POST-CIVIL WAR ALS – GEORGE G. MEADE

$645.00 SOLD
Originally $675.00

Quantity Available: None

Item Code: 475-201

This 4 page Autographed Letter Signed is 4 pages in length and is written in ink on a 5x8” folded, lined sheet of paper.  Overall very fine condition; written in a firm hand and completely legible.  Fold lines; there are a few scattered ink smears, no rips or tears.

Dated “Philad.a Nov. 12. / [18]67”, the text reads in part:

Dear _____ -

Yours of the 10th is at hand & I feel greatly flattered you should have gone to your office on Sunday to write to me. I went to N. York immediately after the wedding, where I was detained for a week. On my return from New York I received my invitation to dinner which had then taken place. I should not have been able to attend if I had received the invitation in time but I regretted the delay because I would have been glad to have written a reply expressing the gratification it afforded me to know the citizens of Buffalo appreciated the meritorious & distinguished services of ______ and were going to pay them a tribute which was justly deserved – of course after the thing was over I could only express my regret at the failure of the invitation to reach me in time. I hope however that _______ & my Buffalo friends understand the matter. You know I have nothing to do with politics, and with all attempts to bring me into the arena. I am not however without very decided opinions upon the great issues of the day and I have looked with great regret on the censure adopted by the Republican Party. The constitutional amendment I was in favor of & think the South were very foolish to reject it, but I do not like the extreme measures of the Military Reconstruction bill, and man not in favor of universal negro suffrage at the South, and in this point of view I am in hopes the recent elections will have a salutary effect on the party having control of these questions…”

Signed, “Very truly yours, / Geo. G. Meade”.

 

George Gordon Meade was one of the few Union generals who began his life and career in a foreign country. Born in Cadiz, Spain, Meade came to America after he and his family were financially ruined during the Napoleonic Wars. He received an appointment to the United State Military Academy, in 1831, and attended the school primarily as a result of his financial situation. He graduated 19th out of 56 members of the class in 1835 and served briefly during the Seminole War before retiring. He worked for some time as a civil engineer until 1842, when he asked to be reinstated to the army, and was appointed a second lieutenant in the Corps of Topographical Engineers. He served with the corps in New Jersey and Florida, constructing breakwaters and lighthouses. During the Mexican-American War, he was present at the battles of Resaca de la Palma, Palo Alto, and Monterey, but saw no major combat. He returned to topographical work after the war in 1857 near the Great Lakes until his services were again called upon at the outbreak of the Civil War.

On August 31, 1861, Meade was promoted from captain to brigadier general of volunteers, and was given command of a Pennsylvania brigade. He helped work on the defenses of Washington, then joined the army of the Potomac under General George B. McClellan on the Peninsula and participated in the Seven Days battles at Mechanicsville, Gaines’ Mill, and Glendale. At Glendale, he received several serious wounds. After recovering, he was sent to lead a brigade in the corps of Irvin McDowell at the battle of Second Manassas. He was then sent to replace John F. Reynolds as division commander in the corps of Joseph Hooker, and led the division through the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. He commanded the 3rd Division during the battle of Fredericksburg, and then commanded the V Corps at the battle of Chancellorsville. After the Union defeats at these battles, Hooker resigned from command of the army, and on June 28, 1863, Meade was given command of the Army of the Potomac. Meade would achieve both his greatest victory, and make his greatest mistake, during his first encounter with Confederate general Robert E. Lee.

During the battle of Gettysburg, although still new to the command of his army, and suffering great losses of such leaders as John Reynolds, Meade was able to both hold off Lee’s attacks and finally smash the Confederate army on the third day. After the battle, Lee was able to retreat back into Virginia, and Meade received harsh criticism from President Abraham Lincoln for not finishing off the Army of Northern Virginia in its weakened state. Meade offered his resignation, but it was denied, and he was promoted to brigadier general in the regular army on July 7, 1863. Meade continued to command his army during the Bristoe Station and Mine Run campaigns, but both proved to be indecisive. In the spring of 1864, Ulysses S. Grant, the newly appointed lieutenant general and general-in-chief of Union forces, made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac. Although Meade was nominally in charge of the Army of the Potomac, Grant made all command decisions in regards to the movement of the army. Meade commanded the army through the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor, and finally outside of Petersburg. After his successes during the battles, Grant asked for Meade to be promoted to major general, and it was permitted. Although he had served well under Grant for the last year of the war, he was not present at the surrender of Lee’s army in Appomattox, and was largely overshadowed by Grant.

After the war, he held several military commands and returned to Pennsylvania, where he died in 1872.

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