In honor of Joshua Chamberlain’s
birthday, the following Days are a collection of his words during the final months of which of reminisces of his past glories
and ideals:
“I went-it is not long ago-to
stand again upon that crest whose one day’s crown of fire has passed into the blazoned Encampment coronet of fame; to
look again upon the rocks whereon were laid as on the altar the lives of Vincent and O’Rorke, who helped save
the right flank of Vincent’s Brigade-and who died as a result.” May 1913
“I sat there alone on the storied
crest, till the sun went down as it did before the misty hills, and the darkness crept up the slopes, till from all earthly
sight I was buried as with those before. But oh, what radiant companionship was election around, what steadfast ranks of power,
what bearing of heroic souls. Oh, the glory that beamed through those nights and days. Nobody will ever know it here!- I am
sorry most of all for that.” May 1913
“I am passing through deep waters…
The doctor thinks I am going to land once more on this shore… I am trying to get a little closer to God and to know
him better.” January 1914
“There was a texture to his mind,
a color to his soul, a certain quality to his personality that would have made him conspicuous and lovable without the titles
and robes of the earth… He was the incarnation of the best and manliest qualities
of the American character.” Rev. Jesse M. Hill February 1914
