Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is a very notable character in the civil war movie "Gettysburg". He grew throughout this movie as a capable commander. Firstly, he was a man who held a good value of human life and dignity. Secondly, he also was a very intelligent person and great military strategist. Lastly, he was a very philosophical man.
Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a man who held a good value of human life and dignity in many ways. Firstly, he wanted to treat everyman equally. As his friend Sergeant Killrain stated, "...I'm fighting for the right to be judged on not who my father was, but for who I am...". Chamberlain also held the lives of his men on a high standard. One way this is shown is his refusing to shoot any of the Maine mutinies, knowing that they were fellow men from Maine. He cared for his brother, Thomas Chamberlain, throughout the movie and tolerated his brother being assigned to him despite his habit of calling him by his first name "Lawrence".
Joshua Chamberlain. Library of Congress descriptio...
English: Silver gelatin print, 20 x 18 cm, of Josh...
Chamberlain, MinnesotaLieutenant Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was also a very intelligent person and great military strategist in many ways. He was not a West Point graduate, but a college professor in Bowdoin College teaching rhetoric. He had to learn the military "lingo" and orders earlier in the war to become an adequate commander, which he did. He made one of the most important and risky military moves ever in American history: After Sickles moved his men into the Peach Orchard and Wheat Field to be ruthlessly slaughtered, troops including Chamberlain's 20th Maine took over Sickles's position on Little Round Top. He knew that he was the end of the Union "fish hook" formation and if he failed the entire army would collapse "...we cannot...