General George G. Meade (1815-1872)

George Meade, most famous for having won the Battle of Gettysburg, belonged to an old Catholic family in Philadelphia. The son of a U.S. naval agent, he was born and baptized in Cadiz, Spain. After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1835 he served only a year in the United States Army before resigning to become a civil engineering. He rejoined the army in 1842 and saw action in the Mexican War (1846-48). At the outbreak of the Civil War he was commissioned a brigadier general. He took part in the 2nd Battle of Bull Run and the the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, 1863. On 28th June, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Meade to replace General Joseph Hooker in charge of the Army of the Potomac. Meade later worked under Ulysses S. Grant who later commented that: “Meade was brave and conscientious, and commanded the respect of all who knew him. He was unfortunately of a temper that would get beyond his control at times. No one saw this better than he himself, and no one regretted it more. This made it unpleasant at times, even in battle, for those around him to approach him even with information.” His aide, Theodore Lyman also criticised him after the war claiming that “I don’t know any gentleman, who, when he is wrathy, exercises less of Christian charity than my well-beloved Chief.” After the war Meade commanded the Division of the Atlantic. In 1867 he was put in charge of the Reconstruction district that included Alabama, Georgia and Florida. George Meade died of pneumonia in Philadelphia on 6th November, 1872. (From Spartacus)