Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a Freemason. Not only that but the very man who tried to block his commission as lieutenant colonel in the 20th Maine ended up being the one to "sponsor" his entrance into the order!

In July of 1862, when Chamberlain wrote to Maine's Governor Washburn asking for a position in the army, he said: "But, I fear, this war, so costly of blood and treasure, will not cease until the men of the North are willing to leave good positions, and sacrifice the dearest personal interests, to rescue our country from desolation, and defend the national existence against treachery at home and jealousy abroad."

Governor Washburn was a family friend of the Chamberlains, having known both Lawrence's father and grandfather, and he began asking questions about the young professor. Josiah Drummond was the Attorney General at the time and was decidedly against Lawrence being appointed to any position in the army. He wrote to Governor Washburn and said, in part: "Have you appointed Chamberlain Col. Of the 20th? His old classmates etc. here say you have been deceived: that C. is nothing at all: that is the universal expression of those who knew him."

Nevertheless, the governor offered Chamberlain the commission of colonel of the 20th Maine, which Chamberlain declined, saying that he thought he needed to be in a lesser position in order to learn the ways of the army. And so, he was commissioned as lieutenant colonel of the 20th Maine, second-in-command, serving under Colonel Adelbert Ames. As Chamberlain prepared to leave for war, he joined the wave of Maine men applying to become Masons.

During the Civil War years, many Maine men who found themselves on the verge of entering military service were applying in haste for the degrees of Masonry. It is quite probable that they felt it would be helpful to be members of this great Order during their participation in the conflict. The historical records of United Lodge No. 8 in Brunswick reveal that Chamberlain was numbered among this group. We do not know for certain what his primary motivation was to join this great fraternity, but it would seem likely that he had received favorable reports about this ancient institution from colleagues on the Bowdoin faculty who were Masons. The principles of Freemasonry were certainly consistent with the moral principles that guided his life.

Because of the pressure being pla ced on lodges to waive the usual waiting period of a month, and the Grand Lodge of Maine's concern that hurry-up work might result in a weakening of the Order at its foundation level, it was decreed that dispensations must be secured and a fee of five dollars charged for a waiver. At a special communication of United Lodge No. 8, held on the evening of August 27, 1862, the secretary presented a dispensation from Grand Master Josiah H. Drumond, to allow Chamberlain to take his Masonic degrees in less than the prescribed time. This, in itself, was somewhat unusual, for dispensations were usually handled by the District Deputy Grand Master. A ballot was taken and Chamberlain was accepted for the Entered Apprentice Degree. While he was being notified of his acceptance and in the process of being brought to the lodge to take the degree, another ballot was taken and it was voted to confer upon him the Fellowcraft Degree. Thus, on that very same night, he was initiated as an Entered Apprentice and passed to the degree of Fellowcraft. At 8:00 a.m. the very next morning, the lodge reconvened and he was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason. On September 12, 1862, he was proposed as a member, and on October 7, 1862, a ballot was taken and he was officially elected a member of United Lodge.

Within a matter of days, he and the 20th Maine Regiment were off to Washington, arriving there on Sunday, September 7, 1862. *

As a granddaughter and great-granddaughter many times over of many Freemasons, I feel that Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a great example of what it meant to be part of the great fraternity.

* "General and Brother Joshua L. Chamberlain: A Mason Who Had the Soul of a Lion and the Heart of a Woman," by Charles W. Plummer, in The Maine Mason, volume 19, number 1, Spring 1991, pages 8-11.

** Thanks to Tom Desjardin for helping me collect the information for this blog.