George+Meade

George Meade



**__The Young Life and Education of George Meade__**  George Meade was born in Spain to American parents. His family, along with eleven brothers and sisters moved to the United States six months after the death of his father. His father, Richard Morsam Meade, was a naval agent for the United States Navy. So, already George had an idea of what life was like for an officer in the government. George attended Mount Hope Institution in Baltimore and then entered the United States Military Academy at West Point. Meade graduated ninetieth in his class out of fifty-six in 1835. West Point, the most prestigious U.S. Military Academy in the United States prepared each of their graduates for the causes and effects war can have on a country, and how to fight and get through them. With this knowledge, skill understanding, and ability to organize, Meade was prepared to the highest extent for war. George began his career in the military by serving in the 3rd U.S. Artillery in Florida, before sending in his resignation papers to the Army. George did not intend to fulfill a career in the military.

The only preparations for war George received were in Florida fighting in the Artillery. After that he became a civil engineer for the Alabama, Georgia, and Florida Railroad department. George was happy with his job, and content with not being part of the Military. When he married his wife, Margaretta, and had seven children it became hard for him to keep his job at the time. Every newly married man had trouble finding jobs in the workforce. For financial reasons, Meade was reentered the army in 1842 as a second lieutenant in the corps of topographical engineers. Even then, Meade was not directly faced with war. He served, briefly, in the Mexican-American war and was promoted to first lieutenant for exceedingly superb conduct at the Battle of Monterrey. After the war, Meade, was first handedly coordinated with coastal surveying, lighthouse, and breakwater construction in Florida and New Jersey. This worked in part with his engineering expertise in topography. George successfully designed over four lighthouses and completed surveys on two of the Great Lakes. After these accomplishments, Meade was advanced to captain in 1856. This was a true honor and great accomplishment for him.

__**The Military History and Experiences of George Meade**__

Following his great accomplishment as captain, Meade was assigned command of the Second Brigade, which led to the formation around Washington D.C. George McClellan's Army of the Potomac was already in position, for the Peninsula Campaign. The campaign was a turning movement to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, turning into an embarrassing Union defeat. After Meade's injury in Washington, he mustered up the partial strength to lead a brigade under Irvin McDowell's corps of the Army of Virginia. He made a positive stand on Henry House Hill; following that General Hooker bellowed out into the wind, "Look at Meade! Why, with troops like those, led in that way, I can win anything!" This was important to Meade's military history. Lincoln and other Generals looked up to George Meade. With Meade's skill level, in the Battle of Antietam he replaced Hooker in command of I Corps, and performed with perfection. George Meade is not known for just one high ranking thing, he contributed where he was asked and when he did there were not disappointments.

During the Battle of Fredericksburg, Meade's division made the only breakthrough of the Confederate line, breaking though Jackson's men. For this accomplishment, Meade was promoted, again, to major general. The most memorable task George was given was at the Battle of Gettsyburg. President Lincoln asked Meade to take Hooker's spot as commander and prepare for the invasion of Lee's army. On July 1, 1863 shots were fired and the battle had begun. By the end of the first day, two of the Union infantry corps had been destroyed, Meade rushed the rest of his army to Gettsyburg and strategically depleted his infantry for a defensive battle, knows as Pickett's Charge. Meade and his army defeated Lee, this was a turning point for the South. Some say that Meade did not skillfully manage the politics he inherited from Hooker when fighting this battle and his reluctancy at attack on occasion, questioning his courage and command decisions. President Lincoln agreed, that Meade should have aggressively attacked the Confederate army in their retreat back to Virginia in order to put an end to the war.

__**George Meade's Postbellum Experience**__

When the war had ended, George Meade became a commissioner of Fairmount Park in Pennsylvania for six years. Meade also held several military commands, including the Military Division of the Atlantic, the Department of the East, and the Department of the South. He, later, replaced Major General John Pope as governor of the Reconstruction Third Military District in Atlanta in 1868. Meade decided to go back to college; he received an hoary doctorate in law from Harvard University. His scientific achievements were recognized by the American Philosophical Society and the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. George Meade died due to complications of his old wounds, combined with pneumonia. He is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery. In World War II the United States liberty ship SS George G. Meade was named in his honor. Also, The George Meade Memorial, sculpted by Charles Grafly, is located in front of the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington D.C. A monument, in Meade's honor, is also located on the Gettysburg battlefield, located close to the point where Pickett's Charge occurred.

__**Source:**__ "Who Was Who In The Civil War" by Stewart Sifakis and "Historical Times Encyclopedia of the Civil War" Edited by Patricia L. Faust. **Listed Below, is a video explaining the monument in Meade's Honor. Also, the pictures below are of the monument, a meeting between Meade and his fellow comrades of the Council of War at Gettysburg, Meade and other generals from the Army of the Potomac, and the headquarters for George Meade.**  **Enjoy!**       media type="youtube" key="Bvvn9d7vzNY?fs=1" height="385" width="480"



**-Jamie Vaughan-**