George Gordon Meade

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Captain Meade offered his services to Pennsylvania and was appointed as a brigadier general of volunteers. He was assigned to command a brigade of Pennsylvania volunteers and it was during this time that he began a friendship with John Reynolds who was from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. General George Gordon Meade and his Pennsylvanians built fortifications near Tenallytown, Maryland, part of the defenses of Washington. Nicknamed, "The Old Snapping Turtle", Meade gained a reputation for being short-tempered and obstinate with junior officers and superiors alike. He especially disdained civilians and newspapermen. In March 1862, his troops were sent to General McClellan's Army of the Potomac on the Peninsula southeast of Richmond. His troops saw hard fighting at the battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill and at Glendale where he was seriously wounded. A musket ball struck him in the body above his hip and clipped his liver, just missing his spine as it passed through. Another bullet struck his arm, but the feisty general Stayed on his horse and continued to direct his troops. It was only after a heavy loss of blood that he was forced to leave the field.

General George Gordon Meade recovered in a Philadelphia hospital that fall, but left the facility early in September to rejoin his troops during the Maryland Campaign. Placed in command of a division of "Pennsylvania Reserves", the General led his troops at the Battle of South Mountain, Maryland. Several days later, he again led his division at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. It was at Antietam when Meade took temporary command of the First Corps when the corps commander was wounded. He stayed with the army through the late fall and participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia on December 13, 1862. Soon after this battle, General Meade was assigned to command the Fifth Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac. His assignment as a corps commander took him through the trial of the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, 1863. Early the next month, Meade marched his troops northward in pursuit of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, to Frederick, Maryland where he was given a surprise assignment. Early on the morning of June 28, 1863, he was awakened by a courier from Washington who delivered a letter giving him the command of the Army of the Potomac. Surprised and a bit flustered, Meade protested against his selection, but immediately set about issuing orders and continuing on the army's mission of finding Lee and giving him battle.

The Battle of Gettysburg occurred just three days after General Meade's appointment to command. Using the most qualified of his corps commanders, Meade thwarted Lee's attacks on the second day of the battle. He eagerly sought the advice of his most trusted officers, especially after the death of his trusted friend General Reynolds on July 1st. A Council of War was held on July 2. Meade's officers encouraged him to stay and fight the battle out to a final conclusion. The following day, Lee's last gamble- "Pickett's Charge"- ended in failure. A dry-throated Meade rode to the scene and uttered a hoarse "Hurrah!" at the news of the Confederate repulse. General Meade was later criticised for his caution in following Lee's retreat back to Virginia, but the victory at Gettysburg did not diminish his generalship. On January 28, 1864, General Meade received the official thanks of congress for his service in defeating Lee's Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg. That spring, when General Grant came east to take command of all Union forces and decided to accompany the Army of the Potomac into Virginia, General Meade felt his command and control curtailed by the presence of his superior officer. Never the less, he maintained stringent command of the army and worked diligently in carrying out General Grant's orders and directives. For his services he was promoted to major general in the regular army in August, 1864. The following year when Lee was forced to abandon Richmond, George Gordon Meade set his army in motion to corral the Confederate forces. Sick with a high fever, the general accompanied his troops in an army ambulance. On April 9, 1865, his ambulance was with the army near Appomattox Court House when news arrived that Lee had signed surrender terms with General Grant. Elated at the news, the sickly Meade left his ambulance and rode to his troops to announce the surrender.

With the close of the war, General George Gordon Meade was placed in command of military districts on the east coast. He lived with his wife and family in Philadelphia until October 31, 1872 when he was struck down with violent pain in his side. His old wound from the Battle of Glendale had reactivated internal problems and pneumonia soon set in. General Meade died on November 7, 1872 and is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.

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