Union Monuments - Maine

20th Maine Infantry Regiment

There are two monuments and a position marker to the Twentieth Maine Infantry Regiment on the battlefield at Gettysburg. One is south of Gettysburg on the southeast side of Little Round Top, and the second is near the summit of Big Round Top. The regiment's Company B also has a position marker 50 yards to the east of the Little Round Top monument.. (see map)

Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the 20th Maine's commander at the Battle of Gettysburg, has become one the most famous men of the Civil War thanks to the novel The Killer Angels and the movie Gettysburg. He was an incredible man, being wounded six times, earning the Medal of Honor, and going on after the war to serve as Governor of Maine and President of Bowdoin College.

The 20th Maine brought 386 men to the field, of whom 29 were killed, 91 wounded, and 5 missing.

From the front of the monument on Little Round Top:

Twentieth Maine
Volunteer Infantry
Third Brig. First Div.
Fifth Corps

The inscription surrounds the Maltese Cross symbol of the Union Fifth Army corps.

From the right side:

Here the 20th Maine Regiment, Col. J. L. Chamberlain commanding, forming the extreme left of the national line of battle on the 2nd day of July 1863, repulsed the attack of the extreme right of Longstreet's Corps and charged in turn, capturing 308 prisoners. The regiment lost 38 killed or mortally wounded and 93 wounded out of 358 engaged.

This monument erected by survivors of this regiment A.D. 1888. Marks very nearly the spot where the colors stood.

From the left side:

"Names of the officers and men of the Twentieth Maine Volunteers who were killed or died of wounds received in this action:

Capt. Charles W. Billings
1 Lieut. Arad H. Linscott
2nd Lieut. Warren L. Kendall
Corp. Joseph D.Simpson
Priv. John Reed Jr.
1st Serg. Issac W. Estes
Priv. Elliott L. Fogg
 "  Moses Davis
 "  Oliver L. Stevens
 "  Charles M. Beadle
Corp. Willard Pinkham
 "  Andrew D. Maybury
Priv. Stephen A. Prescott
Corp. Paschal M. Tripp
 "  John Foss
 "  William S. Hodgdon
Priv. Seth W. Clark
 "  John Wentworth

From the rear:

Priv. Oscar Wyer
 "  Charles F. Hall
 "  Benjamin W. Grant
 "  Frank B. Curtis
 "  Elfin J. Ross
Serg. William S. Jordan
Corp. Melville C. Law
Priv. James A. Knight
1st Serg. Charles W. Steele
Serg.George W. Buck
 "  Isaac M. Lathrop
Priv. Aaaron Adams
 "  Goodwin S. Ireland
 "   Iredell Lamson
 "  Alexander E. Lester
1st Serg. George S. Noyes
Priv. James R. Merrill
 "  William F. Merrill
 "  Stephen C. Chase
 "  Williard W. Buxton

Co. C
 "   I
 "  G
 "  A
 "  A
 "  C
 "  C
 "  C
 "  C
 "  C
 "  D
 "  D
 "  D
 "  F
 "  F
 "  F
 "  F
 "  F

 

Co. F
 "  F
 "  F
 "  F
 "  F
 "  G
 "  G
 "  G
 "  H
 "  H
 "  H
 "  H
 "  H
 "  H
 "  I
 " K
 " K
 " K
 " K 
 " K    

From the Company B marker:

Position of Company B,
20th Me. Vols., Capt. Walter
G. Morrill, detached as
skirmishers, attacking
the enemy's right flank,
afternoon of July 2, 1863.

From the monument on Big Round Top:

The 20th Maine Reg.
3d Brig. 1st. Div. 5th Corps
Colonel
Joshua L. Chamberlain
captured and held this
position on the evening
of July 2d, 1863, pursuing
the enemy from its front
on the line marked by
its monument below.
The Regt. lost in the battle
130 killed and wounded
out of 358 engaged.
This monument marks the
extreme left of the Union
line during the battle of
the 3d day.

See more about the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment during the Civil War