Meade of Gettysburg

by Freeman Cleaves

Book Overview

General George Gordon Meade is best known to history as the commander of the victorious Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, the greatest battle of the Civil War. In his own lifetime meager credit was allotted him for his achievement at Gettysburg, for his long pursuit of General Robert E. Lee into Virginia, and for the furious marches his men were forced into both before and after Gettysburg, until, finally, -in the vicinity of Appomattox Courthouse,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806122986
• ISBN13: 9780806122984
• Release Date: March 1991
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Length: 412 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

More than a "Growth on Grant's neck"?

This is not a critical type biography, more a narrative but you can still get the feel for the ol' "Snapping Turtle".Meade was born in Cadiz, Spain due to his father being there in consequence of his Philadelphia shipping firm. Supposedly Meade's father had to seek "diplomatic immunity"to escape some heavy accusations made by the Spanish government in regard to questionable business practices.At any rate the large Episcopalian Meade family of patrician Phillies did quite well in Spain.Through local political connections in Philadelphia Meade received an appointment to West Point and was able to be placed upon graduation into the "high status" Army Corps of Engineers. He helped construct east coast and Great Lakes lighthouses and navigation charts when the Civil War broke out in 1861.He went Union simply because that was the place for Union loyalty which had paid for his education and in the interests of his families wealth.He had, from a read of the book, no desire for politics and steered clear apparently his experience with navigation charts gave him a hint of how to avoid the rocky shore of politics. Meade's personality is seen as non-charismatic with a brooding temper yet highly competent.Not the personality to come into camp dressed as a private chomping a cigar reeking of bourbon,to inspire the troops.Although Meade is credited with winning Gettysburg there are other factors that come into play here since Meade had only been in command for a few days before Gettysburg:the author here does do a little critiquing. This book gives a good description of the Army of the Potomac's campaigning from Gettyburg to the Wilderness which most including myself,are not aware of.Meade was instructed to destroy Lee's army by Washington.Unfortunately for Meade Lee was not co-operative and broke his army up to tie up Union troops and keep the war North of the Rappahannock.Meade is unfairly blamed for the numerous "mud marches" and no-show battles of this period when his hands were literally tied by Washington politics. The author covers this post Gettysburg to the Wilderness period well. Finally Grant takes over and he also is told to destroy Lee's army however but most important---Grant is permitted to move the army to Richmond if necessary to draw Lee out whereas Meade was not permitted to do so.I was wondering if from the Gettysburg period to the Wilderness battle if Washington had not completed the Capitals' defense's to "state of the art".Did the Capitol no longer have to fear a Confederate march on Washington? So now the "Snapping Turtle" takes a back seat for the rest of the war.Since Meade hadn't done anything disastrously wrong (and even Generals who had were still around),Grant decides to use him as a"puppet commander".Anyway Meade still has alot of political clout being an inspiration for alot of Pennsylvania troops,if anyone is motivated by a

A Complete, Detailed History of the Life of General Meade

Meade of Gettysburg is one of the few books written about the life of General George G. Meade. From reading other books about the Civil War, I became interested in General Meade. I was surprised to find that there are only a few books written about this soldier. When I purchased the book, I thought it would be about Meade's actions in the Battle of Gettysburg. While most of the book did revolve around his part in the Civil War, I was pleased to find that it was also a complete history of the man's life. The Battle of Gettysburg was just one part of the book. For example, I was surprised to learn that Meade was actively involved in the Topographical Corps and played a large role in the construction of the Brandywine light in the Delaware Bay. Meade of Gettysburg begins with the birth of George G. Meade and takes the reader through his entire life, ending with his funeral procession where his war horse, "Old Baldy" was brought out of retirement to march riderless behind the caisson bearing his master. For anyone interested in the life of General George G. Meade, this is your book.