GREAT COMMANDERS **** ~, ~Ze&J~ G ENE RA L MEA D E, 116--")2..- f\.---- ') ,I '!:) Y ) / /..;)~.,.. = WITH ILLUSTRA TIONS AND MAPS NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 19°1 Great ~ommanber5 EDITED BY.lAMES GRANT WILSON GENERAL MEADE COPYRIGHT, 1901, Bv D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. A /I rights reserved. ij!~e &reat ~omman()ers Series. EDITID BY GENERAL JAIlU GRANT WIL8OII. Admiral Farragut. By Captain A. T. MAHAN. U. S, N. General Taylor. By General 0, O. HOWARD, U. S. A. General jackson. By JAMES PARTON. General Greene. By General FRANCIS V. GREENE. General j. E. johnston. By ROBERT M. HUGHES, of Virginia. General Thomas. By HENRY CopPU, LL. D. General Scott. By General MARCUS J. WRIGHT General Washington. By General BRADLEY T. JOHNSON. General Lee. By General FITZHUGH LEE. General Hancock. By General FRANCIS A. WALKER. General Sheridan. By General HENRY E. DAVIES. General Grant. By General JAMES GRANT WILSON. General Sherman. By General MANNING F. FORCE. Commodore Paul jones. By CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY. General Meade. By ISAAC R. PENNYPACKER. IN PREPARATION, General McClellan. By General PEntR S. M,CHIJI:. Admiral Porter. By JAKES R. SOLaY, late Au', Sec'y U. S. Navy. General Forrest. By Captain J. HARVEY MATHD. D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. NEW YORK. '-. , , - ,Google PREFACE. THE basis of the following pages has been found in the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. The authentic narrative of the campaigns from the crossing of the Rapidan in the spring of 1864 to Appomattox is The Virginia Campaign of 1864 and 1865, by General Andrew A. Humphreys. Tested by that history, a comparison of which with the official records shows it to be almost flaw­ less, all other accounts of the same events, whether in the form of biography, history, or memoirs, however enter­ taining these may be as narratives, or however great may be the military fame of the writers, must stand or fall. In the preparation of these pages the writer's obliga­ tions have been incurred in a special manner to the Gettys­ burg National Park Commission and to Colonels John P. Nicholson and Emmor B. Cope for maps, measurements of distances, and other information relating to the Gettys­ burg battlefield; also to General H. S. Huidekoper for the use of his bird's-eye view of the battlefield of Gettysburg. It should be added, however, that for the use made of facts thus furnished, and for the interpretation put upon such 'J facts, the author is alone responsible. HADDONFIELD, N. J.• February, 1901. v " .. CONTENTS. CHAPTIlR PAGR INTRODUCTORY I.-YOUTH AND EARLY MASHOOD 11 II.-THE MEXICAN WAR • 18 III.-A BRIGADIER GENERAL 22 IV.-THE VIRGINIA PENINSULA 30 V.-POPE'S CAMPAIGN. 50 VI.-SOUTH MOUNTAIN 65 VII.-ANTlETAM 76 VIII.-FREDERICKSBURG • 92 IX.-eHANCELLORSVILLE 10<} X.-THE MARCH TO GETIYSBURG 128 XI.-GETIYSBURG-THE FIRST DAY 153 XII.-GETIYSBURG-THE SECOND DAY. 162 XIII.-GETIYSBURG-THE THIRD DAY. 183 XIV.-FROM GETTYSBURG TO THE RAPIDAN 202 XV._u A CAMPAIGN OF MANEUVERS" • 225 XVI.-AcROSS THE RAPIDAN. 243 XVII.-A SOLDIER'S LAURELS • 257 XVIII.-AcROSS THE RAPIDAN AGAIN 259 XIX.-SPOTISYLVANIA 284 XX.-THE NORTH ANNA AND COLD HARBOR 301 vii viii GENERAL MEADE. CHAPTER PAGK XXI.-THE MOVEMENT UPON PETERSBURG 31 4 XXII.-ENVELOPING PETERSBURG 327 XXIII.-THE LAST CAMPAIGN 342 XXIV.-FIVE FORKS. 358 XXV.-FROM PETERSBURG TO ApPOMATTOX. 363 \ ,XXVI.-AFTER THE WAR. 388 INDEX • 397 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS. FACING I'AG& Portrait of General Meade, engraved by Charles B. Hall from a photograph by Gutekunst Frontispi,c< Map of the battle "of Charles City Cross Roads. 39 Map of the battlefields of South Mountain. 68 Map of the battle of Fredericksburg . 93 Map of Gettysburg battlefield, July, 1863 154- Bird's-eye view of the battlefield of Gettysburg. 165 Facsimile of Meade's announcement of his victory over Lee at Gettysburg, from the original in possession of Judge Samuel W. Pennypacker 195 Map of Williamsport battlefield, Maryland 210 Map of operations at the close of 1863 243 Map of the Virginia campaigns, 1864-'65 306 From Petersburg to Appomattox, April, 1865 34-3 Statue of General Meade, Philadelphia 376 General Meade's war horse Baldy 391 ix GENERAL MEADE. INTRODUCTORY. GENERAL MEADE commanded the Army of the Potomac from June 28, 1863, until its disbandment two years later. No other general commanded that army as long as he did. At the beginning and at the close of the civil war it was the· largest of the Union armies. It was also the best of the Union armies in equipment and in discipline. Opposed by the most efficient and most ably commanded of the Con­ federate armies, competition in its fiercest form had, in part, developed the superiority of the Army of the Poto­ mac, while the duties assigned it were of such supreme importance that the destruction of that army, or its de­ moralization to a point where it would have been unable to oppose successfully the Army of Northern Virginia, would, as President Hayes said, "have been, according to human foresight, the loss of the Union cause." From June 28, 1863, until March 26, 1864, General Meade bore undivided responsibility for the safety and success of the Army of the Potomac. This responsibility was borne dur­ ing a period when the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia were of practically equal strength, and, at times, when there is reason for believing that the effective force of Lee's army was the greater of the two. No other Union commander before or afterward was called on to oppose Lee on even terms. This unequaled responsibility was placed upon Meade when his foe was enheartened by repeated successes and his own troops were discouraged by defeats. During this period General Meade won the most important Union victory of the war, I 2 GENERAL MEADE. and twice subsequently, but for the errors of a corps com­ mander, would have struck Lee's army crushing blows, while during this whole period the Union army met with not a single reverse or disaster, although Lee tried against Meade's armor every spear that he knew how to wield. The assaults, which succeeded against Pope at second Bull Run, broke vainly against the supported points of attack at Gettysburg,. and the flank movements that bewildered Hooker at Chancellorsville were tried to no purpose against Meade at Culpeper and Warrenton. There is no reason to suppose, if results of such great importance to the Union cause were brought about by the will of Provi­ dence, that a Supreme Being, in controlling human affairs, would here, any more than elsewhere, neglect to select a fit human instrument for the carrying out of its decrees. Great as was the fame of Meade among the soldiers North and South and of the Old World,· it is probable that of his personality less is known popularly than of that of any of the three-Grant, Sherman, and Thomas­ who, with Meade, comprise the four Union army com­ manders whose responsibilities and service in behalf of the Union were greatest. At the time of the battle of Gettysburg General Meade was in his forty-eighth year. A correspondent of a Lon­ don newspaper, writing from Hagerstown, Md., in the sum­ mer of 1863, said: "I was so fortunate as to be personally introduced to General Meade. He was sitting with Gen­ eral French at the United States Hotel. He is a very remarkable looking man-tall, spare, of a commanding figure and presence, his manner pleasant and easy but hav­ ing 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 serious and almost sad expression, are rather sunken, or appear so from the prominence of the curved nasal develop­ ment. He has a decidedly patrician and distinguished ap­ pearance. I had some conversation, and of his recent achievements he spoke in a modest and natural way. He * General Pennypacker, U. S. A.• tells me that he found General Meade was better known amonR the soldiers of Europe not long after the war than any other of the Union com"landers. INTRODUCTORY. 3 said that he had been very fortunate, but was most espe­ cially anxious not to arrogate to himself any credit which he did not deserve. He said that the triumph of the Federal arms was due to the splendid courage of the Union troops, and also to the bad strategy and rash and mad attacks of the enemy. He said that his health was remarkably good, and that he could bear almost any amount of physical fatigue." This casual acquaintance was at once struck by the patrician air and distinguished bearing of General Meade. .. Meade," says another, who knew them all, "was different from our other great army commanders. He was a thor­ oughbred." Colonel Haskell describes Meade at Gettysburg as follows: " Meade is a tall, spare man, with full beard, which, with his hair, originally brown, is quite thickly sprinkled with gray, has a Romanish face, a very large nose, and a white, large forehead, prominent and wide over the eyes, which are full and large and quick in their movements, and he wears spectacles. His fibers are all of the long and sinewy kind." The Romanish face, the likeness of the profile to that of Cresar, has been noticed by others. General Francis A. Walker, in his description of the grand review in Wash­ ington, May 23, 1865, says: "There at the head of two­ score officers rides the gallant and accomplished soldier who has commanded the Army of the Potomac since the leading staff fell from Hooker's hand twenty-three months before.