Robert Meade Research Paper

Around one hundred fifty years ago, two superior, enemy armies faced each other outside a crossroads town in Pennsylvania. Neither army’s commander planned to battle at Gettysburg, but the assault took on a life of its own as soldiers in blue and gray rushed to the noise of bullets whizzing past them. Here, the battle would last for three days, leaving approximately 7,000 Americans dead and 30,000 wounded. The “vain and bad-tempered” (“Killer”), man Meade was ordered to take command of the Union army three days before the definitive battle, failing to eradicate Lee’s wrecked army, managing to let the army escape across the Potomac River before it could be seized, and not following through with the Henry Wager Halleck’s orders.
Born in Spain, Meade was one of the several Union generals who commenced his life and career in a foreign country. He later
Lee.
Following three days of command, two of Meade’s corps ran into the Confederates at Gettysburg. Launching the Battle of Gettysburg, they were trampled, but accomplished holding beneficial land for the army. Racing his men to the battlefield, Meade won the two days and effectively turned the tide of the war in the East (“Hickman”).
During the first day of the battle, July 1, 1863, Meade’s army suffered massive casualties, along with the death of beloved Major General John Reynolds. Even with these losses, Meade effectively navigates his army into safe, defensive positions, which he grasped throughout frequent Confederate offensives on the second day of the battle. On the battle’s third day, Meade’s strategic positioning and marshaling of his forces proved worthless when the Army of the Potomac fended off a vast raid on the center of its lines during “Pickett’s Charge.” This failed which led to many casualties and an immediate Confederate retreat from the North