Great link. Thanks. I read a speech given by Chamberlain after the war which he begins by saying words to the effect of, "First I want to say that the tales of my daring exploits, as reported in the local papers this week, are not true."
As an (old) journalism major, I can attest to the notion that Hearst would most definitely have juiced up a story in any way necessary to increase the sale of his papers.
I can add to this. George Washington Buck was the older brother of my 2nd great grandmother, Rebecca Buck Sawyer.
This is a fairly famous story: George was in his tent, when Alden Litchfield, the quartermaster, ordered him to chop wood. George refused on the grounds that he was sick and that he was a sergeant. Litchfield beat the bejesus out of George and busted him.
George made the best of it, and became well liked by his company. He was mortally wounded at Gettysburg, and his comrades called for Chamberlain. Chamberlain talked with him a bit and promoted him to back to sergeant as he was dying.
Several stories quote George as saying something along the lines of "I want my mother to know I didn't die a coward." That is most certainly untrue, because George's mother, Jane Williams Buck, died three years before in 1860. It did make for a good story.
The Buck family was only half way through tragedy. George's father, Africa Buck, died in the fall of 1863. George's brother, Henry, enlisted in the 1st DC Calvary, was wounded, and died in 1864 in a Confederate hospital. After his death, Henry was transferred to the 1st Maine Calvary.
That left my 2nd great grandmother in charge of four other children. She married Issac Sawyer and they stayed and are buried in Linneus, Maine. The other children spread out, with one going to California.
Litchfield was detested and distrusted by many. After the war, he returned home to Knox County and eventually served a prison term for bank robbery.
My 3rd great grandfather, Africa Buck, was a topic of a family story. My grandfather, Africa's great grandson, used to talk about Africa and his sisters, Asia and Europe. It was treated as gospel, but it wasn't true. No Asias or Europes in the family, but Africa did have a nephew named America.