July 11 1863 MORIBUND MEADE MAKES MINOR MOVEMENT Gen. George Meade had not done badly for a man on the job less than two weeks. Named commander of the Army of the Potomac, he had in one week maneuvered a huge force to Gettysburg and slugged it out with Robert E. Lee and won. The cost, however, had been stupendous, and when Lee began to withdraw, Meade essentially let him go, an action for which he is still sometimes criticized to this day. The criticism certainly started early: Lincoln was having a conniption fit, wanting Meade to pin Lee against the flooded Potomac River and destroy him. What everyone seemed to forget was that the same project had been tried the year before, after the Battle of Antietam, and the pursuing Union troops had been soundly defeated. Today, with the Army of the Potomac back in some semblance of working order, Meade began to move in pursuit.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 14:36:23 +0000