Which Individual Won the Civil War

I have been a student of the Civil War, or War Between the States for many years of my life. I have seen re-enactments and watched with awe and a chilled spine. I have studied many of the works of Shelby Foote and other authors and particularly enjoyed Ken Burn's video rendering of "The Civil War" on PBS.

Living in the south has given me the chance to visit the ghosts of Chickamauga Battlefield. It is indeed a haunting experience. The Chattanooga campaign was fought at my back door, and the munitions depot for this campaign is only 20 miles from my home at a little town called Bridgeport, Alabama. I have seen many civil war artifacts in stores and people's homes where they have found belt buckles, bayonets, mini balls, etc. with metal detectors. There were skirmishes and major battles fought, probably where I sit, writing this.

Very few people, if any, alive today know everything about the Civil War. I am merely a student and will remain so for the rest of my life; yet, I still have an opinion on an individual that turned the tide of the war. His name was Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. He was not a military man himself, although some of his relatives fought in the War of 1812.

Chamberlain was born in 1828, across the river from Bangor, Maine. He attended Bowdoin college and considered the ministry as a profession. Instead, he became a professor of rhetoric at his alma mater. When war broke out, he requested to enlist, but the college would not release him to do so. Instead, he requested a sabbatical, which would include further study. Chamberlain joined the Union Army instead.

He was appointed Lieutenant Colonel and was placed in command of the 20th Maine Volunteer Army. Chamberlain saw considerable action, but his brilliant moment was on July 2, 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg. His unit was placed on the Union right upon a hill called Little Round Top. They were the end of the line. If his defenses broke, the Confederates could out flank the Union Army and defeat would have been very possible if not likely. If this happened, Lee was on to Washington where terms of surrender were placed on Lincoln's desk.

The Rebels charged in wave after wave. Oates' Alabama; Texas regiments...beaten back, time after time by the 20th Maine; and only the 20th Maine...no reinforcements. The battle was so very heated, and the relentless charges of the Confederates cost the 20th Maine men and ammunition. They were still being attacked and they had no ammo.

Chamberlain, a student of military textbooks ordered a rarely used right wheel movement with bayonets mounted. The right wheel was a single line that swung down the mountain on a pivot as the spoke of a wagon wheel. The charge startled the Confederates...the yells; the bayonets; the few shots of ammunition; the 20th Maine with nothing to lose.

They stopped the Confederate charge and took prisoners. Chamberlain's heroic and daring movement won him respect and honor from his army. He saved the right of the Union flank, by quick thinking, and bravery. He was wounded in the foot at this battle.

Subsequently, Chamberlain was wounded six times during the war and had six horses shot from under him. He was promoted to General, and served the rest of the war with valor.

After the war, Chamberlain served four terms as governor of Maine. It is my belief that his right wheel maneuver saved the Union. Lee would have certainly defeated Meade if the right flank had collapsed.