Meade and his Generals

@ National Portrait Gallery

Description

On the eve of the battle of Gettysburg, July 1–3, 1863, President Lincoln appointed General George G. Meade commander of the Army of the Potomac. In this photograph of generals from that army, Meade stands fourth from the right. Although Gettysburg was a badly needed victory for the Union, Lincoln was distraught that Meade did not pursue Lee’s retreating and crippled army and crush it once and for all. Meade contended that his army needed rest and refitting, and days of torrential rains hampered his efforts to mobilize an effective pursuit. Meade would keep his command to the end of the war, but in 1864 Ulysses Grant became general-in-chief of the army and chose to make his headquarters with Meade’s troops, which essentially pitted Lee against Grant on the fields of battle and in the realm of American memory.

Type:

Image

Format:

Albumen Silver Print

Rights:

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

View Original At:

http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=record_ID=npg_NPG.81.28&repo=DPLA