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ML_meade_bkp.htm
Gen. George Gordon Meade
Union General Turned The Battle At Gettysburg Into A Civil War Turning Point
By Bethanne Kelly Patrick
Military.com Columnist
Peremptory with superiors and subordinates alike, Gen. George Gordon Meade was often referred to as a "damned old goggle-eyed snapping turtle." But he was also the Union's shining star during the dark days of Gettysburg, driving Lee's Army of Northern Virginia southward and bringing the Civil War to a decisive turning point.
Meade's Army career was literally an accident of fate. Born in Cádiz, Spain, in 1815 to wealthy American parents, Meade chose to enter the U.S. Military Academy after his father's fortunes fell. The 1835 West Point graduate never developed a taste for military life, and after service in the Seminole War, he resigned his commission to take a government job as a civil engineer.
However, after his 1840 marriage, Meade decided to reapply for military service. Appointed a second lieutenant in the topographical engineers in 1842, he served with Gen. Winfield Scott's army during the War with Mexico. Back in Philadelphia, where he had spent his adolescence, Meade helped to build lighthouses on Delaware Bay. His work was so fruitful that he was eventually given charge of a Great Lakes survey.
When Civil War broke out, then-Capt. Meade offered his services to Pennsylvania. Appointed a brigadier general of volunteers, Meade and his troops saw action at great battles such as Mechanicsville, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. They saw their share of smaller engagements, too. Dec. 6, 1861, found Meade, ever the resourceful engineer, leading a foraging expedition at Gunnell's Farm near Drainesville, Va., where his force skirmished with Confederate troops.
As the war progressed, so did Meade's rank and stature -- he was a corps commander at the Battle of Chancellorsville. In the late spring of 1863, Meade's Fifth Army Corps was bivouacked at Frederick, Md., during their pursuit of the Army of Northern Virginia. Meade was given command of the Army of the Potomac on June 28, and just three days later, the two great armies met on the battleground of Gettysburg, Pa.
Despite tactical and psychological setbacks, Meade's "Council of War" urged him to stay and fight. Meade's finest hour as general would be during the crucial battle's final hours. Although he was initially blamed for allowing Lee's army to "escape" across the river, his critics were quickly silenced by his promotion to full brigadier general on July 7, 1863, and by his formal thanks from Congress the following January.
Meade's final promotion was to major general, and he continued in active duty after the war. When he died of pneumonia on Nov. 6, 1872, he was in charge of the Military Division of the Atlantic. |
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