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Cal Reader of ARMY, “Who Is the Most Famous General Of- Ficer Of Remembering MG George G. Meade: Th e Forgotten Victor Of Gettysburg f one were to ask the average American or even the typi - By COL Kevin W. Farrell U.S. Army retired cal reader of ARMY, “Who is the most famous general of - Ificer 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 - A monument to MG George G. Meade stands on Cemetery Ridge in Gettysburg day. To military personnel, his memory lives on dimly at the National Military Park, Pa. MG Meade is shown atop his horse, Old Baldy, who U.S. Army post that is his namesake: Fort Meade, Md. Other survived the general by 10 years. 44 ARMY I July 2013 e l e e t S s i n n e D July 2013 I ARMY 45 MG Meade, circa 1864. than a few memorials at the Gettysburg Battlefield and in the cities of Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., his is a name largely unknown to the vast majority of Americans. Even the most popular works on Gettysburg—the eponymous 1993 film and the 1974 Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel by Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels , on which it was based—barely address the Union victor of the battle, con - tinuing a historical oversight that dates almost to the battle itself. While the outcome of that battle is not in doubt, his - torical analysis and popular interest invariably focus on Lee’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 James Longstreet, the two most notable “villains” held accountable for the Confederate defeat. Most professional scholarship and interest in the Battle of Gettysburg always seems to come down to an explanation of how GEN Lee lost, rather than 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 National Military Park dedicated to each commander reveals a strik - ing difference: Robert E. Lee atop the Virginia Monument would 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 barely more than half that height for Meade at 22 feet. s s e r Why this discrepancy has persisted, at least in popular g n o C consciousness, should be examined. MG Meade’s legacy has f o y far more to do with his personality, his actions following his r a r b victory, President Abraham Lincoln’s disappointment and i L the lasting animus of his enemies rather than his actual con - duct during the Battle of Gettysburg. Nothing, however, Wars. In 1828, after his father’s death left the family impov - can—or should—obscure the nature of his achievement: With erished, they returned to the United States. only three days in command, MG Meade not only halted but Although a military career did not appeal to him as a soundly defeated the Confederacy’s best general in what was teenager, West Point’s free tuition proved irresistible, and arguably his most important battle. None of MG Meade’s Meade entered the academy in 1831. He finished 19th in a predecessors could come close to making such a claim. class of 56 and was commissioned into the artillery. Meade saw active service in Florida against the Seminole Indians The Years Before the Civil War with the 3rd U.S. Artillery in the year following his gradua - It was an unlikely course that led George G. Meade to tion, but he saw little future in the Army and resigned his command the largest army yet assembled in North America commission in 1836, citing ill health. He became a railroad in late June 1863. Born on New Year’s Eve, 1815, George civil engineer for the War Department and for the Alabama, was the eighth of 11 children born to Richard and Margaret Florida and Georgia Railroad. Meade in Cádiz, Spain. Financial ruin and tragedy were the On his birthday in 1840, Meade married into a prominent hallmarks of his youth. George’s father was a wealthy political family. Over the course of their marriage, George Philadelphia merchant who lost his fortune while serving and his wife, Margaretta, would have seven children. Sup - in Spain as an American naval agent during the Napoleonic porting this growing family proved difficult, so Meade re - turned to the Army as a second lieutenant in the Corps of COL Kevin W. Farrell , USA Ret., Ph.D., is the former chief of Topographical Engineers, six years junior in rank to his military history at West Point. He commanded a combined arms West Point classmates who had remained on active duty. battalion in Iraq, and his most recent book is The Military and He served admirably in staff positions during the Mexican- the Monarchy: The Case and Career of the Duke of Cam - American War and was promoted to brevet first lieutenant bridge in an Age of Reform. for his actions at the Battle of Monterrey. 46 ARMY I July 2013 This house served as MG Meade’s temporary head - quarters before the Battle of Gettysburg. s s e r g n o C f o y r a r b i L Following the Mexican-American War, LT Meade trav - to brigadier general of volunteers. As commander of the 2nd eled extensively as a surveyor and lighthouse engineer, sur - Brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves, he was assigned the veying the coasts of Florida and New Jersey and pioneering mission of constructing defenses around Washington, D.C. lighthouse and breakwater construction along the East Nothing in Meade’s Army career before the start of the Coast. In 1856, he was at last promoted to captain—21 years Civil War indicated either potential for high command or after his graduation from West Point—and the following practical preparation for it. Although he was not unique in year, he relieved LTC James Kearney to complete the sur - this regard—the size of the entire U.S. Army was only vey of the Great Lakes in 1860. He was still on-site when 16,000 men in 1860—it was relatively rare for someone with the Civil War erupted on April 12, 1861, with the Confeder - 20 years of service never to have held command of any mil - ate bombardment of Fort Sumter, S.C. itary organization. The 18 months before the Battle of Gettysburg saw a Rapid Promotion and the Ultimate Test radical turn of events as Meade’s command experience With the rapid expansion of the U.S. Army in response and combat leadership ability expanded rapidly and suc - to the Southern secession and President Lincoln’s subse - cessfully, even though the overall record for the Union quent call for volunteers, Pennsylvania Gov. Andrew Army in the Eastern Theater was decidedly mixed. In Curtin recommended Meade for promotion. On August 31, 1862, he participated in some of the most significant oper - 1861, he was promoted from captain in the Regular Army ations of the Army of the Potomac, including the Penin - s s e r g n o C f o y r a r b i L MG Meade and his staff in Washington, D.C., in May 1865. July 2013 I ARMY 47 MG Meade in pursuit of GEN Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. sula Campaign, during which he ) r e p was severely wounded in the a p s w Seven Days Battles, and the Sec - e N d e ond Battle of Bull Run. Cautious t a r t but competent and steadily im - s u l l I s proving, Meade became a division ’ e i l s commander in time for the Battle e L k n of South Mountain in September a r F 1862. There he drew the favorable m o r f ( attention of his corps commander, s s e r whom he would later replace: MG g n o Joseph Hooker. At the Battle of C f o Antietam, Md., that same month, y r a r b Meade assumed corps command i ahead of more senior officers when L Hooker was wounded. Wounded once again, Meade per - tack been successful, it could have indeed ended the Civil formed well as a corps commander in combat. War that year. Rather than risk his great victory by attack - Although Meade resorted to his previous role as division ing in defensive positions, MG Meade held his terrain and commander for the Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., in Decem - reconstituted his battered army, which had suffered about ber—another Union loss—his division achieved the great - 25 percent losses. GEN Lee then began a long and masterful est success of the Union forces involved. As a consequence, withdrawal while MG Meade pursued only halfheartedly. he advanced to major general and received command of V By July 14, 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia had es - Corps, which he commanded during the fateful Union de - caped to safety across the swollen Potomac River, badly feat at Chancellorsville, Va., in April and May 1863.
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