Rating: 
Summary: A masterful biography of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.
Review: "In the Hands of Providence" is a masterful biography of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, one of the great Americans of the nineteenth century, and certainly one of the most heroic and hardest fighting U.S. Army officers of all time. The author, the late Alice Rains Trulock, presents a well researched, meticulously documented, and detailed portrait of this brilliant and courageous man. She traces Chamberlain's early life and career - first, as a student, and later as Professor of Rhetoric (and other subjects) at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Chamberlain's military career - his rise from command of the 20th Maine to general officer rank in the Union army, and his outstanding leadership and valor during some of the fiercest and bloodiest battles of the Civil War, including Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Petersburg, and Five Forks - is then chronicled with some of Trulock's liveliest and most exciting prose. (Chamberlain, of course, is best known for his actions as Colonel of the 20th Maine Volunteers at the Battle of Gettysburg. Here Trulock describes in detail the events of July 2, 1863, when he led his 380-man regiment in its successful defense of Little Round Top, thereby saving the Union army from a crushing defeat, and ensuring his own place in the pantheon of American military heroes.) Trulock also details Chamberlain's post-Civil War career as Governor of Maine (1867-1871); President of Bowdoin College (1871-1883); and unsuccessful businessman. In addition to providing obviously well researched and superbly written descriptions of Chamberlain's military, political and business accomplishments, "In the Hands of Providence" also gives the reader a balanced and objective look at Chamberlain's personal life. Especially enjoyable and informative are the descriptions of his relationships with his wife Fannie; his daughter Grace and son Harold Wyllys; and his brother Tom. The author does a wonderful job of allowing the reader to get to know Chamberlain the warm hearted and loving family man, as well as Chamberlain the patriot, scholar, college professor and president, military hero, and Governor of Maine. "In the Hands of Providence" is the best modern biography of one of the most extraordinary and gifted Americans of the nineteenth century. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A masterful biography of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.
Review: "In the Hands of Providence" is a masterful biography of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, one of the great Americans of the nineteenth century, and certainly one of the most heroic and hardest fighting U.S. Army officers of all time. The author, the late Alice Rains Trulock, presents a well researched, meticulously documented, and detailed portrait of this brilliant and courageous man. She traces Chamberlain's early life and career - first, as a student, and later as Professor of Rhetoric (and other subjects) at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Chamberlain's military career - his rise from command of the 20th Maine to general officer rank in the Union army, and his outstanding leadership and valor during some of the fiercest and bloodiest battles of the Civil War, including Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Petersburg, and Five Forks - is then chronicled with some of Trulock's liveliest and most exciting prose. (Chamberlain, of course, is best known for his actions as Colonel of the 20th Maine Volunteers at the Battle of Gettysburg. Here Trulock describes in detail the events of July 2, 1863, when he led his 380-man regiment in its successful defense of Little Round Top, thereby saving the Union army from a crushing defeat, and ensuring his own place in the pantheon of American military heroes.) Trulock also details Chamberlain's post-Civil War career as Governor of Maine (1867-1871); President of Bowdoin College (1871-1883); and unsuccessful businessman. In addition to providing obviously well researched and superbly written descriptions of Chamberlain's military, political and business accomplishments, "In the Hands of Providence" also gives the reader a balanced and objective look at Chamberlain's personal life. Especially enjoyable and informative are the descriptions of his relationships with his wife Fannie; his daughter Grace and son Harold Wyllys; and his brother Tom. The author does a wonderful job of allowing the reader to get to know Chamberlain the warm hearted and loving family man, as well as Chamberlain the patriot, scholar, college professor and president, military hero, and Governor of Maine. "In the Hands of Providence" is the best modern biography of one of the most extraordinary and gifted Americans of the nineteenth century. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A masterful biography of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.
Review: "In the Hands of Providence" is a masterful biography of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, one of the great Americans of the nineteenth century, and certainly one of the most heroic and hardest fighting U.S. Army officers of all time. The author, the late Alice Rains Trulock, presents a well researched, meticulously documented, and detailed portrait of this brilliant and courageous man. She traces Chamberlain's early life and career - first, as a student, and later as Professor of Rhetoric (and other subjects) at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Chamberlain's military career - his rise from command of the 20th Maine to general officer rank in the Union army, and his outstanding leadership and valor during some of the fiercest and bloodiest battles of the Civil War, including Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Petersburg, and Five Forks - is then chronicled with some of Trulock's liveliest and most exciting prose. (Chamberlain, of course, is best known for his actions as Colonel of the 20th Maine Volunteers at the Battle of Gettysburg. Here Trulock describes in detail the events of July 2, 1863, when he led his 380-man regiment in its successful defense of Little Round Top, thereby saving the Union army from a crushing defeat, and ensuring his own place in the pantheon of American military heroes.) Trulock also details Chamberlain's post-Civil War career as Governor of Maine (1867-1871); President of Bowdoin College (1871-1883); and unsuccessful businessman. In addition to providing obviously well researched and superbly written descriptions of Chamberlain's military, political and business accomplishments, "In the Hands of Providence" also gives the reader a balanced and objective look at Chamberlain's personal life. Especially enjoyable and informative are the descriptions of his relationships with his wife Fannie; his daughter Grace and son Harold Wyllys; and his brother Tom. The author does a wonderful job of allowing the reader to get to know Chamberlain the warm hearted and loving family man, as well as Chamberlain the patriot, scholar, college professor and president, military hero, and Governor of Maine. "In the Hands of Providence" is the best modern biography of one of the most extraordinary and gifted Americans of the nineteenth century. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Wonderfully human indepth observation.
Review: Alice Turlock has captured the human as well as factual aspects of a soldier in the American Civil War. Chamberlain was a typical yet unique soldier, exemplified on both sides of the struggle. Appreciated was the focus on his life after the war, experiences both of sucess and failure (his Marriage). Well researched and well written. Well worth the time and investment. A welcome addition to any Civil War library.
Rating:
Summary: The power of courage
Review: All I can say of the story of J.L. Chamberlain, as it is written here, and his life and times, is that he has brought me to tears more times than I care to mention. I have never heard of a man in all my life so full of couage and daring. Alica Rains captured this man most admirably, and I love this book. I have cherished it for many years and shall continue to until I pass it on to my children, and tell the Chamberlain's story.
Rating:
Summary: Soldier, Scholar, Statesman
Review: I entered the Army lacking an appreciation for its history, but that all changed as I discovered how officers were encouraged, in some instances required, to study military history. At the Combined Arms & Services Staff School at Fort Leavenworth I was assigned to read The Killer Angels by Michael Sharra. This Pulitzer-winning novelization of the battle of Gettysburg introduced me to Joshua Lawrence Chamberlin of the 20th Maine. In all my military reading since I've not encountered a more admirable soldier. The movies Gettysburg, Gods & Generals, along with Jeff Sharra's continuation of his father's books, increased my respect. I've read the book and look forward to the movie version of The Last Full Measure, completing the trilogy. To my delight, I recently was made aware of a 1992 biography of Chamberlin by Alice Rains Trulock, In The Hands of Providence. This is the definitive work, carefully researched and thoroughly devoted to showing the integrity, courage, and faith of a seminary-trained college professor who became an extraordinary military leader. Biographies can be tedious; this work is an engaging "page-turner". The New York Times gave it high praise, saying it "deserves a place on every Civil War bookshelf." I was interested to learn that Chamberlin's father had wanted him to attend West Point and be a career soldier, while his mother hoped he would become a Congregational minister. I wonder had he ever considered the Chaplaincy, which might have satisfied both. Chamberlin prepared for the ministry, overcoming a speech defect, considered serving as a missionary, but found himself more suited for the academic world and settled in as Professor of rhetoric and foreign languages at Bowdoin College in Maine. But a peaceful life was not to be. A devoted Christian, Chamberlin felt led by the divine hand of Providence to participate in the Civil War. Against the wishes of his faculty and family, he sought appointment from the Governor and was commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel with the 20th Maine. Chamberlin's Christian convictions filled him with respect for the dignity and worth of all people, which led him to regard slavery as an immoral institution. In college he sat listening to Harriett Beecher Stowe read from the novel she was writing, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Chamberlin saw slavery as the cornerstone of the Confederacy, which (along with absolute state sovereignty) needed to be overturned. "Slavery and freedom cannot live together," Chamberlin insisted. He called slavery "the worst cause for which a people ever fought." Chamberlin applied his academic work ethic to learning the art of warfare from Colonel Ames, a Regular Army officer and his Brigade Commander. He mastered the complex intricacies of drill and tactics and led his men with courage and compassion. "Discipline is the soul of armies", he wrote. The pivotal point in his career, and for which he received the Congressional Medal of Honor, came in leading a heroic charge down Little Round Top at Gettysburg. His troops' ammunition was exhausted, and his line could not withstand another enemy assault. So in an audacious act of creativity and bravery Chamberlin ordered his men to fix bayonets and charge downhill the Confederate line. The terrified rebel troops who did not flee, surrendered. The desperate gambit was successful and turned the tide of the battle, some say the war. Following the success of Little Round Top, Chamberlin, though exhausted, then participated in the nearly suicidal capture of Round Top. Severely wounded at the battle of Petersburg, and after several prior recommendations for promotion, General Grant awarded his first battlefield promotion, making Chamberlin a Brigadier General. After the Battle of Five Forks, Chamberlin was promoted to Major General and made a Division Commander. At the dramatic close of the war, Chamberlin was one of the first to receive a Confederate staff officer bearing a white flag of surrender. Soon thereafter, he was granted the honor of commanding the army to accept the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, impressing a reunited and reborn nation by showing graciousness in victory and honor to a defeated foe. Trulock writes how a Confederate officer admitted afterwards that he was "astonished with your generosity; we should have not done the same to you." Throughout the war Chamberlin's view was that victory meant leading the prodigal states back home. Following the Grand Review in the nation's Capitol, Chamberlin returned home where he was elected Governor of Main by the largest majority in the state's history, and served four terms. He reorganized the state militia, upgraded veterans benefits, promoted industry and agriculture, and improved education. Leaving public office, Chamberlin was unanimously elected to the Presidency of Bowdoin college where he made progressive changes to the curriculum. After serving Bowdoin, he was appointed by President Hayes as the US Commissioner of Education. He traveled to Paris where he was decorated by the French government. He served as Commander of the Maine militia. He lectured and authored 2 books about the war. Throughout his life, Chamberlin was filled with an awareness of the providential care of God. This conviction took away his fear. It was not a belief in impersonal fatalism but trust in a sovereign Lord Who brings about His plan. Life is not accidental; our times are securely in His hands. He wrote, "There is no promise of life in peace and no decree of death in war. And I am so confident of the sincerity of my motives that I can trust my own life and the welfare of my family in the hands of Providence...I believe that God is over all things and that He will put me where He wants me and where I ought to be." Alice Trulock has given us a treasure that every student of military history and leadership should cherish. As a New England Congregational minister, I am proud to know that Chamberlin-theologian, statesman, soldier-is part of my Pilgrim heritage. The question arises from time to time, "Can a Christian serve in the military...and how does one serve in a Christian manner?" Chamberlin believed his cause was just. He also regarded war as "a test of character; it makes bad men worse and good men better." Chamberlin's remarkable life shows how God ordains individuals to military service and that bravery and concern for one's comrades in arms originates from an abiding faith in a personal, sovereign God.
Rating:
Summary: Soldier, Scholar, Statesman
Review: I entered the Army lacking an appreciation for its history, but that all changed as I discovered how officers were encouraged, in some instances required, to study military history. At the Combined Arms & Services Staff School at Fort Leavenworth I was assigned to read The Killer Angels by Michael Sharra. This Pulitzer-winning novelization of the battle of Gettysburg introduced me to Joshua Lawrence Chamberlin of the 20th Maine. In all my military reading since I've not encountered a more admirable soldier. The movies Gettysburg, Gods & Generals, along with Jeff Sharra's continuation of his father's books, increased my respect. I've read the book and look forward to the movie version of The Last Full Measure, completing the trilogy. To my delight, I recently was made aware of a 1992 biography of Chamberlin by Alice Rains Trulock, In The Hands of Providence. This is the definitive work, carefully researched and thoroughly devoted to showing the integrity, courage, and faith of a seminary-trained college professor who became an extraordinary military leader. Biographies can be tedious; this work is an engaging "page-turner". The New York Times gave it high praise, saying it "deserves a place on every Civil War bookshelf." I was interested to learn that Chamberlin's father had wanted him to attend West Point and be a career soldier, while his mother hoped he would become a Congregational minister. I wonder had he ever considered the Chaplaincy, which might have satisfied both. Chamberlin prepared for the ministry, overcoming a speech defect, considered serving as a missionary, but found himself more suited for the academic world and settled in as Professor of rhetoric and foreign languages at Bowdoin College in Maine. But a peaceful life was not to be. A devoted Christian, Chamberlin felt led by the divine hand of Providence to participate in the Civil War. Against the wishes of his faculty and family, he sought appointment from the Governor and was commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel with the 20th Maine. Chamberlin's Christian convictions filled him with respect for the dignity and worth of all people, which led him to regard slavery as an immoral institution. In college he sat listening to Harriett Beecher Stowe read from the novel she was writing, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Chamberlin saw slavery as the cornerstone of the Confederacy, which (along with absolute state sovereignty) needed to be overturned. "Slavery and freedom cannot live together," Chamberlin insisted. He called slavery "the worst cause for which a people ever fought." Chamberlin applied his academic work ethic to learning the art of warfare from Colonel Ames, a Regular Army officer and his Brigade Commander. He mastered the complex intricacies of drill and tactics and led his men with courage and compassion. "Discipline is the soul of armies", he wrote. The pivotal point in his career, and for which he received the Congressional Medal of Honor, came in leading a heroic charge down Little Round Top at Gettysburg. His troops' ammunition was exhausted, and his line could not withstand another enemy assault. So in an audacious act of creativity and bravery Chamberlin ordered his men to fix bayonets and charge downhill the Confederate line. The terrified rebel troops who did not flee, surrendered. The desperate gambit was successful and turned the tide of the battle, some say the war. Following the success of Little Round Top, Chamberlin, though exhausted, then participated in the nearly suicidal capture of Round Top. Severely wounded at the battle of Petersburg, and after several prior recommendations for promotion, General Grant awarded his first battlefield promotion, making Chamberlin a Brigadier General. After the Battle of Five Forks, Chamberlin was promoted to Major General and made a Division Commander. At the dramatic close of the war, Chamberlin was one of the first to receive a Confederate staff officer bearing a white flag of surrender. Soon thereafter, he was granted the honor of commanding the army to accept the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, impressing a reunited and reborn nation by showing graciousness in victory and honor to a defeated foe. Trulock writes how a Confederate officer admitted afterwards that he was "astonished with your generosity; we should have not done the same to you." Throughout the war Chamberlin's view was that victory meant leading the prodigal states back home. Following the Grand Review in the nation's Capitol, Chamberlin returned home where he was elected Governor of Main by the largest majority in the state's history, and served four terms. He reorganized the state militia, upgraded veterans benefits, promoted industry and agriculture, and improved education. Leaving public office, Chamberlin was unanimously elected to the Presidency of Bowdoin college where he made progressive changes to the curriculum. After serving Bowdoin, he was appointed by President Hayes as the US Commissioner of Education. He traveled to Paris where he was decorated by the French government. He served as Commander of the Maine militia. He lectured and authored 2 books about the war. Throughout his life, Chamberlin was filled with an awareness of the providential care of God. This conviction took away his fear. It was not a belief in impersonal fatalism but trust in a sovereign Lord Who brings about His plan. Life is not accidental; our times are securely in His hands. He wrote, "There is no promise of life in peace and no decree of death in war. And I am so confident of the sincerity of my motives that I can trust my own life and the welfare of my family in the hands of Providence...I believe that God is over all things and that He will put me where He wants me and where I ought to be." Alice Trulock has given us a treasure that every student of military history and leadership should cherish. As a New England Congregational minister, I am proud to know that Chamberlin-theologian, statesman, soldier-is part of my Pilgrim heritage. The question arises from time to time, "Can a Christian serve in the military...and how does one serve in a Christian manner?" Chamberlin believed his cause was just. He also regarded war as "a test of character; it makes bad men worse and good men better." Chamberlin's remarkable life shows how God ordains individuals to military service and that bravery and concern for one's comrades in arms originates from an abiding faith in a personal, sovereign God.
Rating:
Summary: Chamberlin at his finest!
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Although I am a Southerner at heart, But I stand amazed at the bravery and fighting spirit of Joshua Chanberlin and his leadership of the 20th Maine. Also presented is the other side of Chamberlin's life as a Born Again Christian.I suggest that you read it and add it to your collection.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece!
Review: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain - In The Hands of Providence is truly an inspirational work about a truly inspirational man. Alice Rains Trulock has accomplished what many Civil War authors strive towards ... the ability to make readers feel "deep down inside" for their subject. She allows one to feel as if one was right along side Chamberlain in his happiness and in his struggles, from boyhood to honorable manhood. And upon reading of Chamberlains death in 1914, one feels as if they've lost a friend. If Chamberlain were alive today, he would most certainly be proud that the story of his life was so beautifully written.
Rating: 
Summary: Well Researched Look at a Major Civil War Figure
Review: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was the epitome of the American citizen-soldier. Since the birth of the republic, American soldiers have left home and hearth to serve the nation and many of them have come home physically shattered and haunted by what they have seen while still others have not come home at all. Thrown into the breech, some of the citizen solders found they did not have the fortitude for what was asked of them while many others have excelled, performing better than graduates of West Point or Annapolis, America's most prestigious military academies. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a citizen soldier who became a great hero of the Civil War, a man who met challenge after challenge and became a great leader of men and afterward, the course of his life was forever altered. An academically inclined young man, Chamberlain left Bowdin College and his studies and teaching in theology to accept a lieutenant colonel's commission in the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The modest young professor took part in most of the important battles of the North's Army of the Potomac. He was a participant in the Battle of Antietam, still the bloodiest single day in American history. Today, we can walk the battlefield off Sharpsburg Pike, in rural Maryland and see "Burnside's Bridge and the cornfields where so many men fell and get some small measure of what men like Chamberlain went through. We can also visit the battlefield at Fredericksburg and see the heights that he and his 20th Maine and the Union Army tried to take in bloody frontal assaults into the teeth of Confederate guns and under the pounding of their artillery on the hills. Today Chamberlain's comrades - as well as the fallen Confederate troops - are buried on the commanding heights they failed to take, one of the Civil War's bitter ironies. Colonel Chamberlain then immortalized himself at Gettysburg's Little Round Top where he anchored the Union left, repelling assault after assault and winning the day by leading a charge down the slope that broke the Rebel troops. He was given a general's star by General Grant at Petersburg and was honored to receive the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. His heroism and leadership qualities helped him win the Governorship of Maine no less than four times, after which he retired to the Presidency of Bowdin College, his alma mater. Alice Trulock who wrote this book, was not a professional writer and after her retirement from civic affairs, this book took her ten years of careful research, writing and rewriting to complete. She based her work on a great deal of new research and handles the account of infantry combat beautifully. Unfortunately, Trulock died before the book was released and so she wasn't able to accept the accolades that were due to her for such a well-written and moving biography of an emblematic Civil War figure.
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