Chapter 17 – This poem “Chamberlain Day 3” focuses on the 20th Maine
by Christopher Rudolph © 2015
Chapter 17 – Chamberlain Day 3
He climbed a tree
Watched the day come
On the summit of Big Round Top
With the rising sun
Sky thick and gray
Smell of humidity and heat
Mist through the ridges
White steam replete
On the gray crest
He could look directly down
Gunners by cannons black
On that Little Top Round
There were lights all along
The Union line winding
Horses moving here and there
More troops arriving
The morning air was still
Hardly any wind
Smell of strong coffee wafting
Rigor mortis stench partly rescind
No more food
All rations were gone
As the 20th ME awoke
To the coming of dawn
They were still the end
Of the Union flank
The left of the left
On a very steep bank
Still ready and determined
To hold this position
If they could just get some more
Desperately needed ammunition
Then Northwest of the Round Tops
Beneath the early summer sun
At Bliss Farm skirmishers began firing
Third day of battle had begun