What he did on 2 July 1863 makes for a hell of a story. But as anyone reading The Killer Angels, watching Gettysburg or walking the battlefield should remember with every page, frame and footstep, a hell of story is not the same thing as a proper history.
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