Was General Meade Too Lax Pursuing General Lee's Retreat from Gettysburg?
Though General George Gordon Meade won a great victory for the Union at Gettysburg those first days of July 1863, General in Chief Halleck, Secretary of War Stanton, and particularly President Lincoln where unhappy indeed greatly perturbed that General Lee was able to effect his escape back across a flooded Potomac River intact. Was this expecting too much from General Meade after a great 3 day battle and new to command? Or should Meade have pushed everything forward so as to cut off Lee or at least force him into battle before he could get back into Viriginia and safety?
__________________ 'It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag'
One can see Meade's reluctance -- three days of battle preceded by days of hard marching; disorganization, necessary wagons of supplies scattered all over the countryside.
Pursuit may have been asking for too much, but if ever there was a time to make a big-risk, second-effort, this was the time.
A secondary, but related question: given the resolution in Washington to go for it, why didn't Halleck go to the battlefield and order Meade to pursue with everything he had?
An interesting topic, Ed. Thanks for bringing it up.
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Good question Ed. If Meade had been more aggressive and counter-attacked after Picketts charge, which Lee was trying to prepare for as his men drifted back to their original lines, the end of the war could possibly have come sooner. Yet another of Lincolns generals let the ANV slip away when it was so vulnerable to destruction, as McClellan did at Antietam.
It must have been frustrating beyond words for Lincoln to see that happen again. And he was a patient man. Had Grant led the AOP at Gettysburg, things would have probably turned out differently. The answer is yes, Meade missed a golden opportunity IMHO.
Terry
__________________ "In this great struggle, this form of Government and every form of human right is endangered if our enemies succeed. There is more involved in this contest than is realized by every one." Abraham Lincoln - August 18, 1864 Speech to the 164th Ohio Regiment
Anyone who has the opinion that Meade was lax in pursuing Lee never read any OR reports after the Battle of Gettysburg.
I'll guarantee they'll know where General Buford's Cavalry Division was on July 1, 1863, but have no idea where Buford had his cavalry on July 7, 1863?
I believe this is true, because most students and historians cover July 1 to July 3, 1863, when writing of the Gettysburg campaign, as if June 27, 1863 and July 7, 1863 never existed.
Although I understand the discomfiture of the administration with Meade, and the opinions of his hesitancy to push Lee hard, I am of the opinion that that was expecting too much of Meade and the Potomac Army in the days following Gettysburg. Gettysburg chewed up the Army of the Potomac and wreaked havoc with the upper echelon of commanders. 3 of 8 corps commanders were gone, 3 infantry corps so done up that some solution would be required as to their future existences, and Butterfield, Meade's chief of staff and primary organizer, was wounded. Meade had 2 corps essentially ready to go, but, right away, go where? It was not as if Lee was going to stand back and let Meade decimate him where he (Lee) could choose his ground- Lee was still ready and able to smite a hasty and ill-considered advance. The thing must be looked at strategically and logistically, and that meant taking some time to do look at it. It was not like Meade had the entire structure of command in his complete grasp- after Gettysburg, he still only had a week's worth of overall command. Then there was the matter of exhaustion, Meade's as well as the army's. Sedgwick's VI Corps, though not engaged save for one brigade, had made a forced march in the 100+* heat with little rest just to arrive at the battlefield.
That Meade would react and move slowly I find eminently understandable. I cannot blame him for laxity, I do not believe he was lax, very cautious perhaps but that too is understandable.
Ole made a good point about if the administration was so put out with Meade's pursuit of Lee, why didn't they send Halleck to Gettysburg to push it? Or why didn't Halleck take the bit in his mouth and go and see to it? Okay, we know Halleck was Halleck, but still, should not the general-in-chief chief a little where and when it would count most in the eyes of his bosses? At least, he should have been sent. Because he wasn't, the perceived poor pursuit is a matter of the eye of the beholder.
__________________ 'It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag'
Guys when referencing Halleck... look to his advance and capture of Corinth. He almost made Lil Mac look quick & decisive. Ole Brains believed in seizing an important strategic location & making the other guy come at you... not an altogether bad strategy if he was willing to fight.
__________________ Few take the trouble to understand or to view the American scene with perspective. And we Americans love to find ourselves guilty of something. However, it is never I who am guilty, but those other Americans, the past or present government or the other political party. Americans almost never find other countries guilty. It is always ourselves or our fancied influence in other countries. Louis L'amour
Ole made a good point about if the administration was so put out with Meade's pursuit of Lee, why didn't they send Halleck to Gettysburg to push it?
Thank you, but I can't take credit for that tidbit. Mobile96 uses it now and then to swat me around when we're quarreling.
My sympathy has always been with Meade, but that's a humanitarian, realistic look at the situation. Meade should have been persuaded that another 10K casualties would be willingly absorbed in an earnest effort at bagging a large part of Lee's army.
Other generals could see the point at which opportunity and need outweighed unpreparedness. Lee, for example, in marching north in the first place.
I started this year believing Meade had ample reasons for the tepid pursuit. I then morphed through "he should at least be forgiven" for the tepid pursuit. Now I believe a better, bolder general would have pursued. Poor Meade. Can't even buy himself a break.
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
look to his advance and capture of Corinth. He almost made Lil Mac look quick & decisive
In fairness to "Old Brains," it rained pitchforks and hoe handles during much of that trek. I'm not saying he didn't make "Little Napoleon" look good-- just that the 30 days was not all cake-walk and entrenching. (Another Mobile96 observation.)
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Don't know where you read it, sam, but it would be criminally negligent if the Harpers Ferry contingent was not watching Sheperdstown (sp?), its own front, and points east. Williamsport, however, would be (I think) a bit far for them to cover.
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
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Was General Meade Too Lax Pursuing General Lee's Retreat from Gettysburg? 
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