Recommended Reading: George Gordon Meade and the War in the East (Civil War Campaigns and Commanders Series) (Hardcover). Description: Even though he defeated Robert E. Lee in the Civil War's greatest battle, George Gordon Meade has never enjoyed a prominent place in the pantheon of Union war heroes. To most students of the Civil War, he is merely the man who was lucky enough to benefit from Confederate mistakes at Gettysburg, but whose shortcomings as a commander compelled Abraham Lincoln to bring in Ulysses S. Grant from the West to “achieve victory.” Continued below.

In this, the first book-length study of the general to appear in a generation, Ethan S. Rafuse challenges the notion that Meade was simply the last in a long line of failed Union commanders in the East. Instead, George Gordon Meade and the War in the East offer a balanced, informative, and complete, yet concise, reconsideration of the general's life and career. It also provides keen analysis of the military and political factors that shaped operations in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, and delineates the sources of tension between Washington and the Army of the Potomac high command that played such an important role in shaping the war in the Eastern Theater. This study will appeal to anyone with an interest in Meade, American history, and the politics of command in the Civil War, and encourage reconsideration of traditional interpretations of the Union war effort in the East.

 

Battle of Gettysburg

Recommended Reading: The Union Generals Speak: The Meade Hearings on the Battle of Gettysburg (Hardcover). From Publishers Weekly: Remembered now as a grand patriotic epic, the Battle of Gettysburg was a source of disappointment and controversy in the North because of the Union army's failure to head off and destroy Lee's army in the wake of the clash. This superbly edited collection of transcripts from the ensuing Congressional hearings sheds fascinating light on the conduct of the battle and the convoluted politics of the war in the North. Continued below.

The Radical Republicans in Congress used the hearings to attack their political enemies in the army, pressing allegations of faint-heartedness and pro-Southern sympathies on the part of Union commander George Meade and the Democrats and West Pointers in the officer corps. Meanwhile, the Union generals who testified brought their own faulty memories and hidden agendas to the hearings, using them to play up their roles in the battle and settle scores with rivals. The picture that emerges is of an army beset by personal vendettas, factional infighting, resentments between political appointees and professional soldiers and rancorous divisions over military policy. Hyde, an amateur Civil War historian, annotates the transcripts with engaging background material on the personalities, careers and machinations of the participants and a running commentary that corrects and analyzes the many errors, deceptions and obfuscations of the raw testimony. The result is a highly detailed, often vivid account of the high points of the battle and its aftermath, one that eschews the typical Gettysburg hagiography and points up the blunders, miscommunication and character flaws of the principals. Although a little arcane for casual readers, Civil War buffs will find it an engrossing supplement to Gettysburg lore.

 

Recommended Reading: Meade's Army: The Private Notebooks of Lt. Col. Theodore Lyman (Civil War in the North) (Hardcover: 518 pages) (Kent State University Press) (May 30, 2007). Description: The Private Notebooks of Lt. Col. Theodore Lyman is perhaps the most valuable insight into General Meade, because Lyman, without any reservation, “freely expresses his beliefs, thoughts, and observations from the pen to the paper.” Continued below.

As a general’s aide, he was privy to headquarters planning, gossip, and politics. No one escaped his discerning eye—neither "the flaxen Custer" nor Abraham Lincoln, who struck him as "a highly intellectual and benevolent Satyr." After capably serving General Meade ("Old Peppery"), Lyman accompanied him to Appomattox Court House and there observed the dignified, defeated General Lee.

 

Recommended Reading: Meade's Reprise (Hardcover). From Publishers Weekly: Merriam rewrites the ending to the Civil War in his vividly imaged debut novel, which elevates Union Maj. Gen. George Meade to the status of military genius after his trouncing of Lee at Gettysburg. In Merriam's revisionist history, Meade is ably assisted by a pair of Negro spies, Henry Prediger and Josephus Alexander, who provide Meade with so much advance notice about Confederate strategy that Meade is able to outflank Lee at every turn. Continued below.

Nevertheless, Meade's conquest of Richmond proves to be a debacle, with Lincoln pushing to end the war and several of Meade's military colleagues seeking to undermine Meade's ongoing efforts. Merriam puts his impeccable research to good use, offering impressive portraits of Lincoln, and Generals Longstreet and Sickles. He also brings the war and military intrigue to life, although Lee's military talent is noticeably shortchanged. Even given the license of speculative fiction, however, Merriam pushes the bounds of credibility in two important ways. His account of the ease with which Prediger and Alexander gain access to Meade to funnel information seems unimaginable, and his investment of Meade with the personal brilliance to match his military acumen goes against most portrayals of the leader, which found him overwhelmed and out of his element in the political arena. Moreover, Merriam's account of the efforts to put African-Americans on equal footing with whites smacks of modern-day political correctness, and he conveniently ignores much of the vitriol that plunged the South into chaos after the war. This volume presents some compelling historical material, but the unfettered nature of the speculation undermines the storytelling.