[music playing] NARRATOR: On the second day
of the Battle of Gettysburg, the fighting climaxed on
a hill just south of town. Whoever held this high ground
would determine not just the outcome of the battle, but
quite possibly the war itself. With the stakes as
high as the casualties, the conflict on this rocky
mound has transcended its place in history to become myth
and transformed its victories into legends. The Battle at Little Round Top,
next on "Civil War Combat". [music playing] In the summer of 1863, General
Lee and the army of Northern Virginia are on the move. After the Confederate
victory at Chancellorsville, which saw the Union outflanked
and outsmarted by Lee, the high-spirited and
replenished Confederate army takes the initiative
and invades the North. In response, Major
General Joseph Hooker, under orders of
President Lincoln to protect Washington,
DC at all costs, counters Lee with a march
to the North as well. During this advance
towards Pennsylvania, however, Hooker resigns and
is replaced by General George Meade. It is under his leadership
that the two armies engage at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,
initiating the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil. July 2, 1863, the second day
of the Battle of Gettysburg. The opposing armies
started nearly a mile apart on two parallel ridges. The army of the Potomac,
under General George Meade, occupies the high
ground on Cemetery Ridge in official formation. Robert E. Lee's Army of
Northern Virginia lines up along Seminary Ridge. Each side has their own critical
need for a victory here. The stakes are very high
at the Battle of Gettysburg. If Lee wins an
overwhelming victory here, he might be able to
take Washington, DC. And of course, that would
be calamitous to the Union. The Yankees are fighting
on their home soil. It's important for them
to win this battle. On the way up to Gettysburg,
Union and Confederate troops both wrote, I think this
battle will decide the war. NARRATOR: Regiments that did not
participate in the first day's fighting arrive in
Gettysburg throughout July 2. The 20th Maine March into town
from Hanover, Pennsylvania about 50 miles away. Tired, hungry, and
thirsty, they have no idea how or even if they will
be deployed in the fighting to come. Their leader, Joshua
Lawrence Chamberlain, is probably in the
worst shape of them all. He still suffers from
the lingering effects of malarial fever and dysentery. Even without his
debilitating illnesses, Chamberlain seems hardly the
stuff of which military heroes are made. One of the things that makes
Chamberlain so interesting is that he had almost no
training or preparation for what happened to
him at Gettysburg. He was trained as a minister
and a college professor, and that was pretty much what he
had done since finishing school as a youngster. And so the military was
about the farthest thing from his training and
education as one could get. Yet here at Gettysburg, he
performed so remarkably well that it makes it such
an interesting story. NARRATOR: Chamberlain couldn't
be more different from Colonel William C. Oates, the commander
of the 15th Alabama, a regiment that also arrives at Gettysburg
after its own grueling 20-mile march. THOMAS DESJARDIN: Oates
and Chamberlain were really opposite people before the
war, but very similar people, in some ways, after the war. Oates came from
what we call today, I suppose, a broken
home, tough life. Went out to Texas and thought
he had committed one murder, and thought he was
wanted for another. And Chamberlain grew
up in a Puritan Maine old-fashioned sort
of environment. NARRATOR: Despite
their differences, Oates and Chamberlain share
one essential point in common. They both have been
recently promoted to colonels of their
respective regiments and are eager to prove
their leadership in battle. By the end of the day,
they will get their chance against each other. They will face off on
an unnamed hill rising 150 feet above the southern
end of the Union line. This hill sits beside a
larger one called Round Top. After the battle,
the smaller hill will be known as
Little Round Top. Its lack of a name
on July 2, however, is apt, for the hill holds no
significance to either army for much of the day. Up until mid-afternoon,
only Union Signal Corps men occupy it. So much battle of
Gettysburg, any battle, it's a series of events, and how
people respond to those events. Little Round Top is
a perfect example. Not figuring in the
defense of the Union line or General Lee's
attack, Little Round Top becomes the key to the
position through consequence. NARRATOR: The chain
of events that led to the Battle
of Little Round Top begins at 3:00 PM on July 2. General George Meade rides
out to observe the Union left. With him is Major General
Gouverneur K. Warren. Off in the distance,
General Meade hears peppering in the
direction of Little Round Top and asks Warren to
ride over to yonder hill, as he refers to it, and
if anything serious is going on, attend to it. In Warren, Mead could not have
found a more qualified man for the task. Gouverneur Kemble Warren,
second in his class at West Point, went into the
engineers like so many people. By the time he
comes to Gettysburg, he's the chief engineer of
the Army of the Potomac. And if this guy knows anything,
if an engineer knows anything, he knows topography,
the lay of the land, and he would have
the possibility for intense and noble
service on July 2. NARRATOR: About 3:30 PM,
Warren arrives at yonder hill. He finds the hill abandoned
except for a small corps of signalmen. From the hilltop, Warren quickly
recognizes that the Southern line extends along Seminary
Ridge, far beyond the Union left. From there the Confederates
could easily outflank the Union line and capture
the undefended hill, the key to the whole position. THOMAS DESJARDIN:
Little Round Top is the key for a whole
bunch of reasons. Primarily, it
provides intelligence. You can see from the bald
front of Little Round Top most of Adams
County, Pennsylvania, where the battle took place. And for the Union Army to know
every move that Lee was making by being able to watch
it from up there, and for the Confederates to
reverse that, take the hill and prevent that information
from getting to the Union side, but then be able to see
most of the Union line and know what they
were doing was what made it really
a significant hill in a military sense. NARRATOR: Anxious to see if
the tree line at the crest of Seminary Ridge screens
Confederate formations, Warren orders the captain of a rifle
battery just in front of Little Round Top to fire a shot. Warren recalls
what happened next. MAN: Fire. ACTOR: As the shot went
whistling through the air, the sound of it reached
the enemy's troops and caused everyone to look
in the direction of it. This motion revealed to me
the glistening of gun barrels and bayonets of the enemy's
line of battle, already formed and far outflanking the
position of any of our troops. The discovery was intensely
thrilling to my feelings, and almost appalling. NARRATOR: In that
moment, Warren realizes the strategic importance
of this undefended hill and immediately
sends for troops. Within the hour, the Battle of
Little Round Top will begin. The glistening of gun barrels
transforms Little Round Top from an insignificant hill
to a key battle position on the afternoon
of July 2, 1863. Union forces, owing to
the timely observation of chief engineer
Gouverneur K. Warren, are the first to recognize
the hill's importance and fortify it against
a Confederate attack. On July 2, 1863, the goal
of the Confederate Army was to attack the Union Army. They weren't aiming for
a particular portion of the battlefield, or even a
particular point such as Little Round Top. However, certain commanders,
such as John Bell Hood, who would command the troops that
came to fight on Little Round Top, wanted to go
around little Round Top and cause a lot of
chaos in the Union rear. NARRATOR: Unlike his superiors,
who are nowhere near the scene, Major General John Bell
Hood receives intelligence from his scouts that the rebels
can outflank the Union troops in the peach orchards
in Devil's Den and capture the still
undefended hill. However, Hood's original
orders require him to attack up the Emmitsburg Road. Three times Hood requests that
General Longstreet, his Corps commander, reconsider. But Longstreet, following
Lee's wishes, denies him. Finally, under official
protest, the first and only time he does so in his career,
Hood ignores his orders and sends his Alabama and Texas
regiments towards Little Round Top. Colonel Oates and
the 15th Alabama anchor the extreme
right of Hood's line. THOMAS DESJARDIN: One of
Oates's difficult situations was that he was the last
command in the last regiment of the Confederate attack. And in order to make sure that
the attack flanks the enemy, gets around the end of the
enemy's line, whoever's in charge of that
last regiment has to find the left of the
enemy and do as much damage as you can. NARRATOR: After their
long march to Gettysburg, Oates and his men are
hardly in condition to inflict damage on anyone. They are already tired, and
the day's fighting hasn't even begun. Noting his troops' parched
condition on this hot summer day, Colonel Oates
sends a detail of 22 men to fill canteens of water. But before they return, the
order is given to advance. Oates laments-- ACTOR: It would have
been infinitely better to have waited five minutes for
those 22 men and the canteens of water. But generals never
asked the colonel if his regiment
is ready to move. The order was given,
and away we went. NARRATOR: Oates is especially
concerned about his ill younger brother John, a lieutenant. The colonel orders
him not to go forward, but the younger Oates
will not be left behind. ACTOR: Brother, if I
were to remain here, people would say that I
did it through cowardice. No, sir. I'm an officer, and I will never
disgrace the uniform I wear. I shall go through
unless I am killed, which I think is quite likely. NARRATOR: As the rebels begin
their advance from about a mile away, Union Lieutenant Randall
Mackenzie, one of the staff officers whom Gouverneur
Warren had sent for troops, comes upon a federal brigade
commanded by Colonel Strong Vincent. The name Strong fittingly
describes the 26-year-old's athletic physique
and his convictions. On the march to Gettysburg,
he had declared-- ACTOR: What death more
glorious can any man desire than to die on the soil
of old Pennsylvania, fighting for that flag. Strong Vincent was a natural
leader, the type of guy that could walk into a situation
and people would automatically look to for instruction
or for leadership. He was that type of a person,
graduating from Harvard. Little military
experience, but he grasped the military situation
wherever he was immediately. NARRATOR: Mackenzie
tells Vincent he seeks General Bonds,
Vincent's superior, to order troops to
Little Round Top. But Vincent, bypassing
the protocol of command, assumes responsibility. About 4:30 PM, he detaches
his brigade of four regiments, including Joshua Lawrence
Chamberlain and the 20th Maine, to defend Little Round Top. Vincent rides in advance of
his men to select their battle positions. People with limited
experience might say, well, we'll form them
up on top of the hill, and we'll fight a defense from
up at an advantageous position. He does not do that. He places them on what would
be the southern slope of Little Round Top. He has to determine
where the point of attack is going to occur. He doesn't want the
Confederate army to dictate the point of attack. NARRATOR: Vincent informs
his regimental commanders of their positions. He meets first with Colonel
Chamberlain of the 20th Maine. ACTOR: Colonel Vincent
indicated to me the ground my regiment was to
occupy, informing me that this was the extreme left
of our general line and that a desperate attack
was expected in order to turn that opposition, concluding by
telling me that I was to hold that ground at all hazards. This was the last
word I heard from him. NARRATOR: To the immediate
right of the 20th Maine, Vincent intends to place
the 83rd Pennsylvania, followed by the 16th
Michigan and 44th New York. Colonel James Rice,
the 44th's commander, informs Vincent that in every
battle, the 44th and the 83rd fought side by side, and he
requests that they do so today. Strong Vincent obliges
the colonel, James Rice, and swaps the 16th Michigan
with the 44th New York. That right there proved very
much a key to that defense in his brigade because
what he did with that move, by putting on elevated ground
the 200 men of his weakest regiment, up on higher ground,
up towards the top of Little Round Top, towards
the summit, he put the strength of his
brigade right up front at the point of attack. NARRATOR: As soon as
the regiments reach their positions, they
send out skirmishes to meet the enemy several
yards below and before them. In the Confederate advance,
Oates' 15th Alabama and the 47th Alabama, which
had fallen under his command, force Union sharpshooters to
retreat up and over Round Top, the larger of the two hills. But the canteen detail Oates
had sent out before the advance misses the regiment in the
woods, walks into Union lines, and gets captured,
canteens and all. Now at the crest of Round
Top, Oates's men exhausted and in desperate need of water,
are given little time to rest. Word comes that General Hood
has been wounded in the arm and that General Law has
assumed division command. His orders are to press
on, turn the Union left, and capture Little Round Top. Oates protests. ACTOR: Within half an
hour, I could convert it into a Gibraltar that I
could hold against 10 times the number of men I had. Hence, in my judgment,
it should be held and occupied by artillery
as soon as possible. NARRATOR: But General
Law's order stands. Oates is to press forward and
drive everything before him as far as possible Oates
readies his men for the assault. They will encounter a formidable
obstacle in their quest to take Little Round Top,
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the 20th Maine. July 2, 1863. The Union and
Confederate Armies are about to engage on
Little Round Top. The rebel advance
towards the hill succeeds in pushing
aside Union skirmishes. When the 4th Alabama and
4th and 5th Texas brigades reached the base of the
hill, the rugged ground and enemy shells make their
assault a treacherous one. [gunfire] Though the regiments are
not at full strength, their combined force
of some 1800 men still outnumber their foe. But Union troops have
two major advantages. They're fighting on
home soil and hold a hill whose topography
couldn't be more advantageous. Little Round Top is just about
as perfect a Civil War spot as you could find to fight in. It's this steep hill with
a bald front, no trees, so you can see forever. The enemy can't sneak up on you. And it's just covered with
boulders the size of cars. And so as a place to be in a
battle defending a position, it's just perfect for a soldier. Lots of places to hide. The enemy can't sneak up on you. And so I think part of
the psychology of the hill is that it just looks like this
perfect place to put a unit. NARRATOR: At about 4:45 PM,
the Alabamians and Texans begin their ascent. The boulders at the
base of the hill make it difficult for them
to maintain their line. Colonel Powell of the
5th Texas observed that the ascent was so difficult
as to forbid the use of arms. Taking shelter around the
rocks, the Confederates strike at the center
of the Union line, held by the 44th New York
and 83rd Pennsylvania. Colonel Strong
Vincent had indeed determined the point of attack. His center regiments respond
with deadly precision, pouring fire into the rebels below,
who have little choice but to withdraw and reform. Vincent's line
succeeds in holding off the first Confederate assault.
But the determined Southerners advance a second time,
marching over ground now strewn with the bodies of their
dead and wounded comrades. As they ascend the hill again,
they meet the Union fusillage with their own fury of lead. The uneven terrain, the
irregular battle lines, and the descending
afternoon light create a scene as
lethal as it is chaotic. THOMAS DESJARDIN: There's a
great account from a Texan who said, generals and
privates were all giving orders and no one was listening
to any of them. The confusion really
was the dominating thing in the minds of most of
the men who were there. That's what combat was,
not this orderly thing that we try to portray to
people today so that you can understand it better. NARRATOR: The second
Confederate advance is repelled, but Vincent is in desperate
need of reinforcements to withstand the
inevitable resumption of the Confederate attack. Aid comes from the
north slope of the hill with the arrival of
Captain Augustus P. Martin of the 5th
Corps Artillery Brigade and one of his company
commanders, Lieutenant Charles Hazlett. They meet with General Warren
and assess the hilltop's suitability for cannons. Warren is troubled, pointing
out the difficult rocky terrain and the hill's ineffectual
position for artillery. But these realities
don't discourage Hazlett. ACTOR: Never mind that. The sound of my guns will
be encouraging to our troops and disheartening to the others. And my battery is of no
use if this hill is lost. NARRATOR: Captain
Martin concurs, and it's agreed that
Hazlett's six cannons are to be placed on the crest of the
hill, a feat in and of itself. GARY ADELMAN: The troops who
fought in Hazlett's battery when they wrote of the Battle
of Gettysburg, they didn't say, wow, we've just fought in the
biggest battle ever fought in American history. They didn't say, wow, I just
saw a lot of my friends die. They said, wow, it was really
tough to get those cannons on top of Little
Round Top on July 2. NARRATOR: At first, the gun
teams, under spur and whip, trot up the back
side of the hill. But the slope's steep
incline soon slows their pace to a near standstill. Undaunted, Hazlett
has the cannoneers unlimber the guns and,
with drivers and borrowed infantrymen, they push, pull,
and lift the six cannons up the hill. Even General Warren lends a
hand, spurred on by Hazlett's exemplary leadership. ACTOR: Even in that
desperate scene, there stood the impersonation
of valor and heroic beauty. No nobler men fought
or fell that day. NARRATOR: With his artillery
finally atop the hill, Hazlett opens fire on the
charging Confederate forces. The sound of his
cannon rejuvenates the Union's desperate
defense of Little Round Top. But as impressive as
Hazlett's battery maneuver is, their cannonballs
won't keep a bullet from grazing General Warren's
throat and drawing blood. Warren is not seriously
injured, but he realizes, perhaps a little too close
for comfort, that more reinforcements are needed. Meanwhile, on the
southern slope, Vincent's line has successfully
held off two assaults from the 4th and 5th Texas. Undaunted, the Texans
launched a third attack with the help of
the 48th Alabama on their left and Colonel
Oates's 15th Alabama on the right. The unabated combat
wears down both sides. Vincent's regiments
suffered heavy casualties and run low on ammunition,
while discipline breaks down in the Southern ranks. But the rebels persist, and
the right of Vincent's line begins to crumble. [gunfire and shouting] In the confusion of
battle, a Union officer blunders, shouting for the
16th Michigan to fall back. This action creates
a gap in the defense. Vincent throws himself
into the breach, rallying the 44th New York to
relieve the pressure on what remains of the 16th, crying,
"Don't give an inch!" Strong Vincent, of
course, shows his leadership in constantly
supporting his men. He's up and down that
line, encouraging the man, exposing himself to the
fire, which was very thick. And that not only shows a
lot of courage on his part, but shows his
outstanding leadership. NARRATOR: A bullet tears through
Vincent's thigh and groin, fractures his thigh bone,
and lodges in his body. For five days he
fights for his life, finally succumbing
to his wounds. Vincent dies on his own terms,
in defense of his home soil, for the flag he so loved. [gunfire and shouting] His loss would prove costly. The brigade, now under the
command of Colonel James Rice of the 44th
New York, fights on. But the Texans succeed in
gaining a portion of a plateau and verge on capturing
Little Round Top. It will take the leadership
of another fearless Union commander to drive them back. As the light begins to
fade on July 2, 1863, the fortunes seem to dim for
the Union forces defending the southern slope
of Little Round Top. For more than an hour,
they have beaten back two Confederate assaults,
but a third attack led by diligent
Texans has succeeded in gaining a portion of a
plateau just below the crest. Taking the hill is now
within rebel reach. General Gouverneur
Warren, responding quickly to the danger, heads
off for reinforcements. At the north face
of Little Round Top, Warren comes across
his old brigade, and the first officer he sees
is Colonel Patrick O'Rourke of the 140th New York. THOMAS DESJARDIN: Patrick
O'Rourke was a first generation Irishman who had
lived prior to the war up in the very northern
part of New York. Paddy O'Rourke's
real claim to fame was that he graduated
first in the same class at West Point in which George
Armstrong Custer finished last. And other than that, he was
not really all that well-known to history until he
arrived at Gettysburg. NARRATOR: Warren urgently
requests the regiment to move out, but O'Rourke
replies that they await the return of their commander,
Brigadier General Stephen Weed, with their orders. But Warren, insistent,
takes the responsibility for detaching the 140th and
directs them to the hilltop. O'Rourke doesn't hesitate and
leads his men to the crest. MAN: Shoulder. Arms. Left face. March. THOMAS HOLBROOK:
Patrick O'Rourke wasn't giving any particular
orders on who to support. And when there's
confusion and when there's very little guidance, and where
are you to support your man, he thinks back to an old analogy
that he learned at West Point. And that's go to the sound
of the heaviest fighting, and he did. NARRATOR: The heaviest
fighting is on the Union right, where the 44th New York and
remnants of the 16th Michigan fight off the Texas regiments
on the verge of taking the hill. O'Rourke's arrival
couldn't be better timed. Instantly the New Yorker
assesses the dire situation. Captain Porter Farley watched
his commander take action. ACTOR: O'Rourke shouted,
down this way, boys, and following him, we
rushed down the rocky slope with all the moral
effect upon the rebels. And in less time than
it takes to write it, the onslaught of the
[inaudible] was fairly checked. O'Rourke exposed himself
with the greatest gallantry. He was shot in the neck
and dropped instantly dead without a word. NARRATOR: As the
Confederates continue their third and final
assault on the Union line, the remainder of General Weed's
brigade, led by Weed himself, comes up over the hill. GARY ADELMAN: Stephen Weed got
to the crest of Little Round Top right after the most
intensive fighting had probably ended, but it was still
a dangerous place to be. And he saw the
Southerners trying to attack Little Round Top and
advance in surrounding areas, and he said, I would
rather die on this spot than see those rascals
gain one inch of ground. NARRATOR: Weed gets his wish. A bullet passes through his
arm and lodges in his chest, paralyzing him from
the shoulders down. I am cut in two, he says
to a nearby lieutenant. I want to see Hazlett. The lieutenant fetches
Weed's good friend. When Hazlett leans
in to hear what could be Weed's last words,
a bullet strikes his head. Both men died of their wounds. Despite their loss, the center
and right of the Union line successfully hold off
the Confederate charge. The danger now moves to the
extreme of the Union left, where Colonel Oates and
the 15th Alabama attempt to outflank Colonel
Chamberlain and the 20th Maine. Oates orders his men, about
500 strong, to advance. As they close within 50 yards
of the enemy's position, the 20th Maine unleashes
a torrent of bullets that Oates will never forget. ACTOR: The fire
was so destructive that my line wavered
like a man trying to walk against a strong wind,
and then slowly, doggedly, bend back a little. To stand there and
die was sheer folly. [gunfire] NARRATOR: In the carnage, Oates
loses some of his best men, including his brother, John. The young lieutenant had defied
his elder brother's order to sit out the fight. Better to die for the cause than
to be thought of as a coward, he reasoned. He dies with his
soldier's pride intact. Despite the personal
loss, Colonel Oates is determined to fulfill his
orders to drive the enemy from the hill. He orders his men to prepare
another attack on the very end of the Union line. Anticipating Oates's
strategy, Chamberlain orders his regiment of nearly 400 men
to extend his line, knowing full well that it will stretch
his men into a perilous single rank. When the Alabamians
strike again, Chamberlain describes
the bloody encounter. ACTOR: All around,
strange mingled roar, shouts of defiance,
snatches of Sabbath song, everywhere men torn, broken,
staggering, creeping, quivering on the Earth, and dead
faces with strangely fixed eyes staring into the sky, things
which cannot be told nor dreamed. NARRATOR: In the melee, the
20th Maine clash with the 15th Alabama as many as five times
and avoids being overtaken. [gunfire] But the intense
hand-to-hand combat takes the punch
out of both sides. Chamberlain realizes
that his men might not be able to hold out much longer. He himself suffers
a wound in each leg. 1/3 of his line is down. Some companies have
been annihilated. Their ammunition runs so low
that those still able to fight resort to grabbing unspent
cartridges and rifles from the enemy dead. The Alabamians
fare little better. They retire to the saddle
between the two Round Tops and regroup. Chamberlain, expecting
another Confederate charge, has a difficult
decision to make. The entire Union position,
as well as his reputation as an officer, demands he hold
this ground at all hazards. So Chamberlain makes a
bold, perilous decision. ACTOR: Not a moment
was about to be lost. Five minutes more of
such a defensive fire, and the last roll call
would sound for us. The men turned towards me. One word was enough. Bayonets. Fix bayonets. NARRATOR: The fate
of the 20th Maine and the climax to the
Battle of Little Round Top is now at hand. By 6:45 PM, the two-hour
struggle for Little Round Top brought repeated but
as yet unsuccessful assaults by Colonel Oates
and the 15th Alabama. The intense struggle has
seen devastating losses to both sides. Colonel Joshua Lawrence
Chamberlain of the 20th Maine, realizing he must sweep Colonel
Oates and the 15th Alabama before him or risk
losing the hill, decides on an audacious
course of action. Fixed bayonets. ACTOR: At that crisis,
I ordered the bayonet. The word was enough. It ran like fire along
the line from man to man and rose into a shout with
which they sprang forward upon the enemy, now
not 30 yards away. Bayonets. Charge. NARRATOR: Bayonets fixed,
the 20th Maine's right angle formation swings into action. The left wing opens
the counterattack, charging down the
hill, wheeling right, sweeping the Confederates
from their path. When the left wing comes
abreast of the right, the whole line pivots forward,
in the words of one observer, like a reaper cutting
down the disconcerted foe. Chamberlain himself is at the
center of the violent vortex. ACTOR: The frenzy of bayonets
pressing through every space forced a constant
settling to the rear. At the first dash,
the commanding officer I happened to confront,
coming on fiercely with sword in hand and big
Navy revolver in the other, fires one barrel
almost in my face, but seeing the quick
saber point at his throat, reverses arms, gives sword
and pistol into my hands, and yields himself prisoner. NARRATOR: But the
rout of Confederates is not all as it appears. Just prior to the 20th
Maine's charge down the hill, Colonel Oates orders the
15th Alabama to retreat. ACTOR: I found the undertaking
to capture Little Round Top too great for my
regiment unsupported. I saw no hope of success
and did order a retreat. NARRATOR: As
Oates's men scatter, the 20th Maine sweeps
the enemy from the hill, driving them up the
slope of Round Top and capturing prisoners
along the way. You just stay right there. NARRATOR: Chamberlain had indeed
held his ground at all hazards. The performance
of the 20th Maine earns the ultimate compliment
from Colonel Oates. ACTOR: There were never harder
fighters than the 20th Maine men and their gallant Colonel. The scale and persistency and
the great bravery of his men saved Little Round Top and
the Army of the Potomac from defeat. NARRATOR: After more than
two hours of desperate combat and the loss of some
of their best men, the Union holds yonder
hill on July 2, 1863. The next day, the
Army of the Potomac wins the Battle of Gettysburg,
the turning point of the Civil War. Many have come to believe that
had the Confederates taken Little Round Top, the outcome
of the battle, and perhaps the war itself, may
have been different. But this intriguing speculation
ignores a critical reality. One of the things that
people fail to recognize is that there were in the
neighborhood of 10,000 or 12,000 Union troops within
a few yards of Little Round Top at the time the Confederates
would have taken the hill, had they been able
to do it at all. So the idea that the
Confederates would have been able to hold it in
light of the fact that an entire corps of the
Union Army was on its way, and a lot of other troops,
is a bit far-fetched. [gunfire] The true importance of
Little Round Top in the end is that it anchored the
Union Army on the left. And in that sense, it
was very important. Indeed, I will say it is
more important for the Union to retain than for the
Confederates to capture. NARRATOR: Little Round Top made
heroes of the men who fought there, those who sacrificed
their lives leading their men to victory-- Vincent, O'Rourke, Hazlett,
and Weed endure as legends. For those leaders who survived,
the battle became a springboard for promotion and achievement. For his timely effort
to fortify the hill, Gourverneur Kay Warren was
promoted to Major General. Though he led his
troops to victory at Five Forks, a decisive
battle that helped end the war, Warren's undue
caution in the field led General Sheridan to relieve
him of command, a decision he bitterly opposed. After the war, Warren spent
the rest of his Army career as an engineer and writer
on military affairs. He died in Newport, Rhode
Island in August, 1882. History remembers Warren as
the savior of Little Round Top. If it weren't for
Gouverneur Kemble Warren, it is likely that no troops
would have made it here in time to participate
in the intense battle that we know so much about now. Without his efforts,
it is unlikely that any of these other people-- Joshua Chamberlain, Patrick
O'Rourke, Charles Hazlett, Stephen Weed-- would even be considered heroes
because this fight probably wouldn't have occurred
in this fashion. NARRATOR: William C. Oates, the
colonel of the 15th Alabama, continued to serve his
cause and his state. In 1864, he was transferred
to the 48th Alabama. That same year, he
was wounded and lost his right arm near Petersburg. After the war, Oates became
involved in politics. He was elected state legislator,
a seven term Congressman and Governor of Alabama. In later years, he
continued his law practice. Oates died in Montgomery,
Alabama in September, 1910. Oates's adversary, Colonel
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain of the 20th Maine, is perhaps
the most admired of those who fought at Little Round Top. THOMAS DESJARDIN: I think he's
every man to a lot of people. He's a college
professor who ended up in the midst of this
roaring conflagration without any training at all. And people sort
of see and admire the fact that a
fellow like them, who just came from everyday
life in a small town in Maine to being plopped into the
central military event of our nation's history,
and having gone through it not only adequately,
but quite remarkably. NARRATOR: After
Gettysburg, Chamberlain rose to the rank of
Brigadier General and received the formal
surrender of arms at Appomattox. At the end of the war, he
returned home to Maine, where he was elected
governor in 1866. In 1871, Chamberlain
accepted the presidency of Bowdoin College,
his alma mater and where he had
taught before the war. All the while, he remained
active in veterans' affairs, attended reunions, and wrote
about his combat experience. In 1893, Congress honored him
with the Congressional Medal of Honor for his
heroism at Gettysburg. Chamberlain died in Portland,
Maine in February, 1914. Chamberlain's accessibility has
helped make the fight at Little Round Top one of the best
remembered engagements of the Civil War. His exploits, and those of
all the combatants there, have come to symbolize
what Americans hold ideal. THOMAS HOLBROOK: Little
Round Top is an inspiration. In spite of the
hardships, these men, through their commitment to
a cause and to each other, exemplify the indomitable
American spirit. NARRATOR: Joshua Lawrence
Chamberlain probably would have agreed with that sentiment. Leading his men to victory
at Little Round Top held more personal
significance than any of his other achievements. ACTOR: I sat there alone
on the starry crest till the sun went down as it
did before over the misty hills, and the darkness crept up the
slopes till all earthly sight I was buried with those before. But oh, what radiant
companionship rose around, what steadfast ranks of power,
what bearing of heroic souls. Oh, the glory that beamed
through those nights and days. [music playing]
