Speaker: JARED PEATMAN

Organized in the summer of 1862, the 20th Maine, a mix of spirited, independent men from small towns and the backwoods, did not initially inspire soldierly confidence. Its first commander, a West Pointer, was not impressed: “This is a hell of a regiment!” he barked. Hard training and campaigning whipped the regiment into shape, and the 20th would fight hard to give its leader’s judgment new meaning, nowhere more so than at Gettysburg. With an eye and ear for the excitement and horror of Civil War combat, Peatman evocatively reconstructs the 20th Maine’s stand on Little Round Top, shedding new light on the battle and explaining just how a ragtag group of soldiers, led by a colonel trained in rhetoric and religion instead of military drill and tactics, became an effective fighting force.

Register: http://www.cwrtcongress.org/events.html