Stop me if you think you’ve already heard this story.On Jan. 6, 2021, a violent mob stormed the Capitol and confronted armed guards amid partisan charges of vote tampering and election rigging. Early ballot counts pointed to a Republican victory, but the seemingly secret ballot certification dragged on for weeks, and suspicions fueled charges of corruption. When the Democrats were declared the victors, an armed mob sought to overthrow the government. At any moment, insurrection could explode.The year was 1880. The capital was Augusta, Maine. And for the second time in his life, Joshua L. Chamberlain stepped into the deadly breach.
Chamberlain was born in 1828 and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1852. After attending theological seminary, Chamberlain returned to Bowdoin in 1855 as professor of languages and rhetoric.Chamberlain embraced the Victorian values of masculinity, chivalry, and morality. In 1905, he wrote, “Manhood is one of the noblest of God’s gifts or manifestations.” This statement didn’t spring out of hubris or misogyny. It revealed his dedication to a lifestyle focused on duty, the cultivation and exercise of one’s talents, and the discovery and fulfillment of one’s true purpose.This is the man who, on July 2, 1863 — now a volunteer colonel leading the 20th Maine Regiment — was told by his commander to hold the Union’s far left flank on Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg. “Hold the ground at all hazards,” he was told. “At all hazards” included death, not retreat. After withstanding multiple attacks and with ammunition dwindling, Chamberlain swung his troops in a bayonet charge that secured the Union’s left flank. Congress awarded Chamberlain the Medal of Honor for “conspicuous gallantry.” After serving with great distinction and being wounded six times, including a near-fatal wound in Petersburg, Virginia, Chamberlain left the army in 1866, returned to Maine, and was elected governor for four one-year terms. After leaving office, he returned to Bowdoin and was appointed president in 1871.Now, back to 1880 and the original Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Because no one emerged with a popular majority in Maine’s 1879 election for governor, state law required the newly elected legislature to elect the governor. And it appeared that Republicans had won the legislature’s majority. The plaque at the gravesite in Pine Grove Cemetery in Brunswick, Maine, where Joshua Chamberlain is buried, is seen on July 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Beth Harpaz)
