George Gordon Meade

George Gordon Meade 1815-72, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Cádiz, Spain. Graduated from West Point in 1835, he resigned from the army the next year and became a civil engineer. In 1842, Meade reentered the army in the corps of topographical engineers. He served in the Mexican War and on various engineering projects. In the Civil War he was made a brigadier general of volunteers (Aug., 1861). In the Seven Days battles (1862), he was severely wounded at Frayser's Farm (or Glendale), but he recovered in time to lead his brigade ably at the second battle of Bull Run. In the Antietam campaign, in the battle of Fredericksburg (1862), and in the battle of Chancellorsville (1863) he distinguished himself further. Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac on June 28, 1863. Several days later he won the important battle of Gettysburg (see Gettysburg campaign ). This brought him a brigadier generalcy in the regular army. He was criticized, however, for not following up his victory. Meade commanded the Army of the Potomac until the end of the war, but Ulysses S. Grant really directed his army in the Wilderness campaign and subsequent operations. He was promoted to major general in the regular army on Grant's recommendation in Aug., 1864. After the war Meade commanded various military departments.

Bibliography: See G. Meade, The Life and Letters of General George Gordon Meade (2 vol., 1913); biography by F. Cleaves (1960).

Meade, George Gordon (1815–72) Union general, born in Cadiz, Spain. Meade was commander of the Army of the Potomac (1863–65). He first came to prominence during the 1862 Peninsular campaign and further distinguished himself later that year at Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. Despite his victory at Gettysburg (1863), Meade was criticized for its execution and his failure to aggressively pursue the losing forces. He continued to command the Army of the Potomac with competence and dedication for the remainder of the war, though he was never accorded the stature of other military leaders of the conflict. His postwar career consisted of a series of administrative posts. Before the Civil War Meade had seen action in the Mexican War (1846–48) and supervised the Great Lakes geodetic survey.

Meade, George Gordon (1815–1872), Union Civil War general.Born in Cadiz, Spain, Meade, the son of an American naval agent, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1835 and served in the Second Seminole War and the Mexican War.

Appointed brigadier general of U.S. Volunteers when the Civil War began, Meade fought in most of the Army of the Potomac's main battles. Daring at the Battle of Fredericksburg won him a corps command. When Gen. Robert E. Lee moved his Army of Northern Virginia north in June 1863, President Abraham Lincoln gave Meade command of the Army of the Potomac (nearly 88,000 men) with orders to stop the Confederates. Three days into his new assignment, Meade faced Lee's army of some 75,000 near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. A three‐day, nearly decisive, battle began on July 1. Meade's steady command contributed greatly to a vital Union victory. Although criticized for permitting Lee's retreat to Virginia, Meade kept his command of the Army of the Potomac.

Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, appointed to head all Union armies in March 1864, put his headquarters near Meade's. Both generals handled this potentially awkward command situation tactfully and cooperated well to war's end. Meade correctly tried to stop Grant's front assaults in the Wilderness campaign.

After the war, Meade's outspokenness hurt his reputation, and he sank into undeserved obscurity. He died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
[See also Gettysburg, Battle of; Union Army.]

Bibliography

Freeman Cleaves , Meade of Gettysburg, 1960.
Herman Hattaway and and Archer P. Jones , Why the North Won the Civil War, 1983.
Joseph T. Glatthaar , Partners in Command: The Relationship Between Leaders in the Civil War, 1994.
Charles F. Ritter and Jon Wakelyn, eds., Leaders of the American Civil War, 1998.

Frank E. Vandiver