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MEADE, GEOEGE G. 



enter Eome, because, owing to the pact en- 

 tered into between Victor Emmanuel and the 

 Pope-King of Home, that city, which he 

 loved better than all others, could not be free. 

 He resided for a time at Genoa, and subse- 

 quently at Pisa, where he died. His best 

 eulogy has been written in these few words 

 by Carlyle : u A man of genius and virtue, 

 a man of sterling veracity, humanity, and no- 

 bleness of mind, one of those rare men, nu- 

 merable, unfortunately, but, as units in this 

 world, who are worthy to be called martyr 

 souls, who, in silence, piously in their daily 

 life, understand and practise what is meant 

 by that." Mazzini's principal works were : 

 "Italy, Austria, and the Pope," published in 

 England in 1845 ; "Royalty and .Republican- 

 ism in Italy," in 1850 ; " Italian Question and 

 the Republicans," in 1861 ; "Duties of Man," 

 in 1862; "Life and Writings," in 1864-'66; 

 and " Address to Pope Pius IX.," in 1865. 



MEADE, GEOEGE GORDON, Major-General 

 U. S. A., LL. D., born at Cadiz, Spain, during 

 the consulship of his father, Richard W. 

 Meade, in 1815 ; died at his residence in Phila- 

 delphia, November 6, 1872. At an early age 

 he was sent to the boys' school in Washington, 

 D. C., at that time kept by the present Chief- 

 Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 

 Mr. Chase. Subsequently, he attended the 

 Military Academy near Philadelphia, and, in 

 1831, entered the Academy at West Point, 

 whence he graduated, in 1835, as brevet sec- 

 ond-lieutenant of the Third Artillery. The 

 same year he was made second-lieutenant, and 

 served in Florida, in the Seminole War. The 

 state of his health induced him to resign his 

 commission in 1836, and he became a civil en- 

 gineer ; but, in 1842, he again entered the ar- 

 my, as second-lieutenant in the corps of Topo- 

 graphical Engineers, and in that capacity served 

 in the Mexican War. During this campaign he 

 was attached to the staff of General Taylor, 

 and afterward to that of General Scott, distin- 

 guishing himself at Palo Alto and Monterey, 

 and receiving, as an acknowledgment of his 

 gallantry, a brevet of first-lieutenant, dated 

 September 23, 1846, and, also, upon his return 

 to Philadelphia, a splendid sword from his 

 townsmen. During the interval between the 

 Mexican War and the Civil War, having been 

 promoted to a full first-lieutenancy in August, 

 1851, and to a captaincy of engineers in May, 

 1855, he was engaged in the particular duties 

 of his department, more especially in the sur- 

 vey of the Northern lakes ; but, upon the call 

 of the Government for men, in 1861, he was 

 ordered to report at Washington, and, upon 

 the organization of the Pennsylvania Reserve 

 Corps, was made a brigadier-general of volun- 

 teers, and assigned the command of the Second 

 Brigade, with General McCall as division-gen- 

 eral, his commission dating August 31, 1861. 

 Subsequently, this corps was joined to the 

 Army of the Potomac, and took part in the ad- 

 vance on Richmond. During the seven days' 



fight General Meade was severely wounded, 

 but soon recovered, and, in September, 1862, 

 took command of a division in Reynolds's 

 First Army Corps, which he conducted with 

 great skill and bravery during the Mary- 

 land campaign. At Antietam, when General 

 Hooker was wounded, General Meade was 

 placed in command of the corps, and fought 

 bravely the remainder of the day, receiving a 

 slight wound, and having two horses killed 

 under him. He received the appointment of 

 major-general of volunteers on the 29th of 

 November, and took part in the battle of 

 Fredericksburg (December, 1862), and dis- 

 played courage and coolness during the engage- 

 ment. During the same month he was placed 

 in command of the Fifth Corps, which, after 

 being engaged throughout the battle of Chan- 

 cellorsville, covered the retreat of the beaten 

 army, and guarded the crossings until the 

 whole body was safely over the river. 



In June, 1863, when Lee was advancing up 

 the Shenandoah Valley, to invade Maryland 

 and Pennsylvania, General Meade was sudden- 

 ly and unexpectedly called to succeed General 

 Hooker in the command of the Army of the 

 Potomac, numbering 100,000 men. He ad- 

 vanced through Maryland, on parallel lines 

 with Lee's army, which finally, marching east- 

 ward, struck (July 1st) the head of Meade's col- 

 umn, under General Reynolds, near Gettys- 

 burg. The fight for position which occurred, 

 and which resulted in the defeat and death of 

 Reynolds, and the retirement of his column 

 through Gettysburg to a strong position south 

 of the town, is generally spoken of as the first 

 day's fight of the great battle which ensued at 

 Gettysburg. The whole army advanced to 

 this position during the night, and the next 

 day Sickles's corps went into action, and was 

 driven back, the day closing with a slight ad- 

 vantage on the side of the Confederates. The 

 third day opened with an advance of the Union 

 right under Slocum, who retook ground he 

 had lost, and rested upon it. Soon after, the 

 Confederate artillery opened, and ploughed 

 the Union lines for two hours, when the great 

 Confederate column of assault, emerging from 

 behind the batteries, pressed swiftly toward 

 the Union lines, and was repulsed with great 

 slaughter. This reverse decided the day, and, 

 when the Confederates regained their lines, 

 the battle had been Avon by the Union forces. 

 General Meade, who displayed masterly ability 

 throughout the engagement, reported his loss 

 in these three bloody days at 2,834 killed, 13,- 

 709 wounded, and 6,643 missing. He took 

 13,621 prisoners and 24,978 small-arms. Lee 

 promptly retreated, before the detachments 

 sent by Meade in pursuit could arrest his prog- 

 ress. About the 18th of July he moved his 

 army across the Potomac into Virginia, where 

 he had several skirmishes with the enemy in 

 October and November, 1863. He was second 

 in command of the Army of the Potomac in its 

 operations against Richmond in 1864. The 



