The 20th Maine was so much more than Joshua Chamberlain. The regiment produced a number of remarkable men, most of whom went on to lead quiet, honorable lives after the war. Two books are especially good accounts of Maine's most famous regiment. John J. Pullen's classic "The Twentieth Maine" is as good as a small unit history gets. In addition to writing about the regiment without excessiv emphasis pn Chamberlain, Pullen details the enormous amount of training a CW soldier needed to function as an effective combat soldier, including how muskets were loaded and how units moved on the parade ground and in battle. Thomas Desjardins "Stand Firm Ye Boys From Maine" is probably the most even-handed account of the stand on Little Round Top, including a solid look at the 15th Alabama. He offers a great deal of demographic information on the soldiers of both units, including hometowns and occupations.
Attached is a photo of CPL William T. Livermore. Livermore, a farmer from the small central Maine town of Milo, served as an NCO in the color guard of the 20th. He gave exemplary service, and fortunately for future generations, kept a detailed and literate diary of his time in the 20th.
