The Ultimate George Meade Collection

Includes:Charles River Editors original biography of MeadeThe Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Major-General United States Army by George MeadeWith Grant and Meade from the Wilderness to Appomattox by Colonel Theodore Lyman and George AgassizMeades official records during the Civil WarBattles and Leaders of the Civil War account of Meade at Gettysburg, and the Meade-Sickles ControversyMeade has more than met my most sanguine expectations. He and Sherman are the fittest officers for large commands I have come in contact with.". Ulysses S. Grant, 1864Ironically, one of the generals who often escapes the attention of Civil War fans who compile the lists of best generals is the man who won the wars most famous battle, George G. Meade (1815-1872). In fact, Meade has become a perfect example of how the generals who did not self-promote themselves and write memoirs after the war had their reputations suffer in the ensuing decades. When people think of Appomattox Court House, they think of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. Few remember that the commander of the Army of the Potomac at the end of the Civil War was not Grant but Meade. During the first half of the war, Meade rose from command of a brigade to command of a division and finally command of the entire Army of the Potomac just days before the Battle of Gettysburg. Naturally, he is best known for defeating Robert E. Lees Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg in July 1863, although hes not nearly as well remembered as his Confederate counterpart, and he has even been eclipsed in popularity by some of the men he commanded at Gettysburg, like Joshua Chamberlain. Meade continued to lead the Army of the Potomac, but when Grant attached himself to the army in 1864, it was Grant who essentially commanded the army, creating an awkward situation that Meade persevered through until the end of the war, to his credit.Meade had a notoriously short temper that hurt his popularity with the press, his men and contemporaries during the war, despite how well he commanded. Perhaps more importantly, Meades relatively early death in the decade after the war prevented him from defending his record and his decisions during and after Gettysburg. Lincoln mistakenly thought Meade blundered by not being more aggressive in pursuit of Lee after Gettysburg, when in fact Lees men constructed strong defenses and invited attack on a number of occasions during their retreat. Just as significantly, Meade came under attack by generals like Daniel Sickles, who sought to shield themselves from scrutiny by blaming Meade for poor decisions. On Day 2 of the Battle of Gettysburg, Sickles disobeyed Meade and moved his III Corps out in front of the rest of the army. Although he would constantly defend his maneuver, the move destroyed his corps and nearly ruined the Army of the Potomacs left flank, creating a salient that led to the near annihilation of the corps. Today historians credit Meade with doing a solid job at Gettysburg, but no self-effusive praise was forthcoming from the man himself. The Ultimate George Meade Collection looks at the life and career of the victorious Gettysburg commander, including an original biography of Meade, his letters, Theodore Lymans account of the final year of the war, Meades account of Gettysburg, and post-war accounts about Meades generalship at Gettysburg. The Ultimate George Meade Collection also includes a Table of Contents and pictures of important people, places, and events in his life.

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