George Meade had commanded the Army of the Potomac for only three days1 when he fought the greatest battle of the Civil War. Thrust into command on the eve of Gettysburg, he beat Robert E. Lee in three days of brutal fighting, turning back the Confederate invasion of the North, even if history has often overlooked him.
Born in 1815, Meade was a career engineer2 and steady corps commander when, in late June 1863, with Lee's army invading Pennsylvania, President Lincoln abruptly placed him in command of the1Army of the Potomac. Within days he was leading it into the largest battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere.
General George G. Meade seated among the officers of his headquarters staff in October 1863, a few months after Gettysburg. Photograph by William Morris Smith. Public domain
Gettysburg
At Gettysburg, from 1 to 3 July 1863, Meade fought a skilful defensive battle3, choosing strong ground and shifting troops to meet each Confederate blow, from Little Round Top to the repulse of Pickett's Charge4. Lee's army was beaten and forced to retreat, the high-water mark of the Confederacy turned back.
Map of the Battle of Gettysburg, 1 to 3 July 1863, showing Meade's Union army on its hook-shaped line south of the town and Lee's army facing it. US Army Center of Military History. Public domain
In Grant's shadow
Meade was criticised, including by Lincoln, for not destroying2 Lee's retreating army, and when Ulysses S. Grant came east in 1864, he traveled with Meade's army and overshadowed him2. Meade kept command of the Army of the Potomac through the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and the final campaigns to the end of the war. He died in 1872, his great victory often credited to others.5
Council of war at Massaponax Church, Virginia, on 21 May 1864: Grant leans over a pew to study a map held by Meade. Photograph by Timothy H. O'Sullivan. CC0 (public domain)
Sources and notes
Numbered notes in the text point to the works below.
