3/26/2014 Civil War Paper 2 General George Meade - Union Commander While the Union Army of the Potomac was pursing Lee towards Pennsylvania, its commander, Joseph Hooker, had resigned his position.1 Three days before the eventually battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln appointed General Meade as the new commander, upon the arrival of the messenger with his appointment, Meade thought he was there to arrest him. 2 Meade had scant understanding of the Army he was commanding when he was thrust into a conflict with Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg. In the novelThe Killer Angelsby Michael Shaara, Longstreet assures Lee that Meade was too new to the conflict and that he would not advance with any sort of threatening speed. “He will occupy those heights and wait to see what we are going to do. He always has. Meade is new to the command. He will not move quickly.”3 Longstreet’s assumption was wrong. When the armies engaged, Meade hurried his army into a favorable defensive position and reacted to numerous assaults to all fronts. His decision to employ effective generals with substantial leadership helped to secure a victory for the Army of the Potomac.4 Meade may have excelled during the three-day battle, but it seemed he was content with a defensive position. He allowed a vulnerable, weak, and defeated Lee escape from total destruction. The war may have ended right there in 1863 if Meade and pursued and crushed Lee’s army. Jeb Stuart - Confederate Cavalry General 1Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels(New York : Ballantine Books, 1975) 19 2Ethan S. RafuseThe General Meade Society(, 2012) 3Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels(New York : Ballantine Books, 1975) 62 4 Garry Adelman,Civil War Trust: George G. Meade,(civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/george- meade.html, 2013)
