Joshua Chamberlain Room

Chamberlain was responsible for one of the most poignant scenes of the Civil War at the April 1865 surrender of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House. Gen. Grant placed Chamberlain in charge of receiving the surrender of Confederate weapons and battle flags. As the conquered Confederate soldiers marched down the road to surrender their arms and colors, Chamberlain, without orders or permission, ordered his men to come to attention and “carry arms” as a show of respect. Chamberlain described what happened next:

“The gallant John B. Gordon, at the head of the marching column, outdoes us in courtesy. He was riding with downcast eyes and more than pensive look; but at this clatter of arms he raises his eyes and instantly catching the significance, wheels his horse with that superb grace of which he is master, drops the point of his sword to his stirrup, gives a command, at which the great Confederate ensign following him is dipped and his decimated brigades, as they reach our right, respond to the ‘carry’. All the while on our part not a sound of trumpet or drum, not a cheer, nor a word nor motion of man, but awful stillness as if it were the passing of the dead.”