Though he made his headquarters near Grant's, he did not accompany him to the surrender talks on April 9. Quickly recovering, he rejoined his men in time for the Second Battle of Manassas in late August. Rushing his men to the town, Meade won a decisive victory over the next two days and effectively turned the tide of the war in the East. With the exception of First Bull Run, Meade participated in all the major battles of the Eastern Theater. Measure content performance. © The Teaching Company, LLC. He also took issue with Grant's perceived preference for officers who had served with him in the west as well as his willingness to absorb heavy casualties. George Gordon Meade (December 31, 1815 – November 6, 1872) was a United States Army officer and civil engineer best known for decisively defeating Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. But Meade does not seem to have prospered in civil employment, and in 1842 he took the unusual step of re-entering the Army, as a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. Wishing to continue his education and aid his family, Meade sought an appointment to the United States Military Academy. Lincoln had probably given up the hope that he would get any dramatic results in the battle of Virginia. At the Battle of Glendale, Meade received multiple wounds in his arm, back, and side. Learn more about the crisis at Fort Sumter. His success was not exploited and his division was forced to fall back. Given command of V Corps on December 25, he commanded it at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. This proximity led to a somewhat awkward relationship and command structure. Worth and Major General Robert Patterson. The three-day conflict involved more than 71,000 Confederate troops commanded by General Robert E. Lee and nearly 94,000 Union troops under General George Meade. Though Meade retained command of the Army of the Potomac, Grant made his headquarters with the army for the remainder of the war. Wounded at the Battle of Glendale in June 1862, he fought in all of the Army of the Potomac’s major battles. AT THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG? How […] Meade largely performed well as the fighting progressed through the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House, but chaffed at Grant's interference in the army's matters. Learn about the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), a major engagement in the American Civil War. Lee was excellent, but he did not have the manpower to outlast the Union's forces. Select basic ads. Perhaps it was a good move on Meade’s part because he had a fear that it was like fighting Gettysburg in reverse. Unwilling to miss the army's final battles, he led the Army of the Potomac from an army ambulance during the Appomattox Campaign. Initially assigned to Washington, DC, his men built fortifications around the city until being assigned to Major General George McClellan's newly formed Army of the Potomac. In 1840, Meade married Margaretta Sergeant, the daughter of prominent Pennsylvanian politician John Sergeant. He told him to keep up a threatening attitude but to not move forward. And what ultimately happened was that in the Eastern Theater, there was a period when the armies settled into keeping a cautious watch over each other along that military frontier. Wife of Union General George Gordon Meade In letters home to Margaretta Meade during the Civil War, General George Meade commented frankly on every facet of the war. In 1842, he elected to re-enter the US Army and was made a lieutenant of topographical engineers. But even then, it would have been wise on the part of Meade to have attempted to and applied some kind of pressure on Lee. However, Lincoln did not agree to his plan. The year 1863 brought major success to the North, including wins in Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and the Tullahoma campaign. "American Civil War: Major General George G. Kennedy Hickman is a historian, museum director, and curator who specializes in military and naval history. Arguing with his superiors in Washington, Hooker was relieved on June 28 and command was offered to Major General John Reynolds. In the battle of Virginia, the Federals were not able to plan any kind of decisive action, they were actually unable to arrive at a decision on a quick target out in the far Western Theater. In March 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant was appointed lead all Union armies. List of Partners (vendors). Born at Cádiz, Spain on December 31, 1815, George Gordon Meade was the eighth of eleven children born to Richard Worsam Meade and Margaret Coats Butler. Meade's time at Mount Hope proved brief due to his family's increasingly difficult financial situation. It looked like the tide had decisively swung against the South. Shortly after his death in 1928, the family returned to the United States and young George was sent to school at Mount Hope College in Baltimore, MD. Meade." Meade’s reasoning was that Lee had strong defensive positions near the river. This is a transcript from the video series The American Civil War. Taking part in the invasion of northeast Mexico, he received a brevet promotion to captain for his performance at the Battle of Monterrey. The Great Tours: England, Scotland, and Wales, the attitudes of England and France toward the conflict, Aftereffects of the American Revolution for Britain and America, Robert E. Lee, the Greatest Confederate General. Assuming command of the Army of the Potomac at Prospect Hall near Frederick, MD, Meade continued to move after Lee. See Answer. George Meade, Union general's descendant George Gordon Mead 3d, 61, great-grandson of Gen. George Gordon Meade, the officer who commanded the Union forces in the Battle of Gettysburg, died Wednesday at his home in Penllyn. Returning to his division, Meade achieved the only Union success during the Battle of Fredericksburg that December when his men drove back the troops of Lieutenant General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. The Confederate planners decided to detach two divisions from the army of Northern Virginia to reinforce the army of Braxton Bragg in Northern Georgia. (2021, February 16). Dispatched to Florida to fight the Seminoles, Meade soon fell ill with fever and was transferred to the Watertown Arsenal in Massachusetts. As you are well aware, your ever lovable Grey Beard Biker loves military history – and for that matter – United States history. Three days after taking command, two of Meade's corps, Reynolds' I and Major General Oliver O. Howard's XI, encountered the Confederates at Gettysburg. Who did George Meade fight in the Civil War? Among those lighthouses he designed were those at Cape May (NJ), Absecon (NJ), Long Beach Island (NJ), Barnegat (NJ) and Jupiter Inlet (FL). The American Battlefield Trust's Battle of Petersburg page includes maps, photos, history articles, facts, and the latest preservation news for this 1864 Civil War battle in Virginia. At this juncture, Lincoln’s confidence in Meade was going down fast. Opening the Battle of Gettysburg, they were mauled but succeeded in holding favorable ground for the army. Alive for new visitors and buffs alike PORTER & COATES as a Second lieutenant in 1835 and to. The enemy back to Virginia, the daughter of prominent Pennsylvanian politician John Sergeant a! After a brief fight, he was wounded during the Napoleonic Wars Meade will always be best remembered for involvement! After his family, Meade also devised a hydraulic lamp that was accepted for use by the Lighthouse Board during! Chancellorsville, General Robert E. 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