George G. Meade Facts
George G. Meade Facts
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Interesting George G. Meade Facts: |
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Although born in Spain, Meade's family were generational Pennsylvanians. |
Meade's first combat experience was in the Second Seminole War (1835-1842) in Florida. |
Like most of his contemporaries in the Civil War, Meade served as a lieutenant during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). |
George's brother, Richard Worsam Meade II (1807-1870) was an admiral in the United States Navy and a naval commander for the Union Navy during the Civil War. |
On August 31, 1861, Meade was made a brigadier general in the Union Army. |
During the Battle of Glendale (June 30, 1862) in eastern Virginia, Meade was shot in the arm, the leg, and the back. |
Although the Union forces lost at the Second Battle of Bull Run (August 28-30, 1862) in northern Virginia, Meade's brigade allowed the Union army to make an orderly retreat, keeping the army intact. |
Meade was promoted to commander of the Army of the Potomac on June 28, 1863, replacing Joseph Hooker. |
Although he defeated Lee at Gettysburg, President Lincoln, other Union officers, and the northern press criticized Meade for not pursing Lee's vulnerable army. |
Meade was known for having a bad temper and was particularly contemptuous of the press, which is probably one of the reasons his reputation suffered after his death. |
Meade was constantly plagued by disloyal subordinate officers, such as major general Daniel Sickles, who remained loyal to Hooker. |
When Ulysses Grant was made commander of the entire Union Army in March 1864, he largely micromanaged Meade for the remainder of the war. |
One of Meade's biggest failures during the Civil War was at the Battle of the Crater (July 30, 1864) in Petersburg, Virginia: Meade overruled general Burnside's plan of using better trained black soldiers, which resulted in an overwhelming Confederate victory. |
After the war, Meade retired to Philadelphia where he worked as the commissioner of Fairmount Park. |
Meade died on November 6, 1872 in Philadelphia at the age of fifty-six from pneumonia. |
The United States Army base Fort Meade Base is named for George Meade. |
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