Honor Answering Honor: “Bloody Chamberlain” and the Surrender at Appomattox
Jimmy Price
Programs and Education Department
National Museum of the United States Army Project Office
It was one of the most iconic moments in all of American history – the famed “stillness” at Appomattox. After four years of bitter struggle, General Ulysses S. Grant’s armies had finally vanquished General Robert E. Lee’s vaunted Army of Northern Virginia. While the surrender terms had been agreed upon by Lee and Grant on April 9, 1865, the formal surrender ceremony did not take place until April 12th. Neither Lee nor Grant elected to attend the surrender ceremony. Instead, Grant selected Brevet Major General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain to receive the surrender of the Confederate infantry.Chamberlain as is Small
Chamberlain’s meteoric rise from college professor to Union general is now the stuff of legend, but in April of 1861, no one could have foreseen the role that he would play in preserving the Union. When the call to the colors was sounded following the firing on Fort Sumter, Chamberlain was residing in his native Maine, teaching rhetoric and modern languages at Bowdoin College. Stating that “I fear, this war, so costly of blood and treasure, will not cease until men of the North are willing to leave good positions,” Chamberlain wrote to the governor of Maine requesting an appointment and became a lieutenant colonel in the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment in 1862.
While Chamberlain’s role at Gettysburg is oft-repeated, his contributions during the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign of 1864-65 were of equal import. During that campaign Chamberlain sustained what was thought to be a fatal wound to the groin on June 18, 1864. Fearing his death was imminent, Grant promoted Chamberlain to brigadier general as a symbolic act of thanks. Miraculously, Chamberlain survived and returned to command in late 1864.
He was in command of the Army of the Potomac’s 1st Brigade, First Division, V Corps on March 29, 1865 when he was severely wounded again, earning him a brevet promotion to Major General and the nickname “Bloody Chamberlain.” Chamberlain was profoundly honored to command the surrender ceremony. Writing to his wife just one day later, he stated:
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