Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a born soldier but he planned to be a missionary. A graduate of Bangor Theological Seminary, he was an instructor at Bowdoin in College when the Civil War broke out and he discovered his true vocation. His military career was one of exceptional gallantry. He was an officer always in the thick of battle. Fourteen horses were shot under him, and finally he was terribly wounded, yet recovered to fight in the closing campaign of the war. He was designated to receive the surrender of the Confederate infantry after the Appomattox meeting of Grant and Lee, and he played the role with magnanimity.