Chamberlain's officers pleaded with him to retreat, to save what was left of the regiment from certain destruction. After a few moments' consideration, with the Rebel Yell ringing in their ears, Chamberlain gave the order:
"Fix bayonets."
His officers & sergeants couldn't believe their ears. Chamberlain repeated the order, and as the remnants of the 20th Maine Regiment frantically attached their bayonets, Chamberlain leaped on top of the wall, drew his sword, pointed it at the onrushing Confederates, and shouted the order; "CHARGE!"
And the 20th Maine followed their schoolteacher leader into history.
When the Confederate troops saw the leader of the opposition mount the wall, they immediately stopped, unsure of what was happening. And when Chamberlain pointed his sword at them and ordered his men to charge, they LITERALLY turned and ran. Many of them threw down their loaded weapons, certain these could not be the same men they'd been facing - there must have been massive reinforcements. In their minds, it was not even in the realm of possibility that a chewed-up regiment would charge.
In under 10 minutes, the ragged remnants of the 20th Maine, TOTALLY out of ammunition by this point, captured the entire regiments of the 15th Alabama and the 47th Alabama - over 400 men. It all happened because one man made the decision to charge.
And one decision that YOU make can change the world.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking...
(to be continued...)
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