Meade on Gettysburg
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- In this video, we hear the report of General George Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac, about the Battle of Gettysburg.
#CivilWar #Meade #PickettsCharge #Gettysburg #GettysburgNMP #RobertELee #Union #Confederacy #GeorgeMeade #Pennsylvania #HaveHistoryWillTravel
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He's my great great great grandfather. He gets far less recognition then he deserves. We have letters to his wife.
That's awesome
Ever considered publishing them? Or at least making it public?
Huge respect for Major General Meade. Ordered to take a command he did not want, he performed magnificently at Gettysburg. A man of great duty.
Grant had great respect for Meade as shown by the fact that him kept as Commander of the Potomac.
"Warmly engaged." Love the speech of that era.
fun fact both meade and robert e lee were both engineers before they became generals
Nothing beats the words of those who were there - well done again HHWT.
Thank you so much.
Meade remains one of my favorite union generals during the war. Very underrated and also unfairly despised by his colleagues during the war
Meade out-generaled Lee. Period.
I know right! Held as Rearguard at 2nd Bull Run preventing an even greater route.. Broke the Rebel line at South Mountain with his brigade, wounded at Antietam commanding the I Corps, THE ONLY COMMANDER TO BREAK THE REBEL LINE AT FREDERICKSBURG!! Held at Chancellorsville and pushed to counterattack the rebels and then Whooped Marsh Robert at Gettysburg. I never understood how he's called average at best. I get annoyed when I hear the South lost the battle. No, Meade WON the battle. And it doesn't help that that backstabbing Sickles pushed that narrative.
@@hscollierDo you Really think Meade was better than Lee? West Point disagrees.
@marknewton6984 Well, Meade was the right general at the right time. Obviously Lee won more battles, but he was too aggressive against Meade, who was an outstanding defensive general. Meade is underrated. He made the right calls under pressure.
@@marknewton6984 History does not.
I like his understated description of Sickles' nearly disastrous insubordination. Very gentlemanly.
My great grand father was in Sickles' unit.
@@francisebbecke2727 good thing he made it out alive!
It’s too bad Sickles didn’t repay in kind and spent the rest of his life claiming “he” won the battle by his troop disposition. Poor General Meade died shortly after the war and was unable to defend himself while Sickles lived until 1914 I believe.
pigmanobvious sickles was a POS. His insubordination could have cost the union army. I would have had him court martial Ed and stripped of command effective immediately. Much more deserved than sheridan relieving gouverneur k warren at five forks
Acdragonrider Videos yes ol Sickles was definitely a scoundrel. It’s too bad General Meade is not more well known today.
Thanks for these short snippets of history! They help me to recall my studies and readings. Most of all, they remind me of the terrible price paid in the Civil War.
Thank you so much for watching and supporting the channel.
Incredible to think that total American casualties in ALL other wars, including the two world wars, did not exceed the casualties in just the Civil War until part way through the Vietnam conflict. What a toll!
Meades address at the Soldiers National monument In 1869 still makes me well up. Even brought up digging out the rebel dead. He was a great general that was shadowed by Lee, Grant, Stonewall Jackson and William T Sherman.
I'm still impressed by his lead of the army of the Potomac. Great video sir.
Thank you. I will add his address to the list of upcoming videos.
I love how calm Meade is about the whole defence, Sickles misconduct is explained as misunderstanding of orders and a loud argument is hidden as a prolonged explanation. And on the Third day it is explained as a determined fight and gives credit to both sides, rather than claiming the Confederates ordered a blunder of a charge. Also in Meades words you can see the issues of the Confederates from a Union perspective, Meade doesn’t know that the Confederate artillery ran our of ammo and just assumes they didn’t get the reaction they wanted. The attack on the center on the third day could never have worked as Meade spotted the gathering of their forces and knew about the attack beforehand. Thank you for sharing this, very eye opening.
Thank you so much. I love meades perspective too. It answers a lot of questions about what the Union were thinking but it also highlights the attitude of Meade. I think a lot of him. He was cautious but at the same time, deliberate. He's underrated as a commander but deserves to be respected as one of the top generals of the war. Please, if you feel so inclined, share my videos and help build my channel. I've got a lot if great content planned for the Month of January.
Have History Will Travel i most definitely will, thank you very much for posting it and i’ll make sure like minded people see it.
@@ryanrusch3976 thank you so much. I truly appreciate it.
Meade was a solid commander who fought an outstanding defense here. He got his troops in the right place, at the right time. He won the artillery duel on the third day by deceiving the federal gunners and saving his firepower for the main effort at the decisive point. He delegated effectively and stationed himself where he and his staff could control the steady influx of troops. He saw that his orders were carried out. He caught Sickles' error and was in the process of correcting it when Longstreet's divisions showed up and abruptly changed the subject. But a lot of commanders would have missed what was happening in Sickles' AO.
Grant could have put anyone he wanted in charge of the AOP when he took over in the spring of 64. There's a reason he kept Meade.
Officers and pre-commissionees should study Meade's actions at Gettysburg carefully.
If you look at the overall position of the union left I'm not entirely convinced that the defense at Little Round Top would have been successful withoit III corps being deployed where it was. It meant that the little round top was attacked by a few regiments on Hood's right, instead of the majority of Hood's division and portions of McLaws'
By moving froward Sickles took Longstreet head on instead of permitting him a flanking attack, robbed him of his initiative and quite possibly saved the Union position on the left. Meade had drastiically underestimated the significance of the Round Tops and Sickles' "blunder" gave the Union Army time to get Colonel Strong Vincent in position to make his stand with support on their right.
Always great to hear first-hand reports! Thank you.
Great video. Thanks for your work. I hope your Christmas was merry and that you have a great New Year.
Thank you for watching and Merry Christmas to you and your family and a Happy New Year as well. I've got some great videos lined up.
@@HistoryGoneWilder I am waiting with baited breath. I watch many channels on TH-cam and yours is my top one
That old goggle-eyed snapping turtle! He won the battle though!!
Lincoln didn't like him. Promoted him sideways, a military insult. Meade is not considered great.
If there is one historical event would have loved to been part of, and survived, it is this battle. It is not that far-fetched. Canadians volunteered for many Union regiments. There were about 50,000 of us in the Union army all told, including the 24th Michigan which fought against Heth's division on the first day, and the 20th Maine of 'Gettysburg' movie fame. In fact about 10% of the 20th Maine was made up of men from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
@Robert Lavelle One thing I would love to do is join the 24th Michigan re-inactors once for a Gettysburg anniversary. I'd love to represent the Canadians who died on the first day of the battle fighting Harry Heth. About two dozen did.
So grateful to you Canadians who stood and bled and died with us.
From a re-enactor, 2nd Vermont Regiment of Volunteer Infantry, VI Corps, Gen. Sedgewick.
Actually I'm not sure the 2nd Regt. was there. Might have been in NY controlling the riots.
@Robert Lavelle Hey, I got me a Reb, Eh? How aboot that!
I had no idea Canadians were involved. Amazing!
Meade doesn't get the credit he deserves, eclipsed by Grant, defensive in nature and not a favorite of Lincoln. Lincoln was so frustrated that Meade didn't follow up after the battle with attacking Lee when he was trapped. But it was Meade that tactically guided the Army of the Potomac.
I completely agree. Meade is a far better commander than people give him credit for.
Unfortunately Meade didn't get along with the Newspaper reporters covering the AOP during the Overland Campaign. The reporters decided to give all the credit to Grant, and blame all the setbacks on Meade.
@@davidsabolek4630
Lee expressed his exasperation with the childish criticism & editorial comments of some Southern newspapers.
He said that it was too bad that all of the South's best generals had chosen to be newspaper editors.
I always found it interesting that immediately after signing the terms of surrender at Appomattox Lee turned to Grant and said please make sure the general Mead knows about this. Lee knew it was Mead who was pounding him over the past year
Pursuit was made during Lee's retreat, perhaps not to the maximum level of the AOP's ability at the time but efforts were made. Buford's division had horses dropping from exhaustion in pursuit. Following is an account from General John Imboden, whose cavalry was tasked with guarding Lee's wagon train during the retreat:
Harassed by Union cavalry and pelted by driving rain that turned the ground into a quagmire of mud, the retreating column reached the town of Williamsport on the afternoon of July 5th. Occupying the town, General Imboden turns it into a giant hospital, ordering the citizens to cook for the wounded. The following day Union cavalry attacked the town in strength:
"The enemy appeared in our front about half-past one o'clock on both the Hagerstown and Boonsboro roads, and the fight began. Every man under my command understood that if we did not repulse the enemy we should all be captured and General Lee's army be ruined by the loss of its transportation, which at that period could not have been replaced in the Confederacy. The fight began with artillery on both sides. The firing from our side was very rapid, and seemed to make the enemy hesitate about advancing. In a half hour J. D. Moore's battery ran out of ammunition, but as an ordnance train had arrived from Winchester, two wagon-loads of ammunition were ferried across the river and run upon the field behind the guns, and the boxes tumbled out, to be broken open with axes. With this fresh supply our guns were all soon in full play again.
...Night was now rapidly approaching, when a messenger from Fitzhugh Lee arrived to urge me to 'hold my own,' as he would be up in a half hour with three thousand fresh men. The news was sent along our whole line, and was received with a wild and exultant yell. We knew then that the field was won, and slowly pressed forward. Almost at the same moment we heard distant guns on the enemy's rear and right on the Hagerstown road. They were Stuart's, who was approaching on that road, while Fitzhugh Lee was coming on the Greencastle road. That settled the contest." General John Imboden
Excellent debrief. Well presented.
excellent virginian 👍👍👍👍👍
luv the accounts. awesome. happy new year to you brother. thank you so much.
Thank you so much for watching. I've got some great videos lined up for this year.
can not wait. i’m sure it’ll be awesome.
@@tnt-hv6qw I'm hoping to get one out next week but I may have to put it on hold and do a different topic for next week because I'm having to so some digging.
totally understand. greatly appreciated as well. haven’t found anything yet i didn’t like. lol. i’m partial to civil war but luv it all. take care wish u the best in your classes and we do appreciate your dedication and hard work.
Key words, Mead was a Topographical Engineer, he grabbed the high ground b4 Lee and that made all the difference.
You nailed it mate. His holding of the heights at any cost was critical.
I thoroughly enjoy these moments. I switched from reading about the Civil War to reading first hand accounts like the Century Magazine collections. I was a soldier for a while so I can guess at some of what they did and how they felt.
Thanks for another great history lesson sir. Here is and extra I did not know that the 11th Corp 3rd division was the true saviours of the union army. As a civil war reenactor I was in a union infantry unit known as Thomas's mudsills we were the 4th Corp 3rd division army of the Cumberland. We used to do the 11th Corp drill by throwing our muskets and trapps down and running for the rear. Now after hearing your lesson I have a new respect for the 11th Corp thank you.
You are most welcome. I am a civil war reenactor as well. Thank you so much for watching and supporting the channel.
Excellent video. Happy New Year.
Happy New Year to you as well.
excellent video ,it cleared up a few gray area's for me
Thank you this was very helpful and insightful
Meadeous Victorious! Forgotten by many. Glad he is getting the attention he deserves
I try to highlight his ability as much as possible. Thank you for watching.
Meade was mediocre. Lincoln thought so.
@@marknewton6984 Grant found no fault with him about Gettysburg. He kept him in command of the AOP. It has been said that Meade was not the man to win the war but certainly not the man to loose it. May I suggest “Meade at Gettysburg a Study in Command. “ by Kent Masterson Brown.
Lee said “Meade will make no mistake on my front and if I do he will take advantage of it. “. There were constant movements and maneuvering from 7/12 through 12/4 1863. They maneuvered each other to a standstill. A portion of the ANV was defeated at Bristoe Station. Meade refused to sacrifice his men needlessly at Mine Run repeating a Fredericksburg type assault incurring the wrath of Stanton who told him to do something regardless of the cost.
Interesting to hear Meades perspective. From most of what I've read on the battle you could almost forget Meade was there. There seems to be a lot more focus on Lee, Longstreet and Hancock.
Exactly. Meade has become eclipsed by the others even though he was integral to the victory
Hancock was more important than Meade.
It would be nice is the orientation would match the maps. In almost all cases, the voiceover is talking about Generals and units not shown.
Meade was a fine soldier. The arguments against him for not attacking Lee's retreat are made from the perfect vision of hindsight. Contemporaneous intelligence on Lee's disposition was cloudy at best. Plus Hancock, his best field commander, was in hospital. I think Meade made the right decision given the facts at hand.
Lincoln didn't think so. 😮
Another story well told. I love your channel because you seem to have access to primary sources that i don't have. Your channel is a joy because i have come to trust that the information you share is always correct. I am always telling everyone i know how great you are & that they should listen to you. Sadly they are not history fanatics like i am. I only subscrbe to two
Channels yours & one about a husky dog because i am trying to teach my husky girl to sing. She has no husky friends so i had to resort to u tube. Your channel is always a joy & delight. I eagerly await the notification every week that you have uploaded a new video. I hope 2020 brings you nothing but peace prosperity love &happiness. I hope your channel will grow by leaps & bounds. I apologize for this ridiculously long verbose text. Happy New Year
I take that as a huge honor for you to be a subscriber. Thank you so much. I'm working on some local civil war history that I think you will enjoy. I'm also digging through some Revolutionary war era primary sources.
Always had wondered if John Reynolds tooked command of the Federal Army when Lincoln offered it him prior before Gettysburg.
These vids flesh out what has to by necessity be compressed to fit into the movie Gettysburg.
excellent. Prosperous 2020.
Thank you so much for watching and supporting the channel this year. I'm excited about what this year will bring and with support from fans like you, it will be a prosperous New Year. Happy New Year to you and your family.
Interesting recount of the battle. I had a hard time following the maps shown with Meade’s after action, but otherwise kudos on the video 👍
What is that soft music that plays in the first minute + of the video?
Well done! Meade is a favorite! I’d love to see the battle of Chattanooga animated (no one has done it) also the battle of Nashville animates. (Same).
A great video. Thanks.
The heavy fighting on the Union left at Round Top has been often written about. But there was also fierce resistance against relentless attacks on the extreme Union right as well. The line was bent back on itself, but didn't break.
I hope to include a video on the union right in the coming months.
The first Union commander who knew how to beat Lee -- by making Lee play HIS game instead of trying to play Lee's game.
In an alternative scenario, how should Meade have attacked the Confederates on day 4? It seems very difficult to push outwards from the high ground they were occupying as the rebels also occupied high ground around the Union Lines. Benner's Hill, the town itself, Seminary Ridge. All elevated high positions. What would you have done to avoid a "Sickles' charge" on day 4? (I know he was wounded but it just seems to fit somehow, heh..)
Also, I am glad to see others notice Meade's gentle wording about Sickles' blunder. From what I understood, Meade was furious and right to be so.
The continued attack on the union right flank after July 1 sadly proves that Lee was either sick or not as smart as everyone thought or thinking that he is a massive attack on the union left flank on July 2 would almost been a definite victory but hindsight is bliss
I'm a regular viewer of your channel. Meade's dense description of Gettysburg was hard for me to follow.
It is very military with very little fluff. I think that speaks to his military career and his own stoic personality.
@@HistoryGoneWilder It's the same problem I had with large portions of Longstreet's book. So many maneuvers and minor names got thrown into each paragraph I just couldn't picture the actions. But writers like Foote or Shaara, they make history come alive.
A map that coordinated with the commentary would have been nice.
Awesome!
Smeared was too smart not to pursue lee. Both sides were spent. He did well to hold in defensive positions. He was criticized by those politicians not there. The casualties were enormous. He was right to regroup his forces
Warmly engaged? Love the use of the gentry in those days. Understatement to the core
Most furious contest
Wow. I did a research paper on the battle (a freshman paper, so not all that in depth). I used mainly primary sources from the Confederates, since the goal of the paper was to show the errors made by Lee. It's interesting, hearing this, how clear and plain Meade (a Northerner) is compared to the writings of Southern generals. Seriously, read some letters written by them sometime, they wrote (and it is said, spoke) in very "flowery" language that often obfuscated what they were actually saying. It seems that eventually all of the country followed the Northern way of speaking.
Thank you so much for watching and supporting the channel. I have videos of Confederate accounts. Particularly Hood and Longstreet.
'Audacity', rejecting Longstreet's 'counsel', wanted to meet 'Those People' in the open. He did and for once 'audacity' met his match. Had Jeb Stuart been where he was supposed to, this battle might not even have happened! Longstreet knew better and said so... Pickett was made 'the fool' for all his effort and loss! Lee in the end was 'right'.. 'It's all my fault'... Yep it was!
Forgot about the 24th Michigan
If Meade is there in the morning it's because he wants you to attack.-- GENERAL LONGSTREET
Meade was a good general, and this report is amazingly accurate and clear, but he did miss one of the best chances to end the war before utterly exhausting the South's resources and armies. Lee had to cross the Potomac, and wasn't going to have an easy time doing so. I don't know the depth of the Potomac at the point of crossing, but one wonders if a few shallow-draft gunboats couldn't have prevented Lee from crossing , at least east of Harper's Ferry.
What units did Meade have to effect a successful pursuit? Every one of his corps were fought out, 30% casualties taken across the army, his cavalry unmassed and just having fought on both flanks, and hazy intelligence as to Lee's avenue of movement; neither side had the infantry speed or masses of trained cavalry necessary to truly pursue and destroy their opponents for nearly the whole of the war. The Union had that force in only one campaign, and that was Appomattox.
@JAG The Sixth Corps was not all together after the battle, having been parceled out by brigade to plug gaps in the line after arriving the afternoon of the 2nd. Marshalling them would have been possible but it means an immediate pursuit was not, and the same for the cavalry, who even victorious on the flanks needed time to reorganize and reestablish links to headquarters to even receive orders as to Lee's position and to pursue him vigorously.
Meade on the evening of the 3rd knew that he had won a defensive tactical victory, that Lee's second invasion was turned back, and that the cost had been incredible. Pursuing the Army of Northern Virginia with but one corps each of infantry and cavalry would have potentially allowed Lee to check that force in detail before the remainder of the Army of the Potomac could catch up, negating the Union's advantage in artillery. In all, I believe Meade did the best he could in the immediate aftermath of the battle ie the pursuit down to the Potomac.
I do fault Meade for an inability to aggressively lead his campaigns at Bristoe and Mine Run later in the year, after the damage to his army at Gettysburg had ben addressed, but that is another matter.
@JAG Lee's army DID resupply north of the Potomac by floating artillery limbers across it on barges to fight off Buford's cavalry at Williamsport, and this after the VI Corps had indecisively met with Lee's rearguard at Monterey Pass and had not committed precisely because its commander did not know if he would be engaging the entire Confederate army with his corps alone, and indeed Union and Confederate infantry did not engage in battle again until July 8 at Boonsboro, the fight up til then having been almost exclusively cavalry.
Between July 5 and July 9 Union forces had to march between 30 and 35 miles in torrential rain just to reach positions at which they could potentially attack the AoNV as it crossed the Potomac, and the VI Corps was not in the van. By the time the Union army had drawn up in force on the 11th, the Confederates had erected solid defensive earthworks on high ground. At a council of war that night most of Meade's subordinates - including Joh Segdewick VI Corps' commander - urged against a frontal assault the following morning so none was mounted, and Lee crossed over the river on a pontoon bridge.
The only occasion Meade had to decisively trap the Army of Northern Virginia was if he launched the VI Corps through Monterey Pass, or if Union cavalry had secured and held Fairfield on July 3 allowing reinforcements to cut Lee off. But Fairfield was not held and at the time Meade had no intelligence of what Confederate strength was in the pass, he had launched VI Corps' attack as a reconnaisance in force precisely to find that out and engaging his sole remaining unmauled infantry corps without good information would not have been sound.
@JAG Buford's command had several days rest after their legendary stand on the 1st and rode out to join with other Union horsemen coming from north of Gettysburg on the 5th, with perhaps a strength of 60% of what rode into the town before the battle. His brigades, particularly Gamble's, were quite hotly engaged at Williamsport, with the Confederate artillery exhausting their ammunition after just 30 minutes until emergency resupply crossed the river, per the memoirs of the CSA commander there.
That isn't to say that all Confederate resupply came via barge, only that Williamsport - where Lee eventually crossed - was successfully defended against by the only Union units that had any serious ability to deprive Lee of it, in part due to ad hoc resupply.
Sickles not understanding orders?
You dont say.
Forrest over Lee 💪🏴☠️
Meade was a very brave and the first Union General to outwit Lee and kick his a- -.
Meant Meade
im surprised lee didnt get the high ground when he had the chance if general jackson didnt die i know for a fact he would not act like general ewell he would take the high ground on day 1 of the battle of gettysburg
I address that in my video about What if Jackson Survived.
@@HistoryGoneWilder your one of my favorite youtube chanels plus your not a bad person if i met you in real life id love to have beer and pizza wth you i also love another youtuber called linda the gamer gal you should wath her stuff as well she makes good content as well shes all into gaming im into your channel due to you love my favorite subject history
@@HistoryGoneWilder true fact im a loyal fan of stonewall jackson and william t sherman the biggest battle tho in history to me is grant vs lee i do not even know if lee even mentioned jackson when he surrendered to him on april 9th of 1865 lee lost 3 good commanders jackson and stuart and of course a p hill
Yes. Stonewall would have taken Cemetery and Culp's Hill, messing up the Union fish hook. Different battle.😎
I'm befuddled why history, even, to this day ascribed him as titular moniker but never delve into his masterful calculations and respect to his subordinates
Great text, but the maps don't help much here.
im a civil war buff but i do not a thing about anderson hes appearing some books i am reading that are real histoucal fiction and alternate hictscal fiction
Which anderson are you referring to?
@@HistoryGoneWilder hes the one whos with robert e lee during gettysburg i beileve hes in other books i am reading as well my favorite alternate history authors are harry turtledove and robert conroy its sad tho brobert conroy is dead and harry turtledove is seriously old yet he is still writing books
@@HistoryGoneWilder anderson also appears in the gettysburg trilogy by newt gingrich
Doubleday the inventor of baseball
Lee's hubris and ultimate mistake. Should have listened to Longstreet and found favorable ground between Meade and Washington, DC to wage battle.
That’s a nice idea, but mostly wishful thinking and I’ve never seen anyone explain exactly how it would have worked. Where is this “favorable ground” to be found? More importantly, how would Lee have gotten there before Meade? For all Lee’s ability to maneuver on interior lines in friendly territory, he found out both times he went north that it’s a lot more difficult to operate when you’re on the offensive and the enemy has the interior lines. In reality, Meade already had excellent plans for a defensive line at Pipe Creek, fifteen or so miles south of Gettysburg, which would have bee even stronger than the positions he held at Gettysburg. The roads available to Lee led west before south, giving Meade plenty of time to beat Lee to the next point, and Meade also proved that he could move the Army of the Potomac very rapidly.
Meade just get his troops together in Gettysburg and sit the and high ground
No genius
And Meade wanna retreat after Day one
And Meade dont hunt Lee down while Lee was helpless trapped bye the river with a death army
Meade was no genius or hero
I doubt Meade would have had such a monotone.
Great hearing his words about this seminal battle, BUT the video is totally unacceptable! Zooming in and out, not showing where divisions and corps are, not showing anything other 'lookie here, I've got video'!
I do have battle map videos where I show the battle placements. Meade skips around so much that it would be difficult to create.
Narrative is poorly enunciated as with an engineering mentality as if the listener's eye could glance around a page choosing parts of sentences that go together. If the narrator will disregard his primary job---viewer comprehension--- better apply his skills elsewhere.