The Myth of the 20th Maine at Gettysburg

The American Battlefield Trust credits the 20th Maine at Little Round Top with saving Major General George Gordon Meade’s Army of the Potomac, winning the Battle of Gettysburg, and setting the South on a long, irreversible path to defeat. That’s some huge accolades for the action of one unit during a single battle, and it isn’t even true.

We can never discount the heroic actions of Col. Chamberlin and his men. He indisputably blunted the effects of relentless attacks by the 15th and 47th Alabama and, for at least the time being, saved the Union left, but to say they were responsible for winning the Battle of Gettysburg not only discounts the heroic actions of so many other units, but is also historically inaccurate, and here’s why!