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Civil War Soldiers and Strategies
Meade: The Price of Command, 1863–1865
George Gordon Meade has not been treated kindly by history. Victorious at Gettysburg, the biggest battle of the American Civil War, Meade was the longest-serving commander of the Army of the Potomac, leading his army through the brutal Overland Campaign and on to the surrender of Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox. Serving alongside his new superior, Ulysses S. Grant, in the last year of the war, his role has been overshadowed by the popular Grant. This first full-length study of Meade’s two-year tenure as commander of the Army of the Potomac brings him out of Grant’s shadow and into focus as one of the top three Union generals of the war.
John G. Selby portrays a general bestride a large army he could manage well and a treacherous political environment he neither fully understood nor cared to engage. Meade’s time as commander began on a high note with the victory at Gettysburg, but when he failed to fight Lee’s retreating army that July and into the fall of 1863, the political knives came out. Meade spent the winter of 1863–64 struggling to retain his job while the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War sought to have him dismissed. Meade offered to resign, but Grant told him to keep his job. Together, they managed the Overland Campaign and the initial attacks on Petersburg and Richmond in 1864.
By basing his study on the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, original Meade letters, and the letters, diaries, journals, and reminiscences of contemporaries, Selby demonstrates that Meade was a much more active, thoughtful, and enterprising commander than has been assumed. This sensitive and reflective man accepted a position that was as political as it was military, despite knowing that the political dimensions of the job might ultimately destroy what he valued the most, his reputation.
John G. Selby portrays a general bestride a large army he could manage well and a treacherous political environment he neither fully understood nor cared to engage. Meade’s time as commander began on a high note with the victory at Gettysburg, but when he failed to fight Lee’s retreating army that July and into the fall of 1863, the political knives came out. Meade spent the winter of 1863–64 struggling to retain his job while the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War sought to have him dismissed. Meade offered to resign, but Grant told him to keep his job. Together, they managed the Overland Campaign and the initial attacks on Petersburg and Richmond in 1864.
By basing his study on the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, original Meade letters, and the letters, diaries, journals, and reminiscences of contemporaries, Selby demonstrates that Meade was a much more active, thoughtful, and enterprising commander than has been assumed. This sensitive and reflective man accepted a position that was as political as it was military, despite knowing that the political dimensions of the job might ultimately destroy what he valued the most, his reputation.
432 pages, Hardcover
First published October 16, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 24, 2019
I enjoyed this book particularly because there is so little to read about General Meade. I didn’t agree entirely with author on Meade’s failings but he presented the facts so clearly you can make your own decision. I hope there will be many more books on Meade, Thomas, Rosecrans, and other undervalued generals in the future. This book will hopefully stimulate more research and new perspectives on one of the most ignored generals of the CW.
March 5, 2024
George Meade finally get his due in this fantastic biography focusing on his time commanding the Army of the Potomac. Meade has largely been forgotten in Civil War discourse, even though he led the largest and most prominent army for the last 2 years of the war. Most of this time he was overshadowed by Ulysses S. Grant and Grant's presence with the Army of the Potomac has unfortunately relegated Meade to the forgotten.
This books aims to dispel the common narrative surrounding Meade while also giving him the proper recognition and respect he is due and the book succeeds in doing that whole heartedly. The focus of the book is from June 28, 1863 until the end of May 1865, the period of time when Meade commanded the Army of the Potomac. The first chapter of the book is a brief biographical review of Meade's life up to this point, including the first 2 years of the Civil War and Meade's role there. The final chapter briefly covers Meade's postwar career. The rest of the book is laser focused on the time period noted above.
I found it to be very informative. I have been itching to learn more about Meade, but he's not generally the focus of Civil War writing (apart from books dealing with Gettysburg) and so I found a lot of this to be compelling. The second chapter of the book about Meade's role at Gettysburg was very, very good. After that, my only criticism is that the book does become a bit repetitive, with Meade constantly worrying about losing his job amid personal and professional setbacks. The Petersburg chapters were notably repetitive. But I can forgive this when the author's stated focus in this book was such a specific time in the man's life. The amount of info he was able to dig p and provide was truly impressive.
Altogether, this was a fantastic book and several steps in the right direction for the reevaluation of Meade's reputation and legacy, a reevaluation that is sorely needed and long overdue.
PS: I just saw that this was my 1100th book read!
This books aims to dispel the common narrative surrounding Meade while also giving him the proper recognition and respect he is due and the book succeeds in doing that whole heartedly. The focus of the book is from June 28, 1863 until the end of May 1865, the period of time when Meade commanded the Army of the Potomac. The first chapter of the book is a brief biographical review of Meade's life up to this point, including the first 2 years of the Civil War and Meade's role there. The final chapter briefly covers Meade's postwar career. The rest of the book is laser focused on the time period noted above.
I found it to be very informative. I have been itching to learn more about Meade, but he's not generally the focus of Civil War writing (apart from books dealing with Gettysburg) and so I found a lot of this to be compelling. The second chapter of the book about Meade's role at Gettysburg was very, very good. After that, my only criticism is that the book does become a bit repetitive, with Meade constantly worrying about losing his job amid personal and professional setbacks. The Petersburg chapters were notably repetitive. But I can forgive this when the author's stated focus in this book was such a specific time in the man's life. The amount of info he was able to dig p and provide was truly impressive.
Altogether, this was a fantastic book and several steps in the right direction for the reevaluation of Meade's reputation and legacy, a reevaluation that is sorely needed and long overdue.
PS: I just saw that this was my 1100th book read!
November 3, 2021
This was an excellent account of Meade's Generalship, warts and all, although I don't think Selby quite makes his case that Meade was among the top three Union Generals (what price Thomas?), he does show that Meade's command of the AOTP was not merely a meaningless title, but he contributed, for better and worse, to what the AOTP did. It also shows just how grueling the last year of battle in the East was.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews