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George Meade: the story on HearLore | HearLore
— Ch. 1 · Born In Cádiz —
George Meade.
~8 min read · Ch. 1 of 8
George Gordon Meade arrived into the world on the 31st of December 1815, in the Spanish port city of Cádiz. He was the eighth child born to Richard Worsam Meade and Margaret Coats Butler. His family belonged to a wealthy Philadelphia merchant class that had thrived on trade between Spain and America. The financial stability of his household collapsed when his father supported Spain during the Peninsular War. This political choice ruined the family's fortunes and forced them back to the United States in 1817. They returned with precarious finances and little security for their future children.
Meade attended elementary school in Philadelphia before entering the American Classical and Military Lyceum. This private institution modeled itself after the United States Military Academy at West Point. After his father died in 1828, George left the Germantown military academy at age twelve. He then studied under Salmon P. Chase in Washington, D.C., but that school closed shortly due to Chase's other obligations. He eventually found placement at the Mount Hope Institution in Baltimore, Maryland. These early educational experiences shaped a young man who would later struggle with rigid military discipline.
Engineering The Coastline
Meade entered the United States Military Academy on the 1st of July 1831, though he preferred studying law. He graduated nineteenth out of fifty-six cadets in 1835. His time there was marked by 168 demerits, which nearly triggered his mandatory dismissal from the academy. He showed little interest in military dress or drills despite his eventual career path. After graduation, he worked as an assistant surveyor on the Long Island Railroad construction project during the summer.
His engineering career began in earnest when he joined the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers. In November 1843, Meade started working on lighthouse construction under Major Hartman Bache. He built the Brandywine Shoal lighthouse in Delaware Bay and later designed a hydraulic lamp used in several American lighthouses. From 1851 to 1856, he directed the construction of lighthouses across Florida and New Jersey. Specific projects included the Carysfort Reef Light in Key Largo and the Sand Key Light in Key West.
Meade also took responsibility for the Fourth District in New Jersey and Delaware after Bache moved west. He constructed the Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island and the Absecon Light in Atlantic City. The Cape May Light followed these efforts. By 1857, he commanded the Lakes Survey mission of the Great Lakes. This work established uniform water level readings across Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. His instrumentation recommendations created a standardized system for tabulating records across the entire basin.
Rising Through Ranks
The Civil War began in April 1861, and Meade received an appointment as brigadier general of volunteers on the 31st of August 1861. Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin strongly recommended him for this position. He assumed command of the Second Brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves under General George A. McCall. These troops initially built defenses around Washington, D.C., before joining the Peninsula Campaign in March 1862.
During the Seven Days Battles starting the 25th of June 1862, Meade's brigade fought at Mechanicsville and Gaines Mill while mostly held in reserve. At Glendale on June 30, his unit entered fierce combat and lost 1,400 men. Meade himself was shot through the right arm and back during that battle. He returned home to Philadelphia to recuperate from his wounds. Despite his injuries, he resumed command of his brigade by the time of the Second Battle of Bull Run.
His brigade made a heroic stand on Henry House Hill to protect retreating Union forces. Later, when division commander John F. Reynolds trained militia units in Harrisburg, Meade assumed temporary division command. He successfully attacked strategic high ground near Turner's Gap during the Maryland campaign. Joseph Hooker later exclaimed about Meade's leadership after seeing his troops capture those heights. By the 17th of September 1862, Meade took temporary command of the I Corps at Antietam after Hooker was wounded.
Gettysburg Decisions
Meade received news of his appointment as Army of the Potomac commander in the early morning hours of the 28th of June 1863. A messenger from President Abraham Lincoln woke him with this unexpected order. He initially believed army politics had caught up to him and that he faced arrest. Instead, he found himself leading the army just three days before the Battle of Gettysburg began. Three corps commanders recommended him for command despite outranking him.
On the 1st of July 1863, Meade arrived at the battlefield after the first day's action. He rushed the remainder of his army to Gettysburg and deployed forces for a defensive battle. He informed his corps commanders that he would provide quick decisions while trusting them to execute orders effectively. By 6 pm on July 1, he sent a telegram to Washington confirming his decision to concentrate forces and make a stand at Gettysburg.
During the second day of fighting, Meade discovered Daniel Sickles had moved his Corps one mile forward without permission. This unauthorized movement left a gap threatening Sickles' right flank. Meade recognized Little Round Top as critical to maintaining the left flank. He sent chief engineer Gouverneur Warren to assess the hill and quickly ordered the V Corps to occupy it when found empty. The Union suffered near destruction of thirteen brigades defending that position. On July 2, Meade called a council of war where generals agreed to keep fighting in their defensive positions.
Grant And Meade
Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was appointed commander of all Union armies in March 1864 during an election year. Edwin M. Stanton told Grant that Meade was a weak man who needed immediate replacement. Grant assured Meade he had no intentions of replacing him despite this warning. Grant later wrote that this incident gave him a more favorable opinion of Meade than the great victory at Gettysburg.
Grant's headquarters remained with Meade for the remainder of the war, causing friction between the two men. A newspaper reported the Army of the Potac was directed by Grant but commanded by Meade. Grant made tactical decisions while Meade handled operational command. During the Overland Campaign starting the 4th of May 1864, Grant ordered Meade to follow Lee wherever he went. The Union Army struggled to maintain formation in the thick woods of the Wilderness after three days of brutal fighting.
Meade became frustrated with his lack of autonomy as Grant began overriding his tactical deployments. He inadequately coordinated the disastrous frontal assault during the Battle of Cold Harbor. Grant grew frustrated with Meade's cautious approach and started issuing direct orders for troop deployment. Despite these tensions, Grant stated in a telegram on the 13th of May 1864, that Meade had met his most sanguine expectations.
Reconstruction Command
After the Civil War ended, Meade assumed command of the Military Division of the Atlantic in July 1865. This division was headquartered in Philadelphia where he lived for much of his later life. On the 6th of January 1868, he took command of the Third Military District in Atlanta. In January 1868, he also assumed command of the Department of the South.
Under his supervision, state governments formed in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina for reentry into the United States. When the Governor of Georgia refused to accept Reconstruction Acts of Congress, Meade replaced him with General Thomas H. Ruger. After the Camilla massacre in September 1868 caused by white southerners' anger over black voting rights, Meade investigated the event. He decided to leave punishment in the hands of civil authorities rather than imposing military justice directly.
Meade returned to command of the Military Division of the Atlantic in Philadelphia following this investigation. In 1869, after Grant's inauguration as president, Sheridan was promoted over Meade to lieutenant general. Meade effectively served in semi-retirement from his home while maintaining administrative duties.
Temper And Rivalries
Meade earned a notorious nickname among his peers known as Old Snapping Turtle due to his short temper. While respected by most colleagues and trusted by soldiers under his command, he did not inspire them emotionally. The stress of war made him prickly and abrasive despite being sociable and intellectual during normal times. He became prone to bouts of anger and rashness throughout his military career.
His political enemies included Daniel Butterfield, Abner Doubleday, Joseph Hooker, Alfred Pleasonton, and Daniel Sickles. Sickles developed a personal vendetta against Meade because of his allegiance to Hooker whom Meade replaced. Controversial disagreements at Gettysburg further fueled this conflict. Sickles had disregarded Meade's orders about placing his III Corps in the defensive line which led to that corps' destruction.
Radical Republicans like Thaddeus Stevens suspected Meade was a Copperhead and tried to relieve him from command through the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. Sickles testified to the committee that Meade wanted to retreat before fighting started at Gettysburg. The joint committee ultimately failed to remove Meade from command despite these accusations.
Legacy And Memorials
Meade died on the 6th of November 1872, in the house at 1836 Delancey Place from pneumonia complications caused by his war wounds. He was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery after his death. His legacy includes several statues including an equestrian statue at Gettysburg National Military Park by Henry Kirke Bush-Brown. A George Gordon Meade Memorial statue stands in front of the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse in Washington, D.C.
An equestrian statue by Alexander Milne Calder and another by Daniel Chester French appear atop the Smith Memorial Arch in Fairmount Park Philadelphia. A bronze bust of Meade by Boris Blai was placed at Barnegat Lighthouse in 1957. Fort George G. Meade in Maryland bears his name along with Meade County Kansas and Fort Meade Florida.
The one-thousand-dollar Treasury Notes of Series 1890 feature portraits of Meade on their obverse side. Collectors call this note the Grand Watermelon Note because large zeroes resemble watermelon patterns. The preserved head of Old Baldy, Meade's wartime horse, was donated to the Civil War Museum of Philadelphia in 1979.
George Gordon Meade arrived into the world on the 31st of December 1815, in the Spanish port city of Cádiz. He was the eighth child born to Richard Worsam Meade and Margaret Coats Butler.
What engineering projects did George Meade complete before the Civil War?
George Meade built the Brandywine Shoal lighthouse in Delaware Bay and directed the construction of lighthouses across Florida and New Jersey from 1851 to 1856. His specific projects included the Carysfort Reef Light in Key Largo, the Sand Key Light in Key West, the Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island, and the Absecon Light in Atlantic City.
How did George Meade become commander of the Army of the Potomac?
Meade received news of his appointment as Army of the Potomac commander in the early morning hours of the 28th of June 1863 when a messenger from President Abraham Lincoln woke him with this unexpected order. Three corps commanders recommended him for command despite outranking him, and he assumed leadership just three days before the Battle of Gettysburg began.
Why did Ulysses S Grant keep George Meade as a subordinate during the Overland Campaign?
Grant assured Meade he had no intentions of replacing him despite warnings from Edwin M. Stanton that Meade was weak. Grant later wrote that this incident gave him a more favorable opinion of Meade than the great victory at Gettysburg even though friction existed between their headquarters.
What happened to George Meade after the Civil War ended in 1865?
George Meade assumed command of the Military Division of the Atlantic in July 1865 and took command of the Third Military District in Atlanta on the 6th of January 1868. He supervised state governments formed in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina for reentry into the United States under Reconstruction Acts.
When and how did George Meade die?
Meade died on the 6th of November 1872, in the house at 1836 Delancey Place from pneumonia complications caused by his war wounds. He was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery and left behind several statues including an equestrian statue at Gettysburg National Military Park.