Enared according to act of Congress Di864 by virtues Torsten & fur the oiarias office of the district oc urt of the United States for the southern district of NY . joined McClellan's army, and forming January, 1863, the President having part of the right wing, occupied the previously appointed him a major-genneighborhood of Mechanicsville. When eral of volunteers, his name was laid the famous flank attack was made on before the Senate. His appointment, the 26th of June, 1862, by "Stonewall" however, was not confirmed until the Jackson, General Meade especially dis- following March, but his commission tinguished himself by the firmness of was dated November 29, 1862. his resistance. At the battle of Gainesville, next day, he also did so well that he was nominated for the brevet of lieutenant-colonel in the regular army, having previously been promoted to a majority in the Engineer Corps. At the battle of New Market Cross Roads, General Meade was wounded, and on his recovery he took command of the division until the return of Generals McCall and Reynolds, who had been taken prisoners at the battle of Mechanicsville. On the invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania by Lee, after the defeat of Pope, General Meade was placed in command of the division of Pennsylvania reserves, and led them in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. When General Hooker was carried from the field wounded, Meade became, temporarily, the commander of the ninth corps. In the battle of Fredericksburg, on the 13th of December, 1862, General Meade greatly distinguished himself with the Pennsylvania division, which lost, during that disastrous conflict, 1,624 men. On the 15th of December, 1862, General Meade was appointed to the command of the fifth army corps, formerly under Fitz John Porter. In When General Hooker assumed the command of the Army of the Potomac, Meade was retained as the commander of the fifth corps, which, in the advance upon Chancellorsville, formed part of the right wing. In the severe battles. which ensued, Meade's corps was among the firmest to resist the enemy's repeated attacks, and finally covered the retreat of Hooker's whole army. The skill with which General Meade handled his troops on this occasion marked him out as an able commander, and led to his appointment as the successor of General Hooker in the chief command of the Army of the Potomac. The victory he so soon after won at Gettysburg was especially creditable to him as a commander, for he had assumed charge of the Army of the Potomac when in the face of the enemy and on the eve of a great battle, both of which were circumstances singularly unfavorable for a new leader. The issue, moreover, was one of the grandest ever hazarded on the field, and fixes the success of the arms of the Union on that occasion among the most memorable events in its history. The invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania by General Lee, if it had not been checked by the victory won by General Meade at Gettysburg, might |