USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 2 > Part 4
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and harbor improvements, and in constructing light-houses on Delaware Bay and off the coast of Florida. In 1851 he was made First Lieutenant, and, in 1855, Captain.
Ile was on duty at Detroit, Michigan, in 1861, having been charged with the survey of the Northern Lakes. He always regarded his labors here as the most important and valuable that he rendered in the civil line of his profession, looking with just satisfaction upon their scientific results. When the Rebellion opened, he was at once ordered to Washington. On the 3d of September, President Lincoln sent to the Senate for confirmation, among others, the name of Captain George G. Meade, of the Topographical Engineers, to be Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and he was assigned to the command of the Second brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer corps. He was by nature and education an exact, methodical man, and disciplining the fine body now put in his hands was an agreeable task. He was for a time in camp at Tenallytown; but, on the 9th of October, crossed into Virginia and took position on the extreme right of the line of the army, in the neighborhood of Langley, where he continued until the opening of the spring campaign. When McClellan went to the Peninsula, Meade remained behind in McDowell's corps of observation before Washington, advancing as far as Fredericksburg.
Finding difficulties multiplying as he went, Mcclellan asked for more troops, and the Reserves were sent to him. They arrived in time to open the famous Seven Days' battle at Beaver Dam Creek, where this division sustained the contest almost unaided. Meade with his brigade was at Gaines' Mill when the battle opened, but hastening forward, he reached the field in time to render efficient service at a moment when sorely needed. On the following day his brigade was roughly handled, one of his regiments holding its ground until cut off and captured, and the others were with difficulty withdrawn.
There was no more desperate fighting in this campaign than that at Charles City Cross Roads, on the 30th of June. The Reserves held the fore-front in that engagement, and received. for a time unaided, the brunt of the enemy's fierce onset. Meade stood upon the right of the line, and his brigade, though the last
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to be attacked, felt the full power of the blow. Near the close of the day, and when the fighting was well nigh over, he was severely wounded and was borne from the field. Almost at the sanne instant he was struck by two balls, one hitting him in the arm and the other, entering the body just above the hip-joint, passed out near the spine. Though losing blood rapidly, and fainting from weakness, he remained for some time with his men; but was finally carried to a hospital. He soon rallied, and his wounds healed so that he took the field before the army left the Peninsula.
Upon the resignation of General McCall, soon afterwards, General Reynolds succeeded him in chief command, and at the Second Bull Run battle the division rendered efficient service, Meade holding with great gallantry the approaches to the War- renton turnpike, by which Pope's beaten army was retreating, and which the enemy was making desperate efforts to seize. So well did he acquit himself here, that the campaign had no sooner closed than he was given the command of the entire division, which was placed in Hooker's corps. At the Gaps of the South Mountain, where the enemy had taken position to dispute the passage of the Union army, Meade met the troops of Longstreet and Hill. The advantage was all with the foe, he having taken ground behind stone walls, rocks, and trees. But by skilful dispositions, and the gallantry and courage of his men, he succeeded in dislodging and driving the enemy from his stronghold. Mcade pushed rapidly forward, and was given the advance in finding the rebel troops on the Antietam field. The fighting opened on the evening of the 16th of September, 1862, and was maintained until nightfall with singular earnestness. The Reserves slept on their arms, and renewed the battle carly on the following morning. When the fighting was at its height Hooker received a severe wound. Before leaving the field, he turned over the command of the corps to General Meade. The part of the field which he held was the most desperately contested, and his troops were terribly torn and decimated, he himself receiving a wound, and having two horses shot under him.
But the field on which General Meade manifested greater daring and heroism than on any other, perhaps, in the whole
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course of his military life, was that of Fredericksburg, and it was his conduct here which undoubtedly pointed him out as the future Commander-in-chief of the Army of the Potomac. Burn- side's plan seems to have been to turn the enemy's left flank. To Meade with his Reserves was given the task of breaking the enemy's line, and making a lodgment where it could be taken in reverse upon the right. Most gallantly they executed this desperate labor, and though
"Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them, Volley'd and thunder'd,"
and sheets of flame leaped from the pieces of the infantry crouching behind walls and hedges, the Reserves moved steadily on till the hostile line was pierced at a vital point, and the rear was gained, where were muskets stacked, and the rebel troops in no preparation to meet so bold and heroic an assault. But after the blow had been dexterously dealt, and the antagonist hit with stunning force, that gallant division, but a handful of devoted men, being unsupported, was obliged-bleeding and staggering under the weight of the force of the enemy concentrated upon them, and when victory seemed within the grasp of the Union army-to fall back, and abandon the whole advantage, gained at a fearful sacrifice of valor and of life.
Meade was now placed in command of the Fifth corps, and when at Chancellorsville Lee pounded upon the Union left with his artillery, and sought to break through and turn that flank, he found there troops ready and watchful; and though there was hard fighting later in the struggle yet no advantage was gained. It was the vigilant commander of the Fifth corps who stood guard at that point, and no shame came to the army through any lack of attention or weakness of judgment on his part.
At Frederick, Maryland, on the 28th of June, 1863, in the very midst of a campaign of unexampled greatness, involving issues vital to the Nation, and the turning of which the whole civilized world was watching with absorbing interest, he was placed at the head of the Army of the Potomac, and three days thereafter the great battle of Gettysburg opened. He had to
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GEORGE G. MEADE.
this time shown himself an exceedingly reliable and safe officer in the subordinate positions in which he had been placed; but from being the commander of a brigade, a division, a corps, he was now suddenly thrust forward to command a hundred thousand men, with whom he was expected to meet an army of still larger proportions of veteran troops hitherto victorious. Hle evidently felt the great responsibility resting upon him, and prepared to meet it with a manful and heroic spirit.
The battle was precipitated before he had an opportunity to concentrate his army: When he discovered that it was likely to come, he made an effort to bring his corps together at a point near the centre of the territory over which they were spread. Before this could be effected, the enemy struck the extreme flank, and there, with a dogged resolution and a heroism unsurpassed, a few thousands held their ground for a whole day against the half of the hostile army. As soon as General Meade found that it would be possible to bring his troops to that point so as to fight upon something like equal terms, he resolved to make Gettys- burg the battle-ground. When that resolution was once taken, he showed great energy in hastening forward his troops, in which he was most nobly supported by his subordinates, and during the hours of a short summer night his army was brought up.
On the second day at Gettysburg a number of untoward cir- cumstances occurred, and though the soldiers fought with unex- ampled courage and determination, the results were in many respects unfortunate. Yet all this was reversed on the third day, by an exceedingly judicious disposition of the forces, and a glorious victory was gained. Nor was the triumph marred by a hasty and ill-advised use of the army against an enemy at bay. The result caused universal joy. The enemy was conquered-a full half of the army with which he had made the invasion was lost to him-the North was freed from the disgrace of being over- run-and the tide of disaster, which had been setting strongly against the National cause, was turned, ever after to recede. The thanks of Congress were presented to General Meade for his signal service in this battle.
A campaign of manœuvres followed, in which the rebel leader sought by a sharp, bold move to cut his antagonist off from his
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communications. But Meade was too wary to be taken at a dis- advantage, and the movement, which was begun in the confident expectation of complete triumph, ended in total failure and was turned to the advantage of the assailed-the actions at Bristoc and Rappahannock bridge resulting in brilliant victories to the Union arms. Meade soon after initiated a bold aggressive move- ment. With eight days' rations in haversack, he launched his army across the Rapidan, seeking to interpose between the two wings of Lec's army, and beat them in detail; but the tardy movement of some of his troops made futile the intended surprise, and he found the rebel forces so well intrenched behind Mine Run, that he determined not to attack, and returned again to his camps-a resolution which required a degree of courage not surpassed by that displayed in the most daring assaults.
In the spring of 1864, General Grant was placed in command of all the armies, and took the field with that of the Potomac; and though General Meade still held the immediate command of that army, and exercised the complete control of it, the glory of his achievements was shadowed in the public eye, and what- ever was done was attributed to the mind of the superior. At the Wilderness, Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, with all the operations of the siege, and the numerous enterprises undertaken for its reduction, down to the final campaign and the surrender of the rebel army at Appomattox Court House, he exercised that command, and endured the hardships and responsibilities incident to the execu- tion of manœuvres and plans of battle, which were never before equalled on this continent. General Grant bore ample testimony to the worth of General Meade as a soldier, and particularly referred to the disadvantage he labored under in being second in command, in his estimation with the public, in his recommenda- tion for the confirmation of Meade as Major-General in the regular army. "General Meade," says General Grant, "is one of our truest men and ablest officers. He has been constantly with that army [Army of the Potomac] confronting the strongest, best ap- pointed, and most confident army in the South. He, therefore, has not had the same opportunity of winning laurels so distinctly marked as have fallen to the lot of other Generals. But I defy
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GEORGE G. MEADE.
any man to name a commander who would do more than General Meade has done with the same chances. General Meade was appointed at my solicitation, after a campaign the most pro- tracted, and covering more severely contested battles than any of which we have any account in history. I have been with General Meade during the whole campaign; and I not only made the recommendation upon a conviction that this recog- nition of his services was fully won, but that he was eminently qualified for the rank which such command entitled him to."
The recommendation was promptly acted on and he was con- firmed without question, his commission dating from the 18th of August, 1864. He had previously been advanced through the ranks of Major, Lieutenant-Colonel, Colonel, and Brigadier- General in the regular army. After the close of the war he was assigned to the command of the Military Division of the Atlantic ; but in 1868 he was transferred to that of the Third Military District-comprising Georgia, Florida and Alabama -- a section where the work of pacification was arduous and responsible, requiring a man of great weight of character, and discretion in the execution of his duties. In the following year he returned to the command of the Atlantic Division, with head-quarters at Philadelphia. This was his former home, and it was grateful for him, after his campaigns were ended and the noise of martial strife was hushed, to sit down and enjoy the quiet and repose which he had justly earned. He here lived in a house presented to his wife-a daughter of the Hon. John Sergeant -- by his fellow-citizens, in grateful recognition of his eminent ability and services devoted to the welfare of his country.
General Meade's personal appearance is thus graphically sketched by an English traveller who was introduced to him soon after the victory at Gettysburg: " He is a very remarkable- looking man-tall, spare, of a commanding figure and presence ; his manners easy and pleasant, but having much dignity. His head is partially bald and is small and compact; but the fore- head is high. He has the late Duke of Wellington class of nose ; and his eyes, which have a serious, almost sad expression, are rather sunken, or appear so from the prominence of the
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curved nasal development. He has a decidedly patrician and distinguished appearance. I had some conversation with him; and of his recent achievements he spoke in a modest and natural way. He said that he had been very 'fortunate,' but was most especially anxious not to arrogate to himself any credit which he did not deserve. He said that the triumph of the Federal arms was due to the splendid courage of the Union troops, and also to the bad strategy, and rash and mad attacks made by the enemy. He said that his health was remarkably good, and that he could bear almost any amount of physical fatigue."
General Meade developed eminent ability as a soldier, and was life-long devoted to the service; yet scenes of carnage and blood were revolting to his nature. He was of too tender and sympa- thetic a temperament to regard with other than aversion the suf- ferings and heart-breakings which war entails. In August, 1863, the officers and men of the Reserve corps presented to him a costly sword, with sash, belt, and golden spurs. The presentation was made by General Crawford, in presence of many officers of the army high in rank, and distinguished civilians. In reply to the remarks of General Crawford, General Meade made quite a lengthy speech, recounting in a very just way the achievements of the Reserves from the beginning. In the course of his address he artlessly disclosed the feelings and motives which swayed his breast as a soldier. "While, however," he said, "I give expression to these feelings, they are not unmingled with others, of a sad and mournful nature, as I look around you and reflect that so many of the brave officers and soldiers who origi- nally composed this division sleep their last sleep, and that others have been obliged to return home crippled and maimed for life. It is terrible to think that there should be any necessity for so much misfortune and misery ! Sad, that in this country, a land flowing with milk and honey, and in which we are all brothers, we should raise our arms against each other, and such scenes should be enacted as I have been a participant in. It is sad that there should be an occasion like the present, and a necessity for the presentation of a testimonial such as this. These are sad, sad thoughts to me, but at the same time I am sustained in my
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JAMES Q. ANDERSON.
present position by a consciousness that I am acting from a high and proper sense of my duty to my country. It is impossible that this great country should be divided ; that there should be two governments or two flags on this continent. Such a thing is entirely out of the question. I trust that every loyal man would be willing to sacrifice his life before he would consent to have more than one government, and one flag wave over the whole territory of the United States." .
"General Meade was," says a writer in the New York Tribune, "a man of such even, such exact temperament, that he was free from those emotions and impulses, those eccentricities of feeling and action which give to the soldiers and their friends at home those easy and broad impressions of character which are fixed and conveyed in epithets and nicknames. He was never called Daddy, Fighting George, or Poney, or Stonewall. It is doubtful if any soldier in his command ever ventured to think of him but as General Meade. ... He deprecated praise, and used to say that he was not fit to take the command of great armies, or the initiative in great campaigns. . . . He is one of the men whom history will call happy. His life was laborious, full of honors and success. He had his share of glory without that conspicuous eminence which tempts the dart of envy and malevolence. His public career was free from vicissitudes, as his private life was free from storms. He was a good soldier, a true patriot, and an honest man. He deserved well of the Republic, and received as a general thing the credit he deserved."
AMES QUIGLEY ANDERSON, Colonel of the Seventeenth cavalry, was born in Brighton, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, on the 5th of July, 1831. He was the son of Hugh and Sarah (Quigley) Anderson. Until the age of nine he lived upon a farm. He received a good English and classical education at the Beaver Academy. He left school in 1845, and from that date until 1853 was engaged as civil engineer upon the lines of the Erie and Pittsburg, and Carrolton and Allegheny Valley Railroads. In 1854 he went to Kansas, and for a period of three years was in charge of a party of engineers engaged in laying out Government lands. In 1857 he was elected City Engineer of Kansas City,
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Missouri, in which capacity he served until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he returned to his former home in Pennsylvania.
Though he had no military education, his occupations had been such as to fit him to control men, and to take easily and naturally to life in the field ; while his skill as an engineer gave him many advantages in judging of the nature of the country in which he was operating, and in discerning its defensible posi- tions .. In July, 1862, he commenced recruiting a company of cavalry, of which he was commissioned First Lieutenant. It be- came Company A of the Seventeenth Pennsylvania, which went to the field, under Colonel Josiah HI. Kellogg. In January, 1863. he was promoted to Captain, and, in command of his company, took part in the battle of Chancellorsville. At the most critical juncture in that engagement, at the moment, on the evening of the 2d, when Stonewall Jackson was bearing down all before him, having put to rout the entire Eleventh corps, General Pleasanton. with two regiments of cavalry, the Eighth and Seventeenth, was returning from the attack of Sickles' men upon Jackson's rear, when he discovered the misfortune which had befallen the right wing of the army. Comprehending the situation, he ordered the Eighth, which was an old regiment, to charge the enemy and hold him in check until he could bring his artillery, of which he had twenty-two pieces, into position. When that was done. he posted the Seventeenth, which had never been under fire, in line in rear of the guns, to give the appearance of strong support. with orders to charge should the enemy approach; and with no other protection, those twenty-two guns, by being effectively and skilfully served, were able to arrest the force of the enemy's blow and save the whole army from destruction.
. In the Gettysburg campaign, the Seventeenth was with the column led by the intrepid John Buford, who pushed on in ad- vance, and first met the enemy before the town, holding him in check until the infantry could arrive. Captain Anderson had. in the meantime, been commissioned Major, and led a battalion in that great battle. For his gallantry in a critical period of the engagement, he was publicly complimented by General Buford. He continued in command of a battalion in the affairs at Funks- town on the 7th of July, at Brandy Station on the 1st of August.
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JAMES Q. ANDERSON.
and at Raccoon Ford on the 14th of September. On the 18th of February, 1864, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant- Colonel, to date from June 1st, 1863, and led his regiment in the battle at Todd's Tavern, on the 7th and 8th of May. When Sheri- dan started on his raid towards Richmond, Lieutenant-Colonel An- derson manœuvred his force with a courage and a steadiness that won the highest commendation of that eminent cavalry leader, being warmly engaged at Yellow Tavern, and at Meadow Bridge on the 11th and 12th of May. After reaching the James, and communicating with Butler's army, he returned with Sheridan's columns to the Army of the Potomac, and took part in the battle of Hanovertown, on the 27th of May, Hawes' Shop on the 28th, Old Church on the 30th, and Cold Harbor on the 31st and June 1st. Cutting loose at this point from the main body of the army, the cavalry moved towards Gordonsville, and came upon the enemy in force at Trevilian Station on the 11th and 12th of June, where he participated in the sharp encounter which then occurred. Returning again to the James, he was in the engagement at White House on the 21st, and at Darbytown road on the 28th.
Soon after rejoining the combined armies before Petersburg, Sheridan, with a portion of his cavalry, was ordered to the Shenandoah Valley, to meet a heavy body of the enemy under General Early. On reaching its destination, Colonel Anderson, whose health had been much impaired by constant and severe duty, was obliged to leave the front, and from that time until November was confined to the hospital in Washington. On rejoining his regiment he resumed command, and moved with General Torbert in his raid upon Gordonsville, taking part in the battle which was there fought on the 22d of December. Having just come forth from the hospital, the hardships and suffering during this wintry march bore heavily upon him. In January, 1865, he was promoted to Colonel, to rank from the 18th of December. His health again declining, he left his command in February, and, on returning before the opening of the spring campaign, the Government, desirous of relieving him so far as possible from exposure, placed him in command of the Remount Camp at City Point. He was with his regiment at Lee's sur- render, and with it was mustered out of service.
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Colonel Anderson left the army with a constitution broken by exposure and hardship, and as he retired to his home he went to die. His strength sufficed to reach it; but he was, from that day, confined to his room, with pulmonary consumption ; and on the 9th of October following, the tried and trusted soldier quietly breathed his last. In person he was of commanding figure, being five feet ten inches in height, and though robust previous to the war, was predisposed to pulmonary attacks. His scholastic attainments were considerable, especially in mathematics and the science of engineering. He was naturally of an adventurous and enterprising disposition. As a soldier, he enjoyed the con- fidence of his associates in a remarkable degree. One who knew him intimately says: "It is the testimony of his men that, in all the battles in which he was engaged, he not only commanded, but he led them bravely and efficiently."
UGH SYM CAMPBELL, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Eighty-third regiment, was born in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the 25th of April, 1829. He was the son of Hugh and Janet (Kessin) Campbell. He was liberally educated, first in the High School in his native city until his fifteenth year, and subsequently in the University of Glasgow, where for three years he pursued the ancient classics. At the end of this period, he entered upon commercial pursuits as travelling agent for the business house of his father. But the love of adventure, coupled with a desire to travel in foreign countries, induced him to forsake the comforts and advantages of home, and at the age of nineteen he emigrated to the United States, arriving in New York in April, 1849.
He remained at the metropolis but a short time, when he rambled westward to Buffalo, where he engaged in business, first as book-keeper, and finally as partner, in an extensive mechani- cal manufactory, for a period of ten years. He was married on the 12th of July, 1850, to Miss Margaret Boyd. In May, 1860. he removed with his family to Waterford, Erie county, Pennsyl- vania. When, in July, 1861, intelligence of the defeat of the National army at Bull Run was received, he rallied around him a hundred young men, whom he organized as Company E of the Eighty-third regiment, then being formed at the city of Erie by
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