For Want of a Nail
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
All for the want of a nail.
This proverb has been around centuries. No one is sure who first wrote it, but it shows how a trivial occurrence can lead to disastrous results.
Joshua Chamberlain was born on September 28th, 1828 in Brewer, Maine. Chamberlain led a successful but mostly uneventful life until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. He joined the Union Army and advanced to the rank of Colonel. At the battle of Gettysburg he was given command of the 20th Maine Regiment. After initial Confederate victories, Col. Chamberlain was given orders to defend a hill called Little Round Top. Near defeat and almost out of ammunition, Col. Chamberlain understood the significance of the battle. As the Confederate soldiers began their assault, Chamberlain ordered his troops to attack with their bayonets. Shocking the Confederate troops his soldiers captured 101 of the enemy and protected the hill.
It is my opinion, and one shared by many Civil War historians (I think the movie Gettysburg was accurate in it's re-enactment of the battle), that if Col. Chamberlain's troops had not successfully defended Little Round Top, the Confederate Army would have won the battle of Gettysburg. They would have then marched into Washington and captured the city, thus winning the war. Slavery would have continued--for how long it is obviously unknown. Some have even speculated that, being a racist country, we would have not intervened in WWII, thereby allowing a Nazi Germany to dominate the world. That is wild speculation, but I think it is clear that it had not been for Col. Chamberlain's leadership this could be a different country.
The point of this? One never knows what small decision they make might,if not change the course of history, at least impact those around them.
One final note to the story. Chamberlain was later selected to oversee General Lee's surrender at Appomattox. He then went on to become Governor of Maine. A truly great American.
Larry Buttram
www.larrybuttram.com
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
All for the want of a nail.
This proverb has been around centuries. No one is sure who first wrote it, but it shows how a trivial occurrence can lead to disastrous results.
Joshua Chamberlain was born on September 28th, 1828 in Brewer, Maine. Chamberlain led a successful but mostly uneventful life until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. He joined the Union Army and advanced to the rank of Colonel. At the battle of Gettysburg he was given command of the 20th Maine Regiment. After initial Confederate victories, Col. Chamberlain was given orders to defend a hill called Little Round Top. Near defeat and almost out of ammunition, Col. Chamberlain understood the significance of the battle. As the Confederate soldiers began their assault, Chamberlain ordered his troops to attack with their bayonets. Shocking the Confederate troops his soldiers captured 101 of the enemy and protected the hill.
It is my opinion, and one shared by many Civil War historians (I think the movie Gettysburg was accurate in it's re-enactment of the battle), that if Col. Chamberlain's troops had not successfully defended Little Round Top, the Confederate Army would have won the battle of Gettysburg. They would have then marched into Washington and captured the city, thus winning the war. Slavery would have continued--for how long it is obviously unknown. Some have even speculated that, being a racist country, we would have not intervened in WWII, thereby allowing a Nazi Germany to dominate the world. That is wild speculation, but I think it is clear that it had not been for Col. Chamberlain's leadership this could be a different country.
The point of this? One never knows what small decision they make might,if not change the course of history, at least impact those around them.
One final note to the story. Chamberlain was later selected to oversee General Lee's surrender at Appomattox. He then went on to become Governor of Maine. A truly great American.
Larry Buttram
www.larrybuttram.com
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