Talk:20th Maine Infantry Regiment

"The Frog in the Well"

The Irish Song "The Frog in the Well" is often recorded as the favourite song of the 20th Maine. Unfortunately, the history of the song is largely unknown and obscure. --Arima 06:55, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Rampant inaccuracies

This article seems to be based more on the popularized image on the Twentieth, rather than the reality. Inaccuracies abound, including:

• Colonel Vincent did not command the brigade until several months after the Twentieth joined.
• At that time, the brigade included two other regiments from New York and an independent company of Michigan sharpshooters.
• There were other commanders after Spear.
• The 15th and 47th Alabama fought as a single unit under Col. Oates (of the 15th) at Little Round Top, and arrived late in the battle, having stopped for water and inadvertently swinging to their right over Big Round Top. There were several other regiments attacking the 20th and their brigade as well.
• The claims about Melcher are hardly recent, and mostly derive not from Melcher, but from Ellis Spear, who in later life became rather hostile towards Chamberlain. Melcher told the story in much the same way Chamberlain did; he requested permission to go out an retrieve some of his wounded lying in front of the line, and Chamberlain responded that he was about to order a bayonet charge - a logical story, since Spear's claim of Melcher initiating it and the regiment accidentally following hardly explains how they had conveniently fixed their bayonets already.
• The regiments initial enrollment was just short of 1,000. The figure of 1,621 represents initial numbers plus replacements over the course of the war, including the 120 men from the Second Maine, as well as later draftees.
• Of course, there is also a VERY large gap in the regiment's history. I will be fixing the article sometime within the next week.

IcarusPhoenix (talk) 16:37, 5 July 2010 (UTC)