There is a sequel to his story.
Captain Chichester, the Confederate officer to whom Chamberlain had surrendered his sword, survived the war and lived until 1900. One of his last wishes was that Captain Chamberlain’s sword, which Chichester had prized during his lifetime, be returned to its original owner. Captain Chamberlain had died seven years before but the sword was returned to his widow. It is still a proud possession of the Chamberlain family.
At the time of the return of the sword there were articles in the Charleston and Hartford papers telling of the gallantry of both men, their experiences in battle and the fate of the sword.
By almost mystical coincidence, Captain Chichester’s father had been born in Connecticut and his mother’s maiden name had been Chamberlain. The two captains had been born in the same year, within two months of each other.
Acknowledgments
Mrs. Ruth C. North and Rodman W. Chamberlain, two of Captain Chamberlain’s ten children, were especially helpful in gathering material for this book. Most of the volumes listed in the bibliography were found in the New York Public Library, and I owe a vote of thanks to Mr. Gilbert A. Cam for putting the facilities of the Frederick Lewis Allen Room at my disposal so that I would have a place to study and work from these volumes.
Thanks to my brother Duncan Burchard for information about small arms of the Civil War period, and to my friend Victor Darnell for checking my descriptions of Naval vessels.
For their cordial help, thanks to Kate Swift and James Pickering of the American Museum—Hayden Planetarium.
A special vote of thanks goes to my friends in South Carolina: Jack Snow of St. Helena Island and Howard Danner of the Beaufort Historical Society, Robert Ochs, Chairman of the Department of History at the University of South Carolina, Lester Inabinett of the South Caroliniana Library and Virginia Rugheimer of the Charleston Library Society.
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