The Tenacious 20th Maine

The Tenacious 20th Maine. July 2, 6:00 pm. , Late on the second day, the 386 men of Col. Joshua L. Chamberlain's 20th Maine Volunteers found themselves anchoring the southern end of the Union line. If they could not stop the Confederate attack here, Little Round Top might be lost. For more than an hour, waves of Alabamians repeatedly stormed this hillside. The first attacks came from your right. Subsequent attacks came from your left, forcing the 20th Maine to "refuse," or bend back their line. So deadly was the struggle that the "blood stood in puddles on the rocks," but each attack was repulsed., When the Mainers' ammunition was nearly spent, a desperate bayonet charge launched by the regiment drove the Alabamians back for good, thus securing the Union left flank. The cost was enormous. The 20th Maine suffered 125 casualties during the 90 minute struggle for the hill., The short walk in front of you leads to the secluded 20th Maine monument. It rests on ground Chamberlain was ordered to hold "at all hazards.", Caption Col. William C. Oates and his 15th Alabama lost 343 men and 19 officers - nearly half their strength - in their attempt to dislodge the 20th Maine. Among the mortally wounded was his beloved brother John. In the years after the battle Oates claimed to have reached the prominent boulder to your left front, also depicted in the illustration above.