Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Quick Facts

Name Meaning:

Joshua is of Hebrew origin
and means “God is Salvation”.

Vital Stats:

Birthday: September 28, 1828
Birth Name: Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain (he would eventually reverse his first and middle names)
Birthplace: Brewer, Maine
Date of Death: February 24th, 1914
Cause: Complications from his Civil War battle wounds. It has been said that Chamberlain was the last man to die from Civil War battle
wounds.
Place of Death: Portland, Maine
Height: 5’9″
Nationality: American
Ancestry: English and French
Occupation before Civil War: College Professor at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine (he was also a Bowdoin graduate).
Occupation during Civil War: Union Army office in, and eventual commander of, the 20th Maine Infantry; brigade commander; Brigadier General and Brevet Major General
Occupation after Civil War: Professor and president of Bowdoin College; Governor of Maine, commander of Maine State Militia, railroad construction and real estate businessman, writer, surveyor of the Port of Portland, Maine.

Major Battles:

Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Overland Campaign,
Petersburg Campaign and Siege, Five Forks,
Appomattox Campaign.

Relatives:

Father: Joshua Chamberlain, Jr.
(September 24,1800-August 10, 1880)
Mother: Sarah Brastow Chamberlain
(c. 1802-November 5th, 1888)
Brother: Horace B. Chamberlain
(November 14, 1834-December 7, 1861)
Sister: Sarah B. Chamberlain
(November 2, 1836-May 19, 1921)
Brother: John C. Chamberlain
(August 1, 1838-August 10, 1867)
Brother: Thomas D. Chamberlain
(April 29, 1841-August 12, 1896)

Romance:

Married on December 7, 1855 to
Francis “Fannie” Adams (August 12, 1825-October 18, 1905)

Children:

Daughter: Grace D. Chamberlain
(October 16, 1856-October 13, 1937)
Son: Harold W. Chamberlain
(October 10, 1858-May 10, 1928)
Daughter: Emily (born and died 1860)
Daughter: Gertrude (born and died 1865)
Also, an son of unknown name born in 1857
three months prematurely who did not survive.

Resources:

In the Hands of Providence: Joshua L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War by Alice Rains Trulock

The Grand Old Man of Maine: Selected Letters of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, 1865-1914 by James M. McPherson

The Passing of Armies: An Account Of The Final Campaign Of The Army Of The Potomac by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

The Twentieth Maine: A Classic Story of Joshua Chamberlain and His Volunteer Regiment by John J. Pullen