Welcome to the Temecula Valley Historical Society!

The Temecula Valley Historical Society's February Program

Bonnie Martland, a past president and longtime member of the society will give a talk about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. 

The society chose her presentation for February, when we honor presidents' birthdays. Lincoln, whose birthday we celebrate February 12, delivered his Gettysburg address on November 19, 1863, on a hill that had been the scene of terrible fighting during the Battle of Gettysburg just four months earlier. The short, two-minute speech, is said to have given meaning to the sacrifices of the soldiers who died, not only at Gettysburg, but throughout the war. It also defined the war’s purpose and the values of liberty and equality, and is considered to be a powerful meditation on bravery and loss.

While Bonnie was in Gettysburg for the 2024 commemoration address, she was reminded of the significant service of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, whose bravery did much to ensure the Union victory at Gettysburg in 1863. On February 24 Bonnie will speak about Chamberlain whose actions as commanding officer of the Twentieth Maine Infantry earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor for his defense of Little Round Top. The small hill became, strategically, the key to the battle on its second day. During the three-day battle of July 1 through 3, 1863, over 51,000 soldiers, from both armies, were killed, wounded, captured, or missing.

Chamberlain, a volunteer soldier from a small town in Maine, a college professor, and trained minister, is often referred to as the “unlikely hero” of Gettysburg. He was wounded six times during the war, including an injury at Petersburg that was so severe he was not expected to survive. He fought in over twenty battles and his bravery prompted his rise in rank. Brigadier General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was designated by General Ulysses S. Grant to take temporary command of the First Division of the Fifth Corps of the Army of the Potomac and to preside over the surrender of arms of General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate infantry at Appomattox Court House.

Chamberlain, despite severe chronic pain from war wounds, continued to have a distinguished career after the war.  He served as Governor of Maine and as a president of a college. He was a prolific writer about soldiers’ experiences during the war. He wrote his interpretation of the meaning of the war. Chamberlain wrote about his experiences, not always without controversy, and was an eloquent speaker for the fraternity of those who fought in America’s most defining war. 

Last fall, while hiking in Chamberlain’s footsteps on the newly renovated Little Round Top, Bonnie received a new perspective on the task Chamberlain was given to hold his position at all hazards. Bonnie considers Chamberlain as a man of faith, dignity, empathy, perseverance, and patriotism. She says his story is the American story of an ordinary man who rose to do extraordinary things. 

Bonnie and her husband John are both veterans of the US Army and are retired teachers from the Temecula Unified School District. Bonnie is also known as a local artist who has had several gallery shows including ones in the rotunda of the Temecula Valley Museum, the Merc, and the Grace Mellman Library. Bonnie received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in History and a Master of Arts Degree in Educational Administration. She is a member of the Lincoln Forum and is a docent at the Lincoln Shrine and Research Library in Redlands. She has a special interest in Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War 

Bonnie Martland with statue of Lincoln at his summer home