Honoring a hero from Little Round Top

STOCKHOLM-Like millions of other Americans, Valerie Josephson of Stockholm marked the July 4 holiday by raising a flag on her garden flag pole. This flag, however, which hung beside the stars and stripes of the American flag, has a special significance for Josephson. "This is a commutative flag to honor the 20th Maine regiment in which my great, great grandfather Mansfield Hamm fought at Gettysburg," she said. On July 2, 1863, the second day of Gettysburg, the 20th Maine, led by one of the most celebrated figures of the war, Col. Joshua L. Chamberlain, rushed to Little Round Top, the hill that anchored the left end of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. In fierce and protracted fighting, Chamberlain's men held off repeated charges by the 15th Alabama. Finally, with their ammunition all but gone, Chamberlain's troops routed the Confederates by charging with fixed bayonets down the mountain. The unit's heroics were credited with saving the Union from disaster, and because of that battle and other distinguished action during the war, the unit was designated to accept the Confederate surrender two years later at Appomatox Court House. Josephson has been researching her family history since her father died in 1984, when her mother asked to know more about his family. "I was able to get a lot of information by going to Aroostick County in Maine where my great, great grandfather was from, and I also got a huge amount of information from the New York Public Library," said Josephson. Through various records, Josephson was able to determine that Mansfield Hamm was mustered into the army in 1862 at the age of 18 when he answered Lincoln's first call for volunteers and received a $25 bonus. "He was five-foot six-inches, he had gray eyes and brown hair and he was a farmer," she said. "He had his thumb shot off while carrying the flag at the battle of Little Round Top. He also sustained a serious flesh wound in his side on July 2, 1863, and that's why I put up the flag each year on that date," she added. Hamm was hospitalized with his injuries, and through her research Josephson was able to find out that he was also hospitalized for mumps and chickenpox. "He was discharged from the army in 1865, and as a member of the 20th Maine was among those chosen to accept the surrender of arms," Josephson said. As a member of the Henry Ryerson Civil War Round Table at Sussex County Community College, Josephson, a medical editor by profession, is very interested in the medical aspects of the Civil War and has given several talks on the subject.