USA Bio George G. Meade

[Battleline]

Maj. Gen. George G. Meade (b. 1815, d. 1872) Victor at Gettysburg, George Gordon Meade commanded the Army of the Potomac from June 28, 1863 until the end of the war. While overshadowed by his general-in-chief, U.S. Grant, who made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, Meade held command of that organization longer than anyone else. Meade was born Dec. 31, 1815, in Cadiz, Spain. He got an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy in 1831 and graduated with the Class of 1835 (19th of 56). He served in Florida, briefly serving in the artillery during the Seminole War before getting sick. He also served in Massachusetts before resigning in 1836 to pursue a career in engineering. In 1842, he returned to the army and received an appointment as a second lieutenant in the Corps of Topographical Engineers. From then until the Civil War, he mainly worked on coastal improvements. During the Mexican War, he was at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. At Monterrey, he earned a brevet to first lieutenant and later served at Vera Cruz. When the Civil War came, Meade was a captain but was made a brigadier general of Pennsylvania volunteers (Aug. 31, 1861) by Gov. Andrew G. Curtin. He took command of the Second Brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves. After spending the winter working on the Washington, D.C., defenses, Meade joined George McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign. During the Seven Days battles, Meade was at Mechanicsville, Gaines’ Mill and White Oak Swamp. At White Oak Swamp, he was severely wounded twice (hip and arm). While recovering, led a brigade in Irvin McDowell’s corps at Second Bull Run. He ascended to command a division in Hooker’s I Corps at South Mountain and Antietam. At Fredericksburg, Meade had the 3rd Division of I Corps in Franklin’s Left Grand Division and was one of the rare Federal successes. He was promoted to major general of volunteers Nov. 29, 1862 and given command of V Corps. He briefly commanded the Center Grand Division of the III and VI Corps, but returned to V Corps when Hooker took charge of the army. After Hooker failed at Chancellorsville, Meade, who advocated aggressive strategy, was made commander of the Army of the Potomac. Meade’s selection came after John Reynolds took himself out of the running, Darius Couch took a transfer and John Sedgwick and Henry Slocum agreed to serve under their junior. Immediately, Meade was confronted with his enemy in Pennsylvania. When contact was made near Gettysburg, John Reynolds was killed and two corps were routed from north of the town. Meade was able to forge a defense on the heights south of town. When the Confederates could not dislodge Meade, they retreated south. Meade drew criticism for not finishing off the Confederates. Meade offered to resign, but in the wake of the major victory, he was appointed a brigadier general in the Regular Army to rank from July 3, 1863. Meade led the army at Bristoe Station and Mine Run, neither which resulted in any major victory. He received the thanks of Congress for his Gettysburg command Jan. 28, 1864. During the spring of 1864, Meade got a new boss as Grant came east as a lieutenant general. Grant made the best of an awkward situation as Meade’s old boss, Burnside was back in command of IX Corps. Grant issued separate commands to the units with Meade leading the Army of the Potomac. Meade led the Army of the Potomac through the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg. He received a promotion to major general, U.S. Army, after both Sherman and Sheridan (Aug. 18, 1864). However, he was not at the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. After the war, Meade commanded departments and divisions in the east and south. He was in command of the Division of the Atlantic, headquarted in Philadelphia. He died there Nov. 6, 1872, of pneumonia, which was a complication of his old wounds.

3863 Characters

[Gil R.]

That was fast. Thanks.

I'm going to see if I can squeeze in that line about his being "a damned old goggle-eyed snapping turtle." He really did look like one.

[Gil R.]

A nice job squeezing one of the more important careers into such a short space.

This is still too long, but before I shorten it further I figured I’d run it by you and everyone else. (I can get it to fit by removing the sentence about the generals who were also in the running for command of the AOP, and tweaking a little more here and there.) I rewrote the sentence about the Mexican War a bit (mainly rearranging facts), as well as the one about the Seminole War. More importantly, I removed the following two sentences, since we’re pressed for space and they struck me as less important than other facets of Meade’s performance: “Grant made the best of an awkward situation as Meade’s old boss, Burnside was back in command of IX Corps. Grant issued separate commands to the units with Meade leading the Army of the Potomac.” I also removed this, again to make room for other stuff: “Meade briefly commanded the Center Grand Division of the III and VI Corps, but returned to V Corps when Hooker took charge of the army.” If you feel strongly about either, I can make a restoration. And, to save space I also shortened the part about his post-ACW career.

Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade (b. 1815, d. 1872). Victor at Gettysburg, Meade commanded the Army of the Potomac from June 28, 1863 until the end of the war. While overshadowed by his general-in-chief, Ulysses S. Grant, who made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac beginning in 1864, Meade held command of that organization longer than anyone else. Meade was born December 31, 1815, in Cadiz, Spain. He got an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy in 1831 and graduated with the Class of 1835 (19th of 56). He briefly served with the artillery during the Second Seminole War before getting sick, and also served in Massachusetts until he resigned in 1836 to pursue a career in engineering. In 1842, Meade returned to the army and received an appointment as a 2nd lieutenant in the Corps of Topographical Engineers. From then until the Civil War, he mainly worked on coastal improvements. During the Mexican War, he was at the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterrey and Veracruz, earning a brevet to 1st lieutenant for gallantry at Monterrey. When the Civil War came, Meade was a captain but was made a brigadier general of Pennsylvania volunteers on August 31 by Gov. Andrew G. Curtin. He took command of the 2nd Brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves. (Wikipedia says that he became a brig. gen. of volunteers on Aug. 31 and was assigned to the 2nd Penn. Reserves, which would be different from being a brig. gen. of a state militia. I don’t have Heidler with me so I can’t check – are you sure this is right?) After spending the winter working on the Washington, D.C., defenses, Meade joined Gen. George B. McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign of March-July 1862. During the Seven Days’ Battles, Meade was at Mechanicsville, Gaines’ Mill and White Oak Swamp, where he was severely wounded twice (hip and arm). While still recovering, Meade led a brigade in Gen. Irvin McDowell’s corps at Second Bull Run. He ascended to command a division in Gen. Joseph Hooker’s I Corps at South Mountain and Antietam two weeks later. At Fredericksburg, Meade had the 3rd Division of I Corps in Gen. William B. Franklin’s Left Grand Division and was one of the rare Union successes. He was promoted to major general of volunteers to rank from November 29 and given command of V Corps. After Hooker failed at Chancellorsville the following spring, Meade, who advocated an aggressive strategy, replaced him as commander of the Army of the Potomac. Meade’s selection came after John Reynolds removed himself from consideration, Darius Couch took a transfer and John Sedgwick and Henry Slocum agreed to serve under their junior. Immediately, Meade was confronted with his enemy in Pennsylvania. When contact was made near Gettysburg, Reynolds was killed and two corps were routed from north of the town. Meade was able to forge a defense on the heights south of town, and when the Confederates could not dislodge his army, they retreated south. Meade drew criticism for not finishing off the Confederates before they could cross the Potomac River to safety. Meade offered to resign, but in the wake of the major victory, he was appointed a brigadier general in the Regular Army to rank from July 3, 1863, and on January 28 received the thanks of Congress. Meade next led his army at Bristoe Station and Mine Run, neither of which resulted in any major victory. During the spring of 1864, Meade got a new boss as Grant came east as a lieutenant general and directly oversaw his efforts in the Overland Campaign and Richmond-Petersburg Campaign in the war’s final year, having instructed Meade, “Lee’s army is your objective point. Wherever Lee goes, there you will go also.” Despite occasional friction between the two, Grant recommended Meade for a promotion to major general in the Regular Army (though Meade was insulted that the Senate confirmed his promotion only after those of Gens. William T. Sherman and Philip Sheridan). When Grant’s and Meade’s efforts ultimately forced the Army of Northern Virginia to surrender, Meade was not present at Appomattox Court House, and it was Grant who received most of the credit for victory. After the war, Meade continued his military career, and was commanding the Division of the Atlantic, headquartered in Philadelphia, when he died on November 6, 1872, of pneumonia, which was a complication of his old wounds. (Bio by Bill Battle)

[Battleline]

Go with the brigadier general of volunteers Aug. 31. Warner seems to indicate that was the case with Gov. Curtin insisting on Meade's commission at that rank. Heidler concurs.

Meade was a pretty good target for his fellow officers after Gettysburg. Dan Sickles, Abner Doubleday and Alfred Pleasonton were among his detractors. The Committee on the Conduct of the War tried to remove credit for the victory at Gettysburg from Meade. The A of the P commander had some minor run-ins with others, including reporter Edward Cropsey. Meade expelled him from the army and didn't get much love from the journalists after that. Meade got upset with Gen. Warren when the corps commanders wouldn't coordinate their attacks. He also had to put up with a lot of grief from Grant's staff officers. He was upset when he didn't get the Shenandoah Valley command. And he got into an argument with his old boss Burnside after the Battle of the Crater. As these were minor in comparison to his other feats, and I was crunched for space, I had to leave these small feuds out of the bio.

Heidler's also has the "old snapping turtle" remark about his temper, which occcasionally flared when a subordinate failed to perform to expectations.

Another remark in Heidler's comes from a London newspaper. "He is a very remarkable looking man--tall, spare, of commanding figure and presence, his manner pleasant and easy but having much dignity. His head is partially bald and is small and compact, but the forehead is high. He has the late Duke of Wellington class of nose, and his eyes, which have a seriousand almost sad expression, are rather sunken, or appear so from the prominence of the curved nasal appaearance. he has a decidedly patrician and distinguished appearance."

Thanks,
Battleline

[Gil R.]

Here's what should be the final version (unless there are other suggestions). By taking out the sentence about Meade's rivals for command of the AOP it fits perfectly, at 3899 chars. Sadly, despite my vow, the snapping turtle line will have to stay out, unless something else is chopped.


Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade (b. 1815, d. 1872). Victor at Gettysburg, Meade commanded the Army of the Potomac from June 28, 1863 until the end of the war. While overshadowed by his general-in-chief, Ulysses S. Grant, who made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac beginning in 1864, Meade held command of that organization longer than anyone else. Meade was born December 31, 1815, in Cadiz, Spain. He got an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy in 1831 and graduated with the Class of 1835 (19th of 56). He briefly served with the artillery during the Second Seminole War before getting sick, and also served in Massachusetts until he resigned in 1836 to pursue a career in engineering. In 1842, Meade returned to the army and received an appointment as a 2nd lieutenant in the Corps of Topographical Engineers. From then until the Civil War, he mainly worked on coastal improvements. During the Mexican War, he was at the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterrey and Veracruz, earning a brevet to 1st lieutenant for gallantry at Monterrey. When the Civil War came, Meade was a captain but was made a brigadier general of volunteers on August 31, taking command of the 2nd Brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves. After spending the winter working on the Washington, D.C., defenses, Meade joined Gen. George B. McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign of March-July 1862. During the Seven Days’ Battles, Meade was at Mechanicsville, Gaines’ Mill and White Oak Swamp, where he was severely wounded twice (hip and arm). While still recovering, Meade led a brigade in Gen. Irvin McDowell’s corps at Second Bull Run. He ascended to command a division in Gen. Joseph Hooker’s I Corps at South Mountain and Antietam two weeks later. At Fredericksburg, Meade had the 3rd Division of I Corps in Gen. William B. Franklin’s Left Grand Division and was one of the rare Union successes. He was promoted to major general of volunteers to rank from November 29 and given command of V Corps. After Hooker failed at Chancellorsville the following spring, Meade, who advocated an aggressive strategy, replaced him as commander of the Army of the Potomac. Immediately, Meade was confronted with his enemy in Pennsylvania. When contact was made near Gettysburg, Reynolds was killed and two corps were routed from north of the town. Meade was able to forge a defense on the heights south of town, and when the Confederates could not dislodge his army, they retreated south. Meade drew criticism for not finishing off the Confederates before they could cross the Potomac River to safety. Meade offered to resign, but in the wake of the major victory, he was appointed a brigadier general in the Regular Army to rank from July 3, 1863, and on January 28 received the thanks of Congress. Meade next led his army at Bristoe Station and Mine Run, neither of which resulted in any major victory. During the spring of 1864, Meade got a new boss as Grant came east as a lieutenant general and directly oversaw his efforts in the Overland Campaign and Richmond-Petersburg Campaign in the war’s final year, having instructed Meade, “Lee’s army is your objective point. Wherever Lee goes, there you will go also.” Despite occasional friction between the two, Grant recommended Meade for a promotion to major general in the Regular Army (though Meade was insulted that the Senate confirmed his promotion only after those of Gens. William T. Sherman and Philip Sheridan). When Grant’s and Meade’s efforts ultimately forced the Army of Northern Virginia to surrender, Meade was not present at Appomattox Court House, and it was Grant who received most of the credit for victory. After the war, Meade continued his military career, and was commanding the Division of the Atlantic, headquartered in Philadelphia, when he died on November 6, 1872, of pneumonia, which was a complication of his old wounds. (Bio by Bill Battle)