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Nominated article	Vote Score	Supporters	Specialist supporters	Date created
Earth's atmosphere	3	Milton Beychok	Daniel Mietchen	August 18, 2009

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The next New Draft of the Week will be the article with the most votes at 1 AM UTC on Thursday, 27 August 2009. I did the honors this time. Milton Beychok 23:37, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

Nominated article	Supporters	Specialist supporters	Dates	Score
Earth's atmosphere: An envelope of gas that surrounds the Earth and extends from the Earth's surface out thousands of kilometres, becoming increasingly thinner (less dense) with distance but always held in place by Earth's gravitational pull. [e] The metadata subpage is missing. You can start it via filling in this form or by following the instructions that come up after clicking on the [show] link to the right. Do you see this on PREVIEW? then SAVE! before following a link. To find out more about the use of metadata for the management of Citizendium pages, see CZ:Metadata. You may see this box for one of two reasons. Either: A - New page has been created, or subpages template was added to an existing page B - Cluster move is in progress Click either the A or B link for further instructions. [Feel free to recommend improvements to the text or links in this template] A - For a New Cluster use the following directions Subpages format requires a metadata page. Using the following instructions will complete the process of creating this article's subpages. Click the blue "metadata template" link below to create the page. On the edit page that appears paste in the article's title across from "pagename =". You might also fill out the checklist part of the form. Ignore the rest. For background, see Using the Subpages template Don't worry--you'll get the hang of it right away. Remember to hit Save! the "metadata template". However, you can create articles without subpages. Just delete the {{subpages}} template from the top of this page and this prompt will disappear. :) Don't feel obligated to use subpages, it's more important that you write sentences, which you can always do without writing fancy code. [Feel free to recommend improvements to the text or links in this template] B - For a Cluster Move use the following directions The metadata template should be moved to the new name as the first step. Please revert this move and start by using the Move Cluster link at the top left of the talk page. The name prior to this move can be found at the following link. [Feel free to recommend improvements to the text or links in this template] This article is about Earth's atmosphere. For other uses of the term Atmosphere, please see Atmosphere (disambiguation). This article is about Earth's Atmosphere. For other uses of the term Earth, please see Earth (disambiguation). (PD) Photo: Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center Atmospheric gases scatter blue light more than other wavelengths, giving the Earth a blue halo when seen from space at an altitude of 181 nautical miles (335 kilometres) above the Earth. The Earth's atmosphere is an envelope of gas that surrounds the Earth and extends from the Earth's surface out thousands of kilometres, becoming increasingly thinner (less dense) with distance but always held in place by Earth's gravitational pull. The atmosphere contains the air we breathe and it holds clouds of moisture (water vapor) that become the water we drink. It protects us from meteors and harmful solar radiation and warms the Earth's surface by heat retention. In effect, the atmosphere is an envelope that protects all life on Earth. The atmosphere is a mixture of gases we call "air". On a dry volume basis, it consists of about 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. The remainder of about 1% contains argon, carbon dioxide and very small amounts of other gases. The atmosphere is rarely, if ever, completely dry. Water vapor is almost always present up to about 4% of the total volume. In desert regions, when dry winds are blowing, water vapor in the air will be nearly zero. This climbs in other regions to about 3% on extremely hot and humid days. The upper limit, approaching 4%, is for tropical areas. The atmosphere has a total mass of about 5 × 1015 metric tons and about 80% of that mass is within about 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) from the Earth's surface. There is no definite boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. It slowly becomes less dense (i.e., more empty) and fades into the void of outer space. Structure of the atmosphere (PD) Drawing: NOAA and NWS Structure of the atmosphere. As shown in the adjacent diagram, Earth's atmosphere has five primary layers, referred to as spheres. From the lowest to the highest layer, they are the Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere and the Exosphere. The four boundaries between the primary layers, referred to as pauses, are the Tropopause, Stratopause, Mesopause and the Thermopause. In more detail: Troposphere From the Greek word "τρέπω" meaning to turn or change. The troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere and extends from the Earth's surface to about 7 kilometres (4 miles) high at the north and south poles and 17 kilometres (11 miles) high at the equator. This is where we live. As the density of the air in this layer decrease with height, the air temperature in the troposphere also decreases with height. The temperature drops from about 14 to 15 °C at the surface to about -45 °C at the top of the troposphere. All of our weather occurs in the troposphere. The troposphere contains about 80% of the total mass of the atmosphere. In fact, 50% percent of the total mass of the atmosphere is located in the lowest 5 to 6 kilometres (3.1 to 3.7 miles) of the troposphere. The cruising altitude of commercial airliners is usually about 9 to 10 kilometres (5.6 to 6.2 miles) which is close to the top of the troposphere. Atmospheric boundary layer The lowest part of the troposphere is called the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) or the planetary boundary layer and extends from the Earth's surface to about 1.5 to 2.0 km in height. The air temperature of the atmospheric boundary layer decreases with increasing altitude unless an inversion layer, where the temperature increases with increasing altitude, is present. Above an inversion layer, the temperature decreases again. (See also Atmospheric lapse rate) Tropopause The boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere. Together, the troposphere and the tropopause are known as the lower atmosphere. Stratosphere From the Latin word "stratus" meaning spreading out. The stratosphere extends from the tropopause's height of 7 to 17 kilometres (4 to 11 miles) to a height of about 50 kilometres (31 miles) and contains about 19% of the atmospheric gases. The stratosphere experiences increasing temperature and solar radiation with height. It contains the ozone layer because the solar radiation is increasingly absorbed by oxygen molecules in the stratosphere, leading to the formation of ozone. The ozone layer resides in the lower portion of the stratosphere, though the thickness of the layer varies seasonally and geographically. Weather balloons can rise to about 40 kilometres (25 miles) before the difference between the pressure inside the balloon and the outside atmospheric pressure causes the balloons to expand to the point at which they burst. Stratopause The boundary between the stratosphere and the mesosphere. The atmospheric pressure here is 1/1000th of the atmospheric pressure at sea level. Mesosphere From the Greek word "μέσος" meaning middle. The mesosphere extends from stratopause's height of about 50 kilometres (31 miles) to a height of about 80 to 85 kilometres (50 to 53 miles). The gases continue to become less and less dense with height. As such, the effect of the warming by ultraviolet radiation also becomes less and less, leading to a decrease in temperature with height. On average, temperature decreases to as low as -100 °C at the mesopause. However, the gases in the mesosphere are still dense enough to slow down meteors hurtling into the atmosphere, where they burn up and leave fiery trails in the night sky. Mesopause The boundary between the mesosphere and the thermosphere. It is the coldest place on Earth, with a temperature as low as -120 °C at times. Thermosphere The thermosphere extends from the mesopause's height of 80 to 85 kilometres (50 to 53 miles) to a height of between 500 and 1000 kilometres (310 and 620 miles) and is referred to as the upper atmosphere. The gases of the thermosphere are increasingly less dense than in the mesosphere. As such, incoming high energy ultraviolet and x-ray radiation from the sun, absorbed by the molecules in this layer, results in the temperature increasing to as high as 2000 °C near the top of this layer. However, despite the high temperature, this layer of the atmosphere would still feel very cold to our skin because of the extremely low density of the air. The total amount of energy from the very few molecules in this layer is not enough to heat our skin. The International Space Station orbits in this layer, between 320 and 380 kilometers (200 and 235 miles) from the Earth's surface. The Kármán line, named after the physicist Theodore von Kármán, is in the thermosphere at an altitude of 100 kilometres (62 miles) above the Earth and is often referred to as the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space. (PD) Diagram: NOAA and NWS Temperature versus altitude within the Earth's atmosphere. Thermopause The boundary between the thermosphere and the exosphere. Exosphere Extends from the thermopause's height of 500 to 1000 kilometres (310 to 620 miles) up to a height of 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) above the Earth's surface. The exosphere is the outermost layer of the atmosphere and it is in this layer that our man-made satellites orbit the Earth. The density of the exosphere is so low that particles within it (atoms, molecules, or ions) do not collide. As a result, particles in the exosphere can escape altogether from Earth's atmosphere into the void of space. There are two other regions of the atmosphere that deserve discussion, one is the Ionosphere and the other is the Ozone layer: Ionosphere Solar radiation causes ionization of the molecules in a region of the atmosphere that extends from about 50 kilometers up to about 1100 kilometers above the Earth. That region is called the ionosphere and most of it is in the thermosphere, although it overlaps into the exosphere above the thermosphere and the mesosphere below the thermosphere. It is of importance because certain regions of the ionosphere make long distance radio communication possible by reflecting the radio waves back to Earth. It is also home to auroras. The lower edge of auroras occur at an altitude of about 100 kilometres (about the same height as the Kármán line) and may extend up to an altitude of 480 kilometres. Ozone Layer Though part of the stratosphere, the physical and chemical composition of the ozone layer is far different from that of the stratosphere. Ozone (O3) in the Earth's stratosphere is created by ultraviolet light striking oxygen molecules containing two oxygen atoms (O2), splitting them into individual oxygen atoms (atomic oxygen). The atomic oxygen then combines with unbroken O2 to create O3, the ozone. Ozone is unstable (although long-lived in the stratosphere) and when ultraviolet light hits ozone, it splits into a molecule of O2 and an atom of atomic oxygen thus creating a continuing process called the ozone-oxygen cycle. This occurs in the ozone layer, the region from about 10 to 50 kilometres (6 to 31 miles) above Earth's surface. About 90% of the ozone in the Earth's atmosphere is contained in the stratosphere. Ozone concentrations are greatest between the heights of about 20 and 40 kilometres above the Earth's surface, where they range from about 2 to 8 parts per million by volume. Sometimes the Earth's atmosphere is defined as consisting of these two parts: Homosphere Defined as that part of the atmosphere where the chemical composition of the atmosphere is constant. The homosphere extends from the Earth's surface to about 80 kilometres (50 miles) and includes the troposphere, the mesosphere and the stratosphere. Heterosphere Defined as that part of the atmosphere above 80 kilometres in which the component gases are stratified, with concentrations of the heavier gases decreasing more rapidly with altitude than concentrations of the lighter gases. It includes the thermosphere and the exosphere. Base Values Region Number Altitude Range (m) $P_{b}$ (Pa) $T_{b}$ (K) $L_{b}$ (K/m) $h_{b}$ (m) 1 0.00 to 10,999 101,325 288.15 -0.0065 0.00 2 11,000 to 19,999 22,632 216.65 0.00 11,000 3 20,000 to 31,999 5,474 216.65 0.001 20,000 4 32,000 to 46,999 868 228.65 0.0028 32,000 5 47,000 to 50,999 110 270.65 0.00 47,000 6 51,000 to 70,999 66 270.65 -0.0028 51,000 7 71,000 to 85,000 4 214.65 -0.002 71,000 Pressure profile of the atmosphere Earth's atmospheric pressure at sea level is commonly taken to be 101,325 pascals and it decreases with increasing altitude. There are two equations for calculating the atmospheric pressure at any given altitude up to 86 kilometres (53 miles). Equation 1 is used when the lapse rate is not equal to zero and equation 2 is used when the lapse rate equals zero: The two equations are valid for seven different altitude regions of the Earth's atmosphere by using the designated base values (from the adjacent table) for $P_{b}$, $T_{b}$, $L_{b}$ and $h_{b}$ for each of the seven regions: Equation 1: $P=P_{b}\cdot \left[{\frac {T_{b}}{T_{b}+L_{b}\cdot (h-h_{b})}}\right]^{\textstyle {\frac {g\cdot M}{R\cdot L_{b}}}}$ Equation 2: $P=P_{b}\cdot \exp \left[{\frac {-\,g\cdot M\cdot (h-h_{b})}{R\cdot T_{b}}}\right]$ where: $P$ = Pressure at any given altitude $\scriptstyle h$, Pa $P_{b}$ = Base pressure, Pa $T_{b}$ = Base temperature, K $L_{b}$ = Base lapse rate, K/m $h_{b}$ = Base height (i.e., altitude), m $h$ = Any given altitude, m $g$ = Gravitational acceleration = 9.8067 m/s2 $M$ = Molecular weight of air = 0.028964 kg/mol $R$ = Universal gas constant = 8.3144 J/(K $\cdot$ mol) For example, the atmospheric pressure at an altitude of 10,000 metres is obtained as 26,437 pascals by using Equation 1 and the appropriate base values for the altitude region number 1. Composition of Dry Air Gas Concentration Name Symbol Volume % ppmv Nitrogen N2 78.084 780,840 Oxygen O2 20.947 209,470 Argon Ar 0.934 9,340 Carbon dioxide CO2 0.033 330 Neon Ne 0.001820 18.20 Helium He 0.000520 5.20 Methane CH4 0.000200 2.00 Krypton Kr 0.000110 1.10 Sulfur dioxide SO2 0.000100 1.00 Hydrogen H2 0.000050 0.50 Nitrous oxide N2O 0.000050 0.50 Xenon Xe 0.000009 0.09 Ozone O3 0.000007 0.07 Nitrogen dioxide NO2 0.000002 0.02 Notes: -- ppmv = parts per million parts by volume -- The amount of water vapor varies up to a maximum of 4 volume percent. -- The total volume percent of the listed gases does not equal exactly 100 percent because of rounding of the numbers. Composition of the atmospheric air The adjacent table lists the concentration of 14 gases present in filtered dry air. Two of the gases, nitrogen and oxygen make up 99.03 percent of the clean, dry air. The other listed gases total to 0.97 percent. Note the amounts of greenhouse gases that are present: water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Additional gases (not listed in the table) are also present in very minute amounts. The atmospheric air is rarely, if ever, dry. Water vapor is nearly always present up to about 4% of the total volume. In the deserts regions, when dry winds are blowing, the water vapor content will be near zero. This climbs to near 3% on extremely hot/humid days. The upper limit of 4% is for tropical climates. Unfiltered air contains minute amounts of various types of particulate matter derived from sources such as from dust, pollen and spores, sea spray, volcanoes, meteoroids and industrial activities. Brief history of Earth's atmosphere Earth was formed 4.54 billion years ago (within an uncertainty of 1%) with a primordial gaseous atmosphere surrounding a very dense, molten core. About 4.4 billion year ago, as the Earth began to cool and form a crust, the primordial atmosphere was stripped away by a combination of heat from that molten crust, periods of intense solar activity, and the solar wind. As the crust formed, volcanic activity became incessant. The outgassing from the volcanoes replaced the primordial atmosphere with what is referred to as the second atmosphere that most probably consisted of water vapor (steam), nitrogen, methane, ammonia, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, and other gases — a mixture much like that emitted from volcanoes today. The dominant gases of the secondary atmosphere were water vapor, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. There was very little free oxygen (if any) in that secondary atmosphere and it would have been poisonous for almost all modern life forms. At about 4.0 billion years ago, cooling of the Earth and its atmosphere caused precipitation of the atmospheric water vapor as rainfall and subsequently the development of the Earth's oceans. Most of the atmospheric carbon dioxide was dissolved in the oceans and then precipitated out as solid carbonates. By about 3.5 billion years ago, life emerged in the oceans in the form of single-celled microorganisms (referred to as archaea). By about 2.7 billion year ago, the archaea were joined by microorganisms called cyanobacteria which were the first organisms to produce free gaseous oxygen. It took a long time for the cyanobacteria to get started but between 2.2 and 2.7 billion years ago, the Earth's atmosphere had been converted from an oxygen-lacking (anoxic) atmosphere to an oxygen-containing (oxic) atmosphere. This is often referred to as the Great Oxidation and it resulted in the mass extinction of any life forms that may have existed during the era of the anoxic atmosphere. Between then and now, the gaseous atmosphere was converted to its modern composition as presented and discussed in the previous section of this article. The evolution of the Earth's modern oxygen-containing atmosphere (referred to as the third atmosphere) led to the formation of the ozone layer which protects life on earth by blocking the harmful incoming ultraviolet solar radiation. References  (Read more...)	Milton Beychok		1

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Chamberlain, circa 1865

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, usually called "Lawrence", (1828-1914) was an American educator, who taught in a wide variety of fields, but was also an exceptionally distinguished citizen-soldier in the American Civil War. At Appomattox Court House, he was given the honor of accepting the Confederate flags, but did so, without orders, in a way that started healing for both sides.

Especially in his home state of Maine, he is also remembered for his four terms as Governor. As governor, he made statewide contributions to education, but his most intense were as a faculty member and then President of Bowdoin College.

Personality

He was an emotionally complex man, with a complex marriage. He was widely respected as a self-made war hero, a creative and beloved educator, and an elected official and political appointee without the right sort of personality for politics. Still, he served four terms as Governor of Maine. Of all his titles, however — Governor and academic President — he was proudest of General, and preferred to be addressed as such; he even sought foreign military service

It is complex to judge whether he had an unusual desire for recognition and honors. Compared to some Civil War leaders such as George Armstrong Custer, he could be called extremely modest, but he also, even when he thought he might be dying of his wounds, was aggressive in seeking promotion in rank. One biographer suggests that his desire to perpetuate his own image was equally a desire to perpetuate the spirit of the Union's army, and its patriotism and suffering. "As the story of his life is pursued, the impression grows that he thought of himself as more than himself."

Early life

Chamberlain at Bowdoin before CivilWar

Brought up on his parents' farm, his father wanted him to join the military while his mother aimed him for the clergy. Since he chose to attend Bowdoin College, which, at the time, had a strong Congregationalist influence, perhaps his mother had the last word.

Before attending Bowdoin, he had to meet a requirement of proficiency in the Greek language, so, already having learned French and Latin, he taught himself Greek and was accepted and started there in 1848. He was a respected general student, and also a musician, who taught voice, led choirs, and played the bass viola.

Preparing for marriage

They had first met as children, but, in his third year at Bowdoin, in 1851, he became seriously interested in Fannie Adams, adopted daughter of the respected minister of the First Parish Church, George Adams, who was her biological uncle. Joshua was 22, and a student who had not yet established a career, while the 25-year-old Fanny had a reputation as an exceptionally talented musician. She appeared, at first, puzzled by the intensity of his courtship.

George Adams and Joshua Chamberlain had quite different views of Fanny, and Adams did not, at first, consider Chamberlain a good match for his daughter. For example, Adams considered her too independent and thought her taste for expensive clothing was immodest. Chamberlain, however, was attracted to her wit, independence and intelligence. Few pictures of Fanny survive, but accounts describe her as much more strikingly attractive than the pictures, and a theme of romantic physicality was evident in their correspondence.

Fanny Chamberlain

After his graduation, he enrolled in Bangor Theological Seminary, but stayed in contact with Fanny. At the seminary, his languages expanded to German, Arabic, Hebrew and Syriac. These studies were to prepare him for the Congregational ministry, which Fanny had already rejected.

Fannie was in an increasingly uncomfortable situation. Her adoptive mother had died, and, six months later, her father married Helen Root, who was only a few months older than Fannie. Fannie resented her father's short period of mourning, offering enough anger that Adams suggested she live elsewhere. Helen, like Fannie, delighted in her appearance, but what Adams considered extravagance on Fannie's part seemed charming to him in Helen.

Some historians, such as Perry, believe Fanny was an early feminist, although one reviewer questions his research. Even now, it is difficult to look into intimate relationships, and, at the time, such things were rarely spoken even among the participants.

When Fannie realized she had to leave the house, without independent income, she decided to spend three years teaching in the south, a respectable quasi-missionary role at the time. She went to teach at the Milledgeville Academy in Georgia in December 1852. Chamberlain also worried that she was reexamining his relations with him. Perry wrote she confided fears of intimacy to Chamberlain, both in person and in correspondence during her three years of teaching: "asking him if he thought that 'it' — it is unclear if she meant childbirth or sexual union — and saying she thought it might be 'better' for the two of them to forgo any intimacy.

They married in December 1855.

Bowdoin faculty

He joined the Bowdoin College faculty in 1856, first with a professorship in logic and natural theology, then adding rhetoric and oratory, and eventually professor of modern languages. Early in his career, he developed a distinct philosophy of education:

My idea of a College course is that it should afford a liberal education - not a special or professional one, not in any way one-sided. It cannot be a finished education, but should be, I think, a general outline of a symmetrical development, involving such acquaintance with all the departments of knowledge and culture - proportionate to their several values - as shall give some insight into the principles and powers by which thought passes into life - together with such practice and exercise in each of the great fields of study that the student may experience himself a little in all.

In spite of objections from her father, he married Fanny, starting a what was generally considered a lifelong love affair. They had five children, two of whom survived into adulthood. Another historian, however, suggests their marriage may have had problems; there clearly was a confrontation in 1868.

American Civil War

Volunteering for service in 1862, he declined, initially, a regimental command. He became lieutenant colonel of the 20th Maine Regiment, taking command in May 1863, and was promoted to colonel on August 8. His brother Tom also served in the regiment, as a junior officer.

He fought with the 20th at the Battles of Antietam, Shepherdstown Ford, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. He suffered his first wound at Fredericksburg.

Little Round Top

For performance in combat, however, he is most remembered for the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Little Round Top engagement. Immediately prior to the battle, and after Chancellorsville, he received a detail of men who had contracted to fight only with the 2nd Maine, and whose enlistments had expired. He was sympathetic to their plight, writing about it to the Governor. he faced the difficult command task of speaking to soldiers, Accused of mutiny, tThey were involuntarily assigned to the 20th. "Chamberlain's brief speech and his pledge to plead their case caused all but a handful to take arms and join the ranks of the 20th for the coming battle".

Union line at Little Round Top

At Little Round Top, the 20th held the end of the Union flank, in a desperate defense ending in an all-out bayonet charge against the 15th Alabama Regiment. Indeed, it was tactically critical; it has also become a legend in American military history; Chamberlain was to become a key character in Michael Shaara's historical novel The Killer Angels, the basis for a number of books, continued by Shaara's son, and for the Turner Broadcasting film and miniseries, in which he was played by Jeff Daniels. The character of his sergeant, Buster Kilrain, was fictional, but the Shaara material is highly regarded.

Not a moment was about to be lost! Five minutes more of such a defensive and the last roll call would sound for us! Desperate as the chances were, there was nothing for it but to take the offensive. I stepped to the colors. The men turned towards me. One word was enough- 'BAYONETS!' It caught like fire and swept along the ranks. The men took it up with a shout, one could not say whether from the pit or the song of the morning sat, it was vain to order 'Forward!'. No mortal could have heard it in the mighty hosanna that was winging the sky. The whole line quivered from the start; the edge of the left-wing rippled, swung, tossed among the rocks, straightened, changed curve from scimitar to sickle-shape; and the bristling archers swooped down upon the serried host- down into the face of half a thousand! Two hundred men!

There have been some suggestions that one of his junior officers originally started the bayonet charge, but there is little question Chamberlain committed all his forces to it, and was wounded in combat.

Petersburg

In November 1863 he was relieved from field service and sent to Washington suffering from malaria, the eventual cause of his death. He returned to the 20th, commanding it in the First Battle of Cold Harbor and the Battle of Petersburg, in which he was wounded; Ulysses S. Grant spot-promoted him to brigadier general, although he was expected to die.

The wound suffered at Petersburg damaged his bladder and urethra. In surgery later called "miraculous" by a U.S. Army surgeon in 1997, two regimental surgeons went into his abdomen, almost a death sentence by infection in 1864, and repaired the damage. The technology available for urethral repair was very limited, and he required repeated surgeries for what probably partially impaired his sexual function. Normally, this detail would be outside the scope of a historical article, but it may have been an contributing factor to tension with his wife while Governor.

Higher command

He returned to brigade command in November, and fought in the Overland Campaign in the Battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna and Second Petersburg. Wounded at the Rives' Salient engagement at Second Petersburg, he was again expected to die, and again spot-promoted by Grant, this time to major general. By the final days, he led a division.

A time to heal

At Appomattox Court House, he was given the honor, a sad one, of accepting the formal surrender of Confederate troops. As Confederate Gen. John Gordon's troops passed, Chamberlain, without orders, called his troops to attention and gave formal recognition to fellow soldiers, fellow citizens again. This was long remembered as a healing act, about which Chamberlain wrote in the lengthy Passing of the Armies.

I resolved to mark it by some token of recognition, which could be no other than a salute of arms. Well aware of the responsibility assumed, and of the criticisms that would follow, as the sequel proved, nothing of that kind could move me in the least. The act could be defended, if needful, by the suggestion that such a salute was not to the cause for which the flag of the Confederacy stood, but to its going down before the flag of the Union. My main reason, however, was one for which I sought no authority nor asked forgiveness. Before us in proud humiliation stood the embodiment of manhood: men whom neither toils and sufferings, nor the fact of death, nor disaster, nor hopelessness could bend from their resolve; standing before us now, thin, worn, and famished, but erect, and with eyes looking level into ours, waking memories that bound us together as no other bond; — was not such manhood to be welcomed back into a Union so tested and assured?

...Gordon at the head of the column, riding with heavy spirit and downcast face, catches the sound of shifting arms, looks up, and, taking the meaning, wheels superbly, making with himself and his horse one uplifted figure, with profound salutation as he drops the point of his sword to the boot toe; then facing to his own command, gives word for his successive brigades to pass us with the same position of the manual, — honor answering honor. On our part not a sound of trumpet more, nor roll of drum; not a cheer, nor word nor whisper of vain-glorying, nor motion of man standing again at the order, but an awed stillness rather, and breath-holding, as if it were the passing of the dead!

As each successive division masks our own, it halts, the men face inward towards us across the road, twelve feet away; then carefully "dress" their line, each captain taking pains for the good appearance of his company, worn and half starved as they were. The field and staff take their positions in the intervals of regiments; generals in rear of their commands. They fix bayonets, stack arms; then, hesitatingly, remove cartridge-boxes and lay them down. Lastly, — reluctantly, with agony of expression, — they tenderly fold their flags, battle-worn and torn, blood-stained, heart-holding colors, and lay them down; some frenziedly rushing from the ranks, kneeling over them, clinging to them, pressing them to their lips with burning tears. And only the Flag of the Union greets the sky!

While this gained him status on a national level, it was later to throw question on him when he later entered Republican politics in Maine. No one with secret sympathies for the South could be trusted by the Radical Republicans that controlled the Maine party.

An April 1865 letter to his wife, reflecting on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, also reveals his affection for, and a very sensual image of her.

Postwar and politics

He rode in the formal end-of-war review, ended his service in August 1865, although he was reactivated so he could receive surgery for his war wounds. While he returned to the Bowdoin faculty, he also began to lecture about the Civil War. In August 1865, Grant made a visit to the Bowdoin commencement and stayed at Chamberlain's home. The visit was one of a number by Grant, which suggested a campaign tour, but the obvious endorsement of Chamberlain by Grant suggested he could be a strong Republican candidate for governor. Grant had principally come, however, not to meet with Chamberlain, but with O.O. Howard, another retired general and head of the Freedmen's Bureau Maine's Republican leader, James G. Blaine, first saw Chamberlain as a strong gubernatorial candidate: a popular war hero who rose by his abilities, and came from a part of Maine that most avoided regional dislikes. Blaine, however, did not know Chamberlain's political weaknesses: "He did not have the skill necessary to move easily and gracefully out of difficult or embarrassing situations. Although adept at self-promotion in many ways, he would later shrink from initiating and running a political campaign in his own behalf. He lacked the thick, protective, rhinoceros hide that a politician needs. And where matters of principle were concerned, he had little talent for compromise...he would speak and act according to his own beliefs."

Anniversary bracelet, 1865

Shortly afterward, their seven-month-old daughter died, the third child to die in infancy. For their tenth wedding anniversary on December 7, 1865, he gave her a bracelet that has become an artifact of American jewelers, centered about the insignia of the corps he commanded, with inscriptions of his battles and the shoulder boards of his rank. The marriage, however, was strained by the time he had spent away, the death of a child, and his continuing pain and restlessness from his wound. Chamberlain chose to run for Governor of Maine as a new adventure, without her agreement. Well after the war, Congress explicitly voted him the Medal of Honor; it was not one of the questionable awards that did not meet the modern standards of the Pyramid of Honor. He was also governor of Maine, but his beloved Bowdoin College was first in his heart.

Chamberlain's Medal of Honor

The long wartime separation from Fanny introduced tensions into their marriage, exacerbated by the political career in which she had no role. On November 19, 1868, a member of his staff in the Governor's Mansion told him that Fanny was telling neighbors he was pulling her hair and striking her, and she was planning to sue for divorce. The next day, he wrote a manuscript letter in the Bowdoin collection talking not about the specific allegations but the situation. It appeared to lead to reconciliation three years later back at Bowdoin. A friend suggested she was preparing for divorce, to which Chamberlain responded,

The thing comes to this, if you are contemplating any such things as Mr Johnson says—there is a better way to do it. If you are not, you must see the gulf of misery to which this confidence with unworthy people tends. You have this advantage of me, that I never spoke unkindly of you to any person. I shall not now do so to you. But it is a very great trial to me—more than all things else put together—wounds, pains, toils, wrongs, + hatred of eager enemies"

Issues as governor

Aside from the partisan issues, Chamberlain was not on the popular side in several issues:

• Prohibition
• Capital punishment
• Reconstruction

Return to Bowdoin

He preferred education to politics, and in 1871 became president of Bowdoin College. At a 2003 dedication of a memorial to him, the current college president, Barry Mills as "'thankless and wasteful'." Hardly the feelings of a man who felt appreciated, but also hardly the feelings of anyone assembled here today!" Bowdoin, a small but influential school, in Mills' words, "can trace much of its modern identity to the controversial Chamberlain presidency."

Even though it was a competitor, Chamberlain was instrumental in forming the University of Maine.

Back in office, he instituted controversial reforms. Perhaps based on his respect for Fannie's intellect, he was quite open to admitting women, and regretted Bowdoin did not currently have facilities for women. He did encourage an applicant in 1872. Bowdoin eventually became coeducational, but he was less successful in introducing military drill as a means of enhancing spirit and discipline, as well as establishing a cadre of officers if needed.

Chamberlain took a college steeped in the traditions of a classical curriculum and urged it to consider practical and technical education. In his inaugural address he pushed the College to "...accept immediately the challenge of the times," by placing a new emphasis on science and by replacing Greek and Latin with French and German. In the same speech, Chamberlain had the audacity to suggest that women too should "...have part in [the] high calling" represented by a Bowdoin education - an "innovation" that would take another century to materialize.

As president, Chamberlain set out to reform the strict and outdated student code of discipline. He eliminated mandatory morning and evening prayers and Saturday classes. He encouraged the faculty to be more accessible to students both inside and outside the classroom. And he established something near and dear to the hearts of each of his successors: an endowment for the College. where he restructured the college curriculum to include science and engineering.

Retirement

During her later years, Fanny, who had been an artist in her youth, became more isolated as she lost her sight.

U.S. Army Legacy

A descendant, Bill Chamberlain, commanded a U.S. Army battalion in the Gulf War in 1990. In its preparation for the assault, MG Barry McCaffrey had taken the senior commanders of the 24th Mechanizing through an exhausting 36 hour command post map exercise ("Map-Ex"), which left them knowing their plans perfectly. Still, it was tiring; told McCaffrey: "Sir, I just want to say I would rather be shot in combat than go through another Map-Ex." A fellow battalion commander agreed, "I, too, would rather see Bill shot than go through another Map-Ex."

In 1992, at the Command and General Staff College of the U.S. Army, lieutenant colonel Boyd M. Lewis wrote a new edition of the Army's Field Manual 22-100 : Military Leadership, and cited Chamberlain as an exemplar at both the tactical and strategic levels. The tactical described the Little Round Top action in terms relevant to contemporary officer training.

On Little Round Top, COL Chamberlain told his company commanders the purpose and importance of their mission. He ordered the right flank company to tie in with the 83d Pennsylvania and the left flank company to anchor on a large boulder. His thoughts turned to his left flank. There was nothing there except a small hollow and the rising slope of Big Round Top. The 20th Maine was literally at the end of the line.

COL Chamberlain then showed a skill common to good tactical leaders. He imagined threats to his unit, did what he could to guard against them, and considered what he would do to meet other possible threats. Since his left flank was open, COL Chamberlain sent B Company, commanded by CPT Walter G. Morrill, off to guard it and "act as the necessities of battle required." The captain positioned his men behind a stone wall that would face the flank of any Confederate advance. There, fourteen soldiers from the 2d US Sharpshooters, who had been separated from their unit, joined them.

The 20th Maine had been in position only a few minutes when the soldiers of the 15th and 47th Alabama attacked. The Confederates had also marched all night and were tired and thirsty. Even so, they attacked ferociously.

The Maine men held their ground, but then one of COL Chamberlain’s officers reported seeing a large body of Confederate soldiers moving laterally behind the attacking force. COL Chamberlain climbed on a rock—exposing himself to enemy fire—and saw a Confederate unit moving around his exposed left flank. If they outflanked him, his unit would be pushed off its position and destroyed. He would have failed his mission.

COL Chamberlain had to think fast. The tactical manuals he had so diligently studied called for a maneuver that would not work on this terrain. The colonel had to create a new maneuver, one that his soldiers could execute, and execute now.

...The decision left COL Chamberlain with another problem: there was nothing in the tactics book about how to get his unit from their L-shaped position into a line of advance. Under tremendous fire and in the midst of the battle, COL Chamberlain again called his commanders together. He explained that the regiment’s left wing would swing around "like a barn door on a hinge" until it was even with the right wing. Then the entire regiment, bayonets fixed, would charge downhill, staying anchored to the 83d Pennsylvania on its right. The explanation was clear and the situation clearly desperate.

When COL Chamberlain gave the order, 1LT Holman Melcher of F Company leaped forward and led the left wing downhill toward the surprised Confederates. COL Chamberlain had positioned himself at the boulder at the center of the L. When the left wing was abreast of the right wing, he jumped off the rock and led the right wing down the hill. The entire regiment was now charging on line, swinging like a great barn door—just as its commander had intended.

At the strategic level, "Joshua Chamberlain’s greatest contribution to our nation may have been not at Gettysburg or Petersburg, but at Appomattox. By that time a major general, Chamberlain was chosen to command the parade at which GEN Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia laid down its arms and colors. GEN Grant had directed a simple ceremony that recognized the Union victory without humiliating the Confederates. However, MG Chamberlain sensed the need for something even greater. Instead of gloating as the vanquished army passed, he directed his bugler to sound the commands for attention and present arms. His units came to attention and rendered a salute, following his order out of respect for their commander, certainly not out of sudden warmth for recent enemies. That act set the tone for reconciliation and reconstruction and marks a brilliant leader, brave in battle and respectful in peace, who knew when, where, and how to lead."

Unfortunately, Lewis died days after publication, so he could not be asked why he picked Chamberlain and George Patton. It suprises many that the two had many common traits, and surprises more that the two successful military leaders were so different in so many ways.

The tradition continues. A descendant, Dennis Chamberlain, was a first lieutenant in the Arizona National Guard in 2009.

References

(Read more...)

Previous Winners

•  The Sporting Life (album): A 1994 studio album recorded by Diamanda Galás and John Paul Jones. ^[e] (August 13}
•  The Rolling Stones: Famous and influential English blues rock group formed in 1962, known for their albums Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers, and songs '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' and 'Start Me Up'. ^[e] (August 5)
•  Euler angles: three rotation angles that describe any rotation of a 3-dimensional object. ^[e] (July 30)
•  Chester Nimitz: United States Navy admiral (1885-1966) who was Commander in Chief, Pacific and Pacific Ocean Areas in World War II ^[e] (July 23)
•  Heat: A form of energy that flows spontaneously from hotter to colder bodies that are in thermal contact. ^[e] (July 16)
•  Continuum hypothesis: A statement about the size of the continuum, i.e., the number of elements in the set of real numbers. ^[e] (July 9)
•  Hawaiian alphabet: The form of writing used in the Hawaiian Language ^[e] (July 2)
•  Now and Zen: A 1988 studio album recorded by Robert Plant, with guest contributions from Jimmy Page. ^[e] (June 25)
•  Wrench (tool): A fastening tool used to tighten or loosen threaded fasteners, with one end that makes firm contact with flat surfaces of the fastener, and the other end providing a means of applying force ^[e] (June 18)
•  Air preheater: A general term to describe any device designed to preheat the combustion air used in a fuel-burning furnace for the purpose of increasing the thermal efficiency of the furnace. ^[e] (June 11)
•  2009 H1N1 influenza virus: A contagious influenza A virus discovered in April 2009, commonly known as swine flu. ^[e] (June 4)
•  Gasoline: A fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines derived from petroleum crude oil. ^[e] (21 May)
•  John Brock: Fictional British secret agent who starred in three 1960s thrillers by Desmond Skirrow. ^[e] (8 May)
•  McGuffey Readers: A set of highly influential school textbooks used in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the elementary grades in the United States. ^[e] (14 Apr)
•  Vector rotation: Process of rotating one unit vector into a second unit vector. ^[e] (7 Apr)
•  Leptin: Hormone secreted by adipocytes that regulates appetite. ^[e] (31 Mar)
•  Kansas v. Crane: A 2002 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, ruling that a person could not be adjudicated a sexual predator and put in indefinite medical confinement, purely on assessment of an emotional disorder, but such action required proof of a likelihood of uncontrollable impulse presenting a clear and present danger. ^[e] (24 Mar)
•  Punch card: A term for cards used for storing information. Herman Hollerith is credited with the invention of the media for storing information from the United States Census of 1890. ^[e] (17 Mar)
•  Jass–Belote card games: A group of trick-taking card games in which the Jack and Nine of trumps are the highest trumps. ^[e] (10 Mar)
•  Leptotes (orchid): A genus of orchids formed by nine small species that exist primarily in the dry jungles of South and Southeast Brazil. ^[e] (3 Mar)
•  Worm (computers): A form of malware that can spread, among networked computers, without human interaction. ^[e] (24 Feb)
•  Joseph Black: (1728 – 1799) Scottish physicist and chemist, known for his discoveries of latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide ^[e] (11 Feb 2009)
•  Sympathetic magic: The cultural concept that a symbol, or small aspect, of a more powerful entity can, as desired by the user, invoke or compel that entity ^[e] (17 Jan 2009)
•  Dien Bien Phu: Site in northern Vietnam of a 1954 decisive battle that soon forced France to relinquish control of colonial Indochina. ^[e] (25 Dec)
•  Blade Runner: 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, set in an imagined Los Angeles of 2019. ^[e] (25 Nov)
•  Piquet: A two-handed card game played with 32 cards that originated in France around 1500. ^[e] (18 Nov)
•  Crash of 2008: the international banking crisis that followed the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007. ^[e] (23 Oct)
• Information Management: Add brief definition or description (31 Aug)
•  Battle of Gettysburg: A turning point in the American Civil War, July 1-3, 1863, on the outskirts of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. ^[e] (8 July)
•  Drugs banned from the Olympics: Substances prohibited for use by athletes prior to, and during competing in the Olympics. ^[e] (1 July)
•  Sea glass: Formed when broken pieces of glass from bottles, tableware, and other items that have been lost or discarded are worn down and rounded by tumbling in the waves along the shores of oceans and large lakes. ^[e] (24 June)
•  Dazed and Confused (Led Zeppelin song): Landmark 1969 song recorded by Led Zeppelin for their eponymous debut album, which became an early centrepiece for the group's live performances. ^[e] (17 June)
•  Hirohito: The 124th and longest-reigning Emperor of Japan, 1926-89. ^[e] (10 June)
•  Henry Kissinger: (1923—) American academic, diplomat, and simultaneously Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Secretary of State in the Nixon Administration; promoted realism (foreign policy) and détente with China and the Soviet Union; shared 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for ending the Vietnam War; Director, Atlantic Council ^[e] (3 June)
•  Palatalization: An umbrella term for several processes of assimilation in phonetics and phonology, by which the articulation of a consonant is changed under the influence of a preceding or following front vowel or a palatal or palatalized consonant. ^[e] (27 May)
•  Intelligence on the Korean War: The collection and analysis, primarily by the United States with South Korean help, of information that predicted the 1950 invasion of South Korea, and the plans and capabilities of the enemy once the war had started ^[e] (20 May)
•  Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago: A predominantly black church located in south Chicago with upwards of 10,000 members, established in 1961. ^[e] (13 May)
•  BIOS: Part of many modern computers responsible for basic functions such as controlling the keyboard or booting up an operating system. ^[e] (6 May)
•  Miniature Fox Terrier: A small Australian vermin-routing terrier, developed from 19th Century Fox Terriers and Fox Terrier types. ^[e] (23 April)
•  Joseph II: (1741–1790), Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Hapsburg (Austrian) territories who was the arch-embodiment of the Enlightenment spirit of the later 18th-century reforming monarchs. ^[e] (15 Apr)
•  British and American English: A comparison between these two language variants in terms of vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation. ^[e] (7 Apr)
•  Count Rumford: (1753–1814) An American born soldier, statesman, scientist, inventor and social reformer. ^[e] (1 April)
•  Whale meat: The edible flesh of various species of whale. ^[e] (25 March)
•  Naval guns: Add brief definition or description (18 March)
•  Sri Lanka: Add brief definition or description (11 March)
•  Led Zeppelin: Add brief definition or description (4 March)
•  Martin Luther: Add brief definition or description (20 February)
•  Cosmology: Add brief definition or description (4 February)
•  Ernest Rutherford: Add brief definition or description(28 January)
•  Edinburgh: Add brief definition or description (21 January)
•  Russian Revolution of 1905: Add brief definition or description (8 January 2008)
•  Phosphorus: Add brief definition or description (31 December)
•  John Tyler: Add brief definition or description (6 December)
•  Banana: Add brief definition or description (22 November)
•  Augustin-Louis Cauchy: Add brief definition or description (15 November)
• B-17: Add brief definition or description - 8 November 2007
•  Red Sea Urchin: Add brief definition or description - 1 November 2007
•  Symphony: Add brief definition or description - 25 October 2007
•  Oxygen: Add brief definition or description - 18 October 2007
•  Origins and architecture of the Taj Mahal: Add brief definition or description - 11 October 2007
•  Fossilization (palaeontology): Add brief definition or description - 4 October 2007
•  Cradle of Humankind: Add brief definition or description - 27 September 2007
•  John Adams: Add brief definition or description - 20 September 2007
•  Quakers: Add brief definition or description - 13 September 2007
•  Scarborough Castle: Add brief definition or description - 6 September 2007
•  Jane Addams: Add brief definition or description - 30 August 2007
•  Epidemiology: Add brief definition or description - 23 August 2007
•  Gay community: Add brief definition or description - 16 August 2007
•  Edward I: Add brief definition or description - 9 August 2007

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