Perhaps the most widely known officer from Maine to today's generation is Brewer native Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, whose exploits in defending Little Round Top during the July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg were celebrated in the book "Killer Angels" and the corresponding 1993 film "Gettysburg". His subordinate officers, including Ellis Spear and Holman S. Melcher, and the men of the 20th Maine successfully repulsed a series of charges made by Alabama troops of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Earlier in the war, the 20th had been led by Adelbert Ames of Rockland. The son of a sea captain, Ames rose at Gettysburg to command of a division. He led the successful assault in the Second Battle of Fort Fisher (commanding the 2nd Division, XXIV Corps), accompanying his men into the formidable coastal fortress as most of his staff were shot down by Confederate snipers.