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Watching `Gettysburg' again, I paid close attention to Col Chamberlain, 20th Maine's pre-Gettysburg speech to the 2nd (?) Maine's `mutineers'. What a speech; so honest and so very appealing. Is there evidence that the incident and the speech itself took place? Thank guys.
Regards from Down under where it's summer time and the living is easyyyyyyy!
Can't really say myself and maybe some of the other board members may know for sure, but to me, it looks like pure Hollywood.
Unionblue
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
Chamberlain mentions giving a speech as shown in Gettysburg in his auto biography but I don't believe he noted the text. There are no letters from the 2nd, to my knowledge, that really remember the speech. However, I have read a note from a Sgt in the 20th Maine about the speech and it simply states: "...the Colonel shamed some mutineers who felt their obligation was up and they came to their senses."
I'm tempted to believe it's pure Hollywood, though I admit to not knowing for certain.
The directors of Gettysburg pulled several things out of their hats. So I wouldn't put it past them. Regardless it's a **** fine speach.
__________________ Few take the trouble to understand or to view the American scene with perspective. And we Americans love to find ourselves guilty of something. However, it is never I who am guilty, but those other Americans, the past or present government or the other political party. Americans almost never find other countries guilty. It is always ourselves or our fancied influence in other countries. Louis L'amour
I'll look it up when I get home. I don't recall the speech but I have Chamberlain's Civil War autobiography titled "Passing of the Armies," I'll see how he references it in the book.
A quick search on the net revealed this book:
2nd Maine, "Second to None: The Story of the Second Maine Volunteers, "The Bangor Regiment," by James Mundy. The 2nd Maine Infantry was a conglomeration of lumberjacks, boat builders, mill men, mariners--men who were used to working hard. (The regiment was raised at Bangor, Maine, and was led by Colonels Charles D. Jameson, Charles W. Roberts and George Varney, and went on to participate in the carnage at Manassas, the Peninsular Campaign, the Seven Days Battles at the outskirts of Richmond, 2nd Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville). And when soldiering became their work, they fought hard. Bvt. Maj. General Joshua L. Chamberlain praised them as among the best soldiers he had ever commanded. He credited the regiment's color sergeant, Andrew J. Tozier, with saving the 20th Maine Infantry at Little Round Top on July 2nd, 1863, during the Battle of Gettysburg. Tozier won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroics. 2 other men from the 2nd Maine won the medal for feats during the 1st Battle of Bull Run, July 21st, 1861. The 2nd Maine, is Mundy's first book that focuses exclusively on the regiment. Nearly 300 pages chronicle the regiment's participation in the war. A regimental roster includes the soldiers' ages, hometowns, occupations, and as much information about each man as could be squeezed onto one line. (Reviewed by Civil War Times, Illustrated, November 1992). Originally published in 1993 by Harp Publications, Scarborough, Maine, 280 pages, maps, photos, roster, cost $ 35.00.
Thanks guys. Sounds as though there may have been a grain of truth in the Col. Chamberlain speech thing and as we know, Hollywood is only to happy to grab these things. e.g. the Nyland brother/Saving Private Ryan.
Very interested to hear of the make up of the 20th Maine Bill. Hard working and hard fighting men - a formula often put up about the Confederate fighting men. I suspect that like all men who believe in a cause, they all fought pretty hard.
Brian, I'm not close to my books right now, but a lot of those lovely speeches in the movie came straight out of "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara, the novel on which the movie was based. If you haven't read it, do yourself a favor (or favour) and get a copy!
I remember the first time I saw the movie. After Chamberlain gives his speech, he says rather sheepishly, "Well, I didn't mean to preach." I laughed out loud and told Mr. Zou, "Oh yes he did. He treated them like a bunch of recalcitrant schoolboys. Just what you'd expect from a teacher!"
It's still one of my favorite movies, time to watch it again.
I have to admit although I do not think the speech ever actually happened, I love Jeff Daniels in the role of Chamberlain and he does come across as a teacher scolding his students! The old saying 'if it ain't the truth, it oughtta be' is really relevant here!
Unionblue
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
You are right Neil, Jeff Daniels is great as Chamberlain in `Gettysburg', although I don't think he was quite as good in the role in `Gods & Generals'. I guess the speech may be a little `scriptwriter's licence' but it certainly is a fabulous piece of narrative. And if it wasn't made at the time, as you say Neil, it certainly should have.
__________________ Few take the trouble to understand or to view the American scene with perspective. And we Americans love to find ourselves guilty of something. However, it is never I who am guilty, but those other Americans, the past or present government or the other political party. Americans almost never find other countries guilty. It is always ourselves or our fancied influence in other countries. Louis L'amour
Actually, there was no real "anti-slavery" or "pro-Union" speech at all. He
did tell the 2nd Mainers that they were still under enlistments, and that they
were to fulfill their duties. In the movie, Chamberlain tells Private Bucklin
that he just took over duties as Colonel "a few days ago", but he really took
over in the latter part of May, 1863, after Adalbert Ames had been promoted.
The speech in the movie was pure "Hollywood".
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