The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade: Major-General United States Army by George Meade Gordon, first published in 1913, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation. Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.

A historian's investigation of the life and times of Gen. George Gordon Meade to discover why the hero of Gettysburg has failed to achieve the status accorded to other generals of the conflict.

"Most students of the American Civil War know the name George Gordon Meade, but few can tell you about the man. Rising from the Union officer corps to lead the previously ill-fated Army of the Potomac, Meade took overall command only hours before his forces encountered Robert E. Lee's Confederates at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1863." "Historian Richard Sauers shows that while Meade led his men to victory in one of the most famous battles in history, he was soon embroiled in political battles with fellow generals and Washington politicians. Despite detractors' efforts to question Meade's judgment and smear his reputation - efforts often exacerbated by the general's own volatile temper and undiplomatic behavior - he continued to put duty to his country and his men first. When Ulysses S. Grant was named lieutenant general in charge of all Union forces, Grant made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac and soon overshadowed Meade. Sauers chronicles the tense relationship that developed between the two men and the effect it had on the crucial last days of the war." "This concise but authoritative account is the only recent biography of Meade and should spark renewed study of one of the Civil War's most underrated leaders."--Jacket

General George Gordon Meade is best known to history as the commander of the victorious Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg. 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 final victory at Appomattox Courthouse. And since his death in 1872, frequent criticism has been meted out to him for not following up the victory his troops accomplished. In this account of Meade and his achievements, the author has attempted to sift the truth from War Office archives and records, from private and public documents, to assess fairly the value of Meade's services.

"It is high time that dispute should cease as to the award due him who won the greatest battle of the war, upon which it turned, saving the nation's capital, and giving to the Rebellion a blow from which it never recovered...it remains for history to record that, from the beginning to the end of the Rebellion, it was only when Meade was chief that Lee was ever met in pitched battle and defeated on equal terms."Called in the dead of night to General Hooker's headquarters, George Meade thought he might be heading to be relieved of command or arrested. Instead, he emerged from Hooker's tent and told his aide "Well, I am in command of the Army of the Potomac." And in three days he met Lee at Gettysburg.Meade spent the rest of his life defending his actions at Gettysburg. His skillful deployment and management of the command at that battlefield was a major Union victory and the turning point of the war.In this second volume of his letters, his son and grandson present a narrative, letters to and from Meade, and letters from other participants in the battle that corroborate Meade's rightful position as the hero of Gettysburg.No study of the American Civil War is complete without this two-volume set.

Lt. Col. Theodore Lyman served as Gen. George Gordon Meade's aide-de-camp from September 1863 until the end of the Civil War. Lyman was a Harvard-trained natural scientist who was exceptionally disciplined in recording the events, the players, and his surroundings during his wartime duty. His private notebooks document his keen observations. Meade's Army contains anecdotes, concise vignettes of officers, and lively descriptions of military campaigns as witnessed by this key figure in the Northern war effort.