Background
Spear was born in 1834 in Warren, Maine where he grew up on his family"s farm and attended a Presbyterian church Sunday School.
Spear was born in 1834 in Warren, Maine where he grew up on his family"s farm and attended a Presbyterian church Sunday School.
Bowdoin College.
Spear received his higher education at Bowdoin College, graduating in 1858. Spear taught in local schools for four years while also studying law. During the second year of the Civil War he became a recruiter and formed Company G of the 20th Maine.
Spear was commissioned as a captain, but was eventually promoted to the rank of major, then lieutenant colonel, and later brevetted colonel and brigadier general at the end of the war.
After the war, Spear became a patent attorney and eventually became the United States Commissioner of Patents and wrote about the war. Spear died in Washington, District of Columbia, and was buried with honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
Spear was played by Donal Logue in the 1993 film Gettysburg and by Jonathan Maxwell in Gods and Generals.
One author claims that Spear believed that many members of the 20th Maine, particularly Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, exaggerated their roles at the Battle of Gettysburg actions at Little Round Top.