Meade : victor of Gettysburg / Richard A. Sauers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sauers, Richard Allen

Series:

Military profiles

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Meade, George Gordon, 1815-1872.

Meade, George Gordon.

Generals--United States--Biography.

Generals.

Command of troops.

United States.

United States. Army--Biography.

United States. Army.

Meade, George Gordon, 1815-1872--Military leadership.

United States. Army of the Potomac.

Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns.

History.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xv, 123 pages, 6 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, plans ; 21 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Brassey's, [2003]

Summary:

Most students of the American Civil War know the name George Gordon Meade, but few can tell you about the man. With this new addition to Brassey's Military Profiles series, historian Richard Sauers examines the life of one of the Union Army's most notable generals. Rising from the Union officer corps to lead the previously ill-fated Army of the Potomac, Meade took command only hours before his forces stumbled upon Robert E. Lee's Confederates at Gettysburg. Pennsylvania, in 1863. He led his men to victory in one of the most famous battles in history, but Meade 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. Sauer's concise but authoritative biography sheds new light on one of the Civil War's most significant leaders. His book, the only new biography of Meade to appear in over thirty years, should spark renewed study of this brave but overlooked general.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The Antebellum Years 3

Chapter 2 The Pennsylvania Reserves 15

Chapter 3 Meade's Brigade in Combat 21

Chapter 4 Higher Command 31

Chapter 5 Gettysburg 47

Chapter 6 From Gettysburg to Grant 59

Chapter 7 The 1864 Campaign 73

Chapter 8 Petersburg 85

Chapter 9 The End of the Civil War 97

Chapter 10 Postwar Years 105.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 115-117) and index.

ISBN:

1574884182

1574887491

OCLC:

53145489