20th Maine, Little Round Top Gettysburg

[Olddog231]

I visited here 8 times in past 10 years and learn something different every time. What irks me is the fact most of the visitors dont really understand what happened here beside what they were taught in school. The battlefield today nowhere resembles what it was in 1863. It has too much commercialism around it. Take Shilo battlefield--government down there does not allow commercialism around battlefield and when walking the field you get a raw sense of what the battle was like

[rudy43norvelle]

Nice video. I was there this past October. Visited nine battlefields in six days, but spent two whole days at Gettysburg.

[atrahan100]

Thanks for the video, I have been to Gettysburg twice, last in 2008. Very interested in the Little round top battle.

[sleestackgod]

I think they should pave over the park and put a walmart on top of little round top. They should put up a three hundred foot statue of Ronald Reagan somewhere too.

[Baskerville22]

Chamberlain's "swinging door" manoeuvre was his invention after the war. Please don't report Hollywood scripts as history

[VideoHistoryToday]

@Baskerville22 Not sure what you mean. Did this 'swinging door' action not happen?

[Baskerville22]

@VideoHistoryToday Hello. I have no intent to impugn Chamberlain's bravery or skill as a military commander, but I did read a biography of Chamberlain which, thought wholly admiring of his wartime exploits, did depict his post-war accounts of his Gettysburg actions as 'self-serving' and often involved 'embroidering' the truth. Perhaps i'm being a little pedantic about the "swinging- door- charge" thing (that was supposedly the chief case of "embroidering") ...

[Baskerville22]

@Baskerville22 Cont'd. My chief point is that we should be very careful about letting Hollywood's take on history become the accepted truth. Too many of the young today (here in Australia, as well as the USA) know only the 'history' as presented in movies & on TV (and from activist teachers & lecturers. An unfortunate by-product of Chamberlain's cannonisation has been the forgetting of the deeds of Cols. Strong Vincent, Stephen Weed & Pat O'Rorke - all killed on Little Round Top that day

[kidkong584]

@Baskerville22 Actually, Chamberlain learned the swinging door from history books. It was a Native American fighting manoeuvre.

[JesseJamesGang1]

Nice job, cheers!

[Manwithjeep]

Stopped in at Brunswick, Maine on our way home from vacation last week. Had the tour of Joshua Chamberlain's home. The guide was very good and at times was somewhat tongue in cheek about Chamberlain's proud ways. General Grant had visited after the war and stayed in that house. Also Joshua had a room solely for civil war artifacts which was really cool to see. I'll have to make a trip to Gettysburg someday.

[haynes1776]

20th maine: we are the flank,- Col Chamberlain

[Baskerville22]

@haynes1776  That was a movie

[haynes1776]

@Baskerville22 Im hoping to go to Gettysburg someday and see the site of Little round top were the 20th maine made their stand. this footage is amazing.

[rayhinch]

joey513ja, When you went to Little Round Top, keep in mind there are 2 parts to it. The front face (relatively)treeless and the back door, so to speak. If you remember  seeing that castle like monument (44th NY), and a low valley in front of you, then you were on the front face. Chamberlain was not there. You have to walk down a short path to get to the 20th Me. That is full of trees. It is on the other side of the road from where the Little Rouind Top signs are.

[VideoHistoryToday]

I think the NPS are removing trees in certain places to return the location to their Civil War era appearance.

[joey513ja]

i had a question that i really want answered... i visited Little Roundtop in July 2009, when i went to little roundtop they're was no trees like in this video and in the movie Gettysburg. its been puzzaling me for a week now and i do not get why it dont look the same because when i went they're were no trees? does anyone know why?

[emilysusan]

Read below what I wrote. I wrote the answer for u but accidently sent it to the guy below.

[VideoHistoryToday]

Thx for the reply to joey513ja. Just to clarify, have the NPS removed all the trees around the Little Round top site? When I was there, (Sep 07), they were felling alot of trees to the south of Devils Den but I didn't think they would go up the hill towards Little Round Top as well.

[PFB1994]

I also visited in July, if you are coming up the road from Big Round Top to Little Round Top, the 20th Maine monument is actually on the right of the road. Most of the tour stops show what would have been right of the 20th Maine where there are more monuments and you have a nice look over the battlefield. But it still looks like this video.

[Collinfan94]

The footage for the movie was not actually taped here, they used a different location in the vicinity. They did the same thing when they filmed some of Buford's battle scenes, used a similar location to the actual field. If you have the dvd, watch the commentary and it will explain why they didn't film on those actual locations. Pickett's charge was filmed in the exact location as was the devil's den scenes.

[joey513ja]

thank you very much, i just got done watching the commentary but thanks for your comment, it helped very much.

[OrcsRule44]

i live in maine we learend about this

[emilysusan]

In the Gettysburg movie, if u listen to the video commentary, they said they had to film the Little Round Top scene about 5 miles away because of this very reason and because there were so many plaques. I just left from there yesterday! It's awesome.

[joey513ja]

nice, it was indeed

[HEMSG]

I was just at this spot yesterday giving a tour. Gettysburg is one of my most favorite places to go.

[2006nationalchamps]

should have gone to the right we should have gone to the right!!!

[violetblossom]

I was part of the 15th Alabama during this attack at Gettysburg in the 90s - it took some real courage and desperation to do what they did.

[BadDream51]

I'm Scottish, and recently have become very interested by the whole of the American Civil War and American History in general. I'm going to University in September and have not picked History, but I'm looking to pick it up as the years progress. Thanks for this video, I am determined to visit Gettysburg and other historical places as it would be fascinating to be there myself.

[sinskater123454]

been there it was really cool

[VideoHistoryToday]

I wouldn't call you a freak. I had no interest in history when I was at school. Dropped it completely at 14. Bad move. If you enjoy it, stick to it. No idea how old you are but if you have a better understanding of history, you have a better understanding of people and that helps in any career you go into. Don't worry what your friends think.

[tophrules0978]

I visited here before when i was at least 6th months old and when i was 10. I lost a hat on Little Round Top when i was 6th months old and my dad said "Maybe we can find it" if i heard him right but i love visiting historic sites like this. My schoolmates call me crazy for visiting these great places. I'm in 8th Grade by the way.I'm the only history freak in my class

[Astronaut542]

@tophrules0978 You can be my long lost brother. The Civil War fascinates me more than some kind of other crap like World War (I or II). Did the World War change us? No, but the Civil War did. As a struggle against all odds, with the men at Gettysburg, such as Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain of the 20th Maine, our nation is now a 'Union"/"United" States of America. I've been visiting battlefields ever since I was I was 6 years old, and they still fascinate me today.

[RickChalek]

@Astronaut542 The world war DID absolutely change us, and especially changed the world at large. You're correct that WWI did not, but don't confuse the 2 wars. They're really not related. WWII was about fighting fascism, and it was hugely important. If either Japan or Germany had won, you would never say the war did not change us. What you mean to say is that the Civil War defined us as a nation, and that is absolutely true. But don't minimize one to exalt the other. They're both important

[KayBeeEee1983]

@Astronaut542 WW2 did change us. Before the war we had been isolationists, like George Washington had recommended at the end of the Revolutionary war. After the war, we believed that it was our responsibility to defend democracy around the world.

[mrfester42]

@tophrules0978 Then you're no freak. You're an intelligent kid.

[kidkong584]

i live in gettysburg its fun

[crazyasaloon]

that was interesting

[Companyman55]

Cool