If one were to ask the average American or even the typi-

cal reader of ARMY, “Who is the most famous general of-

ficer of the American Civil War?” the most likely answer

would be “Robert E. Lee.” Similarly, “Gettysburg” would

overwhelmingly be the answer to a query as to which is the

most important and most famous battle of that war, even if

some historians might argue that the Union victory at Vicks-

burg, Miss., on July 4, 1863, the day after Gettysburg ended,

was actually more important to the ultimate Union victory.

On the other hand, counterintuitively, the victor of the Battle

of Gettysburg, MG George G. Meade, is largely forgotten to-

day. To military personnel, his memory lives on dimly at the

U.S. Army post that is his namesake: Fort Meade, Md. Other

44 ARMY � July 2013

Remembering MG George G. Meade: The Forgotten Victor

Of GettysburgBy COL Kevin W. Farrell

U.S. Army retired

A monument to MG George G. Meadestands on Cemetery Ridge in GettysburgNational Military Park, Pa. MG Meade isshown atop his horse, Old Baldy, who

survived the general by 10 years.

July 2013 � ARMY 45

Den

nis Steele

than a few memorials at the Gettysburg Battlefield and inthe cities of Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., his is aname largely unknown to the vast majority of Americans. Even the most popular works on Gettysburg—the

eponymous 1993 film and the 1974 Pulitzer-Prize-winningnovel by Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels, on which it wasbased—barely address the Union victor of the battle, con-tinuing a historical oversight that dates almost to the battleitself. While the outcome of that battle is not in doubt, his-torical analysis and popular interest invariably focus onLee’s generalship and decision making during the battle,not to mention the actions and failures of his key subordi-nates, especially LTG Richard S. Ewell and LTG JamesLongstreet, the two most notable “villains” held accountablefor the Confederate defeat. Most professional scholarshipand interest in the Battle of Gettysburg always seems tocome down to an explanation of how GEN Lee lost, ratherthan how MG Meade won. Even a visit to Gettysburg, Pa.,demonstrates that this legacy is etched in stone. A compari-son of the most prominent statues at Gettysburg NationalMilitary Park dedicated to each commander reveals a strik-ing difference: Robert E. Lee atop the Virginia Monumentwould tower over the Major General George Meade Eques-trian Statue if the two were juxtaposed, because the Vir-ginia Monument stands 41 feet high compared to barelymore than half that height for Meade at 22 feet. Why this discrepancy has persisted, at least in popular

consciousness, should be examined. MG Meade’s legacy hasfar more to do with his personality, his actions following hisvictory, President Abraham Lincoln’s disappointment andthe lasting animus of his enemies rather than his actual con-duct during the Battle of Gettysburg. Nothing, however,can—or should—obscure the nature of his achievement: Withonly three days in command, MG Meade not only halted butsoundly defeated the Confederacy’s best general in what wasarguably his most important battle. None of MG Meade’spredecessors could come close to making such a claim.

The Years Before the Civil WarIt was an unlikely course that led George G. Meade to

command the largest army yet assembled in North Americain late June 1863. Born on New Year’s Eve, 1815, Georgewas the eighth of 11 children born to Richard and MargaretMeade in Cádiz, Spain. Financial ruin and tragedy were thehallmarks of his youth. George’s father was a wealthyPhiladelphia merchant who lost his fortune while servingin Spain as an American naval agent during the Napoleonic

Wars. In 1828, after his father’s death left the family impov-erished, they returned to the United States. Although a military career did not appeal to him as a

teenager, West Point’s free tuition proved irresistible, andMeade entered the academy in 1831. He finished 19th in aclass of 56 and was commissioned into the artillery. Meadesaw active service in Florida against the Seminole Indianswith the 3rd U.S. Artillery in the year following his gradua-tion, but he saw little future in the Army and resigned hiscommission in 1836, citing ill health. He became a railroadcivil engineer for the War Department and for the Alabama,Florida and Georgia Railroad. On his birthday in 1840, Meade married into a prominent

political family. Over the course of their marriage, Georgeand his wife, Margaretta, would have seven children. Sup-porting this growing family proved difficult, so Meade re-turned to the Army as a second lieutenant in the Corps ofTopographical Engineers, six years junior in rank to hisWest Point classmates who had remained on active duty.He served admirably in staff positions during the Mexican-American War and was promoted to brevet first lieutenantfor his actions at the Battle of Monterrey.

46 ARMY � July 2013

MG Meade, circa 1864.

COL Kevin W. Farrell, USA Ret., Ph.D., is the former chief ofmilitary history at West Point. He commanded a combined armsbattalion in Iraq, and his most recent book is The Military andthe Monarchy: The Case and Career of the Duke of Cam-bridge in an Age of Reform.

Library of Congress

Following the Mexican-American War, LT Meade trav-eled extensively as a surveyor and lighthouse engineer, sur-veying the coasts of Florida and New Jersey and pioneeringlighthouse and breakwater construction along the EastCoast. In 1856, he was at last promoted to captain—21 yearsafter his graduation from West Point—and the followingyear, he relieved LTC James Kearney to complete the sur-vey of the Great Lakes in 1860. He was still on-site whenthe Civil War erupted on April 12, 1861, with the Confeder-ate bombardment of Fort Sumter, S.C.

Rapid Promotion and the Ultimate TestWith the rapid expansion of the U.S. Army in response

to the Southern secession and President Lincoln’s subse-quent call for volunteers, Pennsylvania Gov. AndrewCurtin recommended Meade for promotion. On August 31,1861, he was promoted from captain in the Regular Army

to brigadier general of volunteers. As commander of the 2ndBrigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves, he was assigned themission of constructing defenses around Washington, D.C. Nothing in Meade’s Army career before the start of the

Civil War indicated either potential for high command orpractical preparation for it. Although he was not unique inthis regard—the size of the entire U.S. Army was only16,000 men in 1860—it was relatively rare for someone with20 years of service never to have held command of any mil-itary organization.The 18 months before the Battle of Gettysburg saw a

radical turn of events as Meade’s command experienceand combat leadership ability expanded rapidly and suc-cessfully, even though the overall record for the UnionArmy in the Eastern Theater was decidedly mixed. In1862, he participated in some of the most significant oper-ations of the Army of the Potomac, including the Penin-

July 2013 � ARMY 47

Library of Congress

Library of Congress

This house servedas MG Meade’stemporary head-quarters before the Battle of Gettysburg.

MG Meade and his staff in Washington, D.C., in May 1865.

sula Campaign, during which hewas severely wounded in theSeven Days Battles, and the Sec-ond Battle of Bull Run. Cautiousbut competent and steadily im-proving, Meade became a divisioncommander in time for the Battleof South Mountain in September1862. There he drew the favorableattention of his corps commander,whom he would later replace: MGJoseph Hooker. At the Battle ofAntietam, Md., that same month,Meade assumed corps commandahead of more senior officers whenHooker was wounded. Wounded once again, Meade per-formed well as a corps commander in combat. Although Meade resorted to his previous role as division

commander for the Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., in Decem-ber—another Union loss—his division achieved the great-est success of the Union forces involved. As a consequence,he advanced to major general and received command of VCorps, which he commanded during the fateful Union de-feat at Chancellorsville, Va., in April and May 1863.As a result of this compressed but impressive back-

ground of leadership and combat experience, he learned onJune 28, 1863, that President Lincoln had selected him totake command of the Army of the Potomac. As the seem-ingly invincible Army of Northern Virginia drove everdeeper into Union territory in an attempt to force a negoti-ated end to the war, MG Meade assumed command of a de-moralized and fragmented army. His mission was clear:Protect Washington, D.C., and drive the Confederates fromNorthern soil. Although it was a close-run thing, there can be no denying

MG Meade’s excellent use of terrain and interior lines to de-feat GEN Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg. It was remarkablethat, even though he did not arrive on the battlefield untilthe second day of the epic three-day struggle, MG Meadewas able to align his corps commanders and stand fastagainst the worst onslaught GEN Lee could muster. By theend of the third day—July 3, 1863—MG Meade had achievedwhat none of his five predecessors could: an unequivocal de-feat of GEN Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia.

AftermathIn spite of MG Meade’s impressive victory over GEN

Lee, he was banished to relative obscurity largely becauseof his decision not to press that victory. His failure to crushGEN Lee’s army with a counterattack on July 4, 1863, hasbeen derided by historians ever since, for had such an at-

tack been successful, it could have indeed ended the CivilWar that year. Rather than risk his great victory by attack-ing in defensive positions, MG Meade held his terrain andreconstituted his battered army, which had suffered about25 percent losses. GEN Lee then began a long and masterfulwithdrawal while MG Meade pursued only halfheartedly.By July 14, 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia had es-caped to safety across the swollen Potomac River, badlymauled but still intact. Considering the Union Army’s condition after the battle as

well as President Lincoln’s orders not to leave Washington,D.C., unguarded, let alone MG Meade’s newness to army-level command, his decision not to press the attack and risklosing all he had gained against an entrenched Lee is hardlysurprising. MG Meade was a competent general, but he wasnot a great one. Hindsight makes it easy to criticize him fornot being more aggressive, but it simply was not his nature. With a countenance that was neither warm nor inspir-

ing—MG Meade’s unfortunate nickname was “Old Snap-ping Turtle”—the Union commander’s notoriously shorttemper and open hostility to the press won him little favor-able coverage. Even more damaging, perhaps, were theceaseless machinations of his unscrupulous and insubordi-nate former corps commander, Daniel E. Sickles, and otherpolitical enemies who schemed against him shortly after theconclusion of the battle. Finally, President Lincoln wasclearly disappointed that MG Meade missed an opportunityto end the war. Although he did not relieve him from com-mand, he appointed LTG Ulysses S. Grant as Meade’s directsuperior for the duration of the war, ensuring that Meade’sgenuine success would be overshadowed by subsequentevents. His exclusion from the surrender ceremonies at Ap-pomattox Court House, Va., at the end of the war fittinglyand sadly foreshadowed how he would be remembered.None of these developments, however, should obscure hisgreat and improbable triumph at Gettysburg. �

48 ARMY � July 2013

MG Meade in pursuit of GEN Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia.

Library of Congress (from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated New

spaper)