Movements Of Companies Of the 20th Maine and 15th Alabama Regiments During the Attack On Little Round Top

Abstract

The Confederate attack on Little Round Top, near the end of the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, often is purported to have been a pivotal battle of the Civil War. Much of the emphasis on the importance of the attack on Little Round Top is a result of the often-cited presumption that had the 15th Alabama (commanded by Colonel William C. Oates) carried the crest, the left flank of the Union line, much of the defense of which was assigned to the 20th Maine Regiment (commanded by Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain), would have been turned and the entire Union line rolled up. The struggle between the 20th Maine and 15th Alabama is one of the most publicized small unit military battles in American history. Because of this, there has been a proliferation of accounts of the battle for this small hill. In spite of all the literary and media coverage of the actions of the 20th Maine and 15th Alabama, there is no source that maps movements of individual companies. The few accounts that provide detailed maps show only general alignments of the regimental lines during one or two phases of the battle. In this account I present eleven maps that show the relative positioning of the individual companies of the two regiments during the attack of Colonel Oates’ 15th Alabama against Colonel Chamberlain’s 20th Maine.