Holman Melcher

On July 2, 1863, Melcher took part in the bayonet charge at Little Round Top that helped repulse the Confederate attack.[1][2][3][4] On the second day of Battle of Gettysburg, military forces moved to Little Round Top, where Chamberlain began preparing strategic options, as Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker was recently replaced by George G. Meade. As fighting raged in the Wheatfield and Devil's Den, brigade commander Col. Strong Vincent had a precarious hold on Little Round Top, an important hill at the extreme left of the Union line. His brigade of four relatively small regiments was able to resist repeated assaults by Brig. Gen. Evander M. Law's brigade of Hood's division. The defense of Little Round Top with a bayonet charge by the 20th Maine was one of the most fabled episodes in the Civil War.[3]

There has been some controversy tied to the charge on Little Round Top with historians challenging who exactly lead the charge. A certain faction of historians agree that it was Joshua Chamberlain who conceived of a charge while others argue that Melcher physically engaged first.[1][2][3][4] Chamberlain referred to the controversy as "The Melcher incident".[9] This was later confirmed by Brigadier General Ellis Spear,[7] as he stated that Melcher initiated the charge by ordering the remains of his company to move forward a few steps to cover and protect fallen comrades in front of them on top of the hill.[10] Spear concluded prior to the order of Chamberlain to fix bayonets, Melcher "led the impulsive charge, responding to the cries of wounded comrades between the lines."[4] The key source for this conclusion, however, is a quote from a book, written in 1882, by a private in the regiment who was not present at the battle. Private Theodore Gerrish of the 20th Maine Regiment commented on the dispute with the following:

With a cheer and a flash of his sword that sent an inspiration along the line, full ten paces to the front he sprang - ten paces - more than half the distance between the hostile lines... 'Come on! Come on! Come on boys!' [Melcher] shouts. The color sergeant and the brave color guard follow, and with one wild yell of anguish wrung from its tortured heart the regiment charged.[11]

An examination of some of these sources can be found in the July 2017 issue of America's Civil War magazine (http://www.historynet.com/broken-bond.htm).[12] The article includes this quote from Chamberlain:

I went for the Color then at the angle in our center and the Color bearer was beside me advancing when Lieut. Melcher came dashing in and right up to my side. I was then in front of the commanding officer of the advancing front line of rebels. He fired one shot of his pistol at me and I raised my saber to give him the point when he handed me his sword and pistol both at once and called out "we surrender."[13]

Chamberlain was very complimentary of Melcher's role in the charge, even crediting him with saving his life, though not specifically with leading the charge.

I think it was the sight of Melcher and his squad coming down like Tigers that both made him quit firing on me and surrender. Had not Melcher come on I think this officer would have shot me (4 barrels were loaded when I took his pistol) and very likely his men would have got such headway they might have swept us all back.[13]

It is important to note that Melcher's position was in the center of the regiment atop a large rock formation where the unit's monument now stands. By every account of the battle written by men of both sides, the 20th's charge began on the far left of the regimental line, a few dozen yards from Melcher's position. The famous “right wheel” of the regiment could not, by definition, have started at its center. Also, for Melcher to have initiated the charge of the left wing of the regiment, he would have had to lead his men over a 15-foot drop from the rock formation directly in front of them without breaking the regimental line, a physical impossibility.

During the Battle of the Wilderness, near the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, Lt. Melcher lead a small company of seventeen men through a forest needed for alignment with the adjoining company. Due to the heavy fog and subsequent lack of vision, they failed to notice Confederate soldiers move up to their left flank and were surrounded. He ordered his men to lay on the ground and start shooting, capturing thirty confederates while sustaining only minor injuries.[5]

Three days later he was shot in the right leg following a counter-attack, during the Battle of Laurel Hill, in Spotsylvania, Virginia. He was rushed to a makeshift hospital in the Mary Washington house. Due to the level of injury sustained he was escorted to Armory Square hospital in Washington, and returned to Maine for recuperation. He returned to active duty in the fall of 1864.[14]

The Battle of Spotsylvania, where Melcher was severely injured

His involvement in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in Virginia resulted in him being promoted and serious injury. While engaging in battle he was promoted three different times; to first lieutenant in 1863, to Captain a year later, and near the conclusion of the battle he was brevetted Major. His commanding officers, impressed by him, promoted him to acting adjutant to Colonel Joshua Chamberlain.[2] Serving under Ulysses S. Grant, and George G. Meade, he and his company were tasked with the advancement of soldiers to Laurel Hill, a position that was blocking them from Spotsylvania Court House. Confederate soldiers returned heavy fire and the initial program was unsuccessful in dislodging the Confederates. Melcher ordered a clearing of the Brock Road for the infantry, but the troopers soon bogged down, and provided a weak defense against the confederates at that point.[2]

Our whole Division of over 10,000 strong is camped in a beautiful green field . . . The thousands of white tents dotting this green surface, and the many wagons, and ambulances, which go with the marching column makes a really grand sight. And the bands have been playing all evening, making music sweet and soul-stirring, which floats forth in the pleasant evening air . . . But I am moved when I think that before another evening, this beautiful scene will be stained in the blood of thousands who are to-night happy actors in it.[4]

– Holman Melcher

Eventually, Melcher was brevetted to the rank of Major by the end of the battle. He was badly wounded in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in Virginia, but survived.[2] He served in three different companies during the war and served as Inspector-General on the division staff under Griffin and Chamberlain. Melcher was mustered out on July 16, 1865.[1][2]