Rediscovering General Meade: The Man Who Won at the Battle of Gettysburg
How George Meade’s Command at Gettysburg Defies the Myths That History Repeated
“Rarely has a new commander been presented with such daunting and complex issues on his first day in command as was George Meade.”
― Kent Masterson Brown, Meade at Gettysburg: A Study in Command
Frederick, Maryland, June 28, 1863, about 3 a.m.
Major General George Gordon Meade, then commanding the Union Army’s V Corps (“5th” Corps), was awakened by LtCol James A. Hardee, President Lincoln’s official courier, with orders directing him to take command of the winless Army of the Potomac in relief of MajGen Joseph Hooker. Meade would be the 4thcommander of the army in less than 2 years - command of the army was not career enhancing. When Meade asked if he could decline the command, the courier replied “no” in accordance with the President’s expectation that Meade would make such a request. Meade responded, “Well, I’ve been tried and condemned without a hearing, and I suppose I shall have to go to execution…” Shortly there after, Meade rode off to meet with Hooker and assumed control of an army that was scattered, in motion, and hunting Lee’s forces, which had once again crossed into the North seeking a decisive battle and war-turning strategic victory. Some 72 hours later, Meade would lead the Union in its first victory over the rebels at Gettysburg, July 1-3, in what remains the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on the North American continent.
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