20th Maine

20th Maine was an infantry regiment raised in Maine for service with the Union Army during the American Civil War. Formed in 1862, the regiment served in the Army of the Potomac and fought in major campaigns such as the Siege of Petersburg, the Fredericksburg campaign, and the Gettysburg Campaign, gaining widespread recognition for its role at Battle of Gettysburg and in subsequent operations. The unit's actions influenced postwar memory in New England and national narratives about Civil War medicine and combat leadership.

Formation and Early Service

Organized at Augusta, Maine under state authority and mustered into federal service during the summer of 1862, the regiment drew volunteers from counties including Cumberland County, Maine, Oxford County, Maine, and Penobscot County, Maine. Early training connected recruits to camps such as Camp Lincoln (Augusta), with commissioning of junior officers by the Governor of Maine and coordination with the United States War Department. Initially assigned to the defenses of Washington, D.C. and attached to elements of the II Corps and later the V Corps, the regiment participated in patrols, picket duty, and expeditions in the Potomac River valley before engagement in larger field operations at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.

Role in the American Civil War

Throughout its service, the regiment operated under orders from corps and army commanders such as George B. McClellan, Ambrose Burnside, Joseph Hooker, and George G. Meade. Elements of the regiment engaged in combined operations with divisions led by figures including Daniel Sickles, Winfield Scott Hancock, and John Sedgwick. The unit saw action in the Maryland Campaign (1862), the Gettysburg Campaign, the Overland Campaign, and the Richmond–Petersburg Campaign, facing adversaries from the Army of Northern Virginia under command figures such as Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, and Richard S. Ewell. The regiment's tactical deployments involved line infantry formations common to engagements at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and later trench warfare at Petersburg.

Battle of Gettysburg and Little Round Top

During the Battle of Gettysburg the regiment held a decisive sector on Little Round Top on July 2, 1863. Ordered to defend the left flank of the Army of the Potomac against Confederate assaults, the unit's actions occurred amid coordinated attacks by brigades under commanders such as John Bell Hood, Evander Law, and Henry Heth. The regiment executed a notable bayonet charge that intersected with movements by nearby units including the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and elements of the 5th Corps. The stand at Little Round Top disrupted Confederate attempts to turn the Union flank during a day that also featured action at Culp's Hill, Seminary Ridge, and the Wheatfield. Contemporary accounts and postwar narratives connected the regiment's defense to leadership exhibited by field officers and to tactical doctrines debated by military historians concerned with decisions made by George G. Meade and subordinate commanders.

Subsequent Campaigns and Engagements

After Gettysburg the regiment participated in the Bristoe Campaign, the Mine Run Campaign, and the Overland Campaign including battles at Wilderness (1864), Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor. Later it joined the Siege of Petersburg operations, engaging in trench warfare and assaults near Hatcher's Run and Five Forks. The regiment also took part in the final operations leading to the Appomattox Campaign and the Surrender at Appomattox Court House, which involved armies and commanders such as Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. Wounded and missing from action were processed through railroad hospitals and general hospitals in locations such as Fredericksburg, Virginia and Washington, D.C., connecting veterans to broader veteran networks including the Grand Army of the Republic after the war.

Organization, Commanders, and Notable Personnel

Mustered officers included regimental leaders commissioned through state and federal channels; prominent among them was Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a former professor from Bowdoin College, who rose to regimental command and later brevet promotion connected to actions at Gettysburg and during the Appomattox Campaign. Other field officers and staff interacted with brigade and division commanders such as Strong Vincent, Robert Gould Shaw in broader New England contexts, and staff officers connected to corps headquarters. Notable enlisted men and subalterns came from communities across Maine and subsequently engaged in veterans' organizations, participated in reunions at sites like Gettysburg National Military Park, and contributed to postwar memoirs and histories that involved publishers and institutions including Harper & Brothers and Yale University Press scholars.

Legacy, Commemoration, and Cultural Impact

The regiment's reputation was memorialized in monuments at Gettysburg National Military Park and in local memorials across Maine towns such as Brunswick, Maine and Portland, Maine. Its story influenced historical works by authors associated with academic presses and popular histories, intersecting with cultural representations in films about Gettysburg (1993 film), biographies of Chamberlain, and military studies at institutions like West Point United States Military Academy. Annual commemorations, reenactments by organizations such as the Civil War Trust and scholarly conferences at venues including the American Battlefield Trust reinforced the unit's place in Civil War memory, preservation efforts at battlefields, and debates about leadership and tactics in 19th-century American warfare. Category:Maine Civil War regiments