General George Gordon Meade's connection to Christ Church in Philadelphia

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Today my husband, son and I were walking around Old City in Philadelphia, and as we often do, we stopped in to Christ Church. I love the old church, and will stop there whenever I can, just to sit quietly in a pew (maybe the William Penn box, or the Ben Franklin box) and marvel at the venerable old building.

Anyway, today there was a docent talking to a small group in the front of the church about the history of the church and its furnishings (like a baptismal font brought to the church in 1697 from England--the same font William Penn was baptized in, and which was given to the church with the requirement that it be actually used, which it still is today). She was quite good, but I felt myself sort of drifting off anyway (maybe because I needed a cup of after-lunch coffee). Then I heard her say the name, General George Meade, and point to one of the granite grave stones in the middle aisle floor.

No, General Meade isn't buried there, but apparently, his uncle Robert is. Here's some info about him:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=31010737

I always say that I can connect the Civil War with just about anything--and now I can add another connection to my list!
 
There is another Gettysburg connection to Christ Church. Captain William W. Dorr of Company K, 121st Pennsylvania was the eldest son of the rector of the church. Capt. Dorr participated with his regiment in the heavy fighting on July 1, west of the Lutheran Seminary, but was afterwards killed at Spotsylvania on 10 May 1864. There is a plaque in the church noting this fact, which caught my attention when I visited four years ago. His father understandably took the loss very hard, and no doubt his congregation mourned with him.

Incidentally, an extensive collection of Meade's papers resides at the Historical Society in downtown Philadelphia. It is well worth a look. Naturally it includes a voluminous amount of Gettysburg material. Here are a few items from that collection:

- December 1863 letters from Meade endorsing a commission for his son, Edward, serving with Berdan's Sharpshooters.
- An 1876 letter written by Gen. Paul (who was blinded at Gettysburg).
- A card on his horse, Old Baldy, who died on December 16, 1882, age 30 years.
- Letters and telegrams sent by Meade from June 28 to July 19, 1863.
- A note dated July 1, 1:10 p.m. from Meade to Hancock informing him of the death of Reynolds and directing him to Gettysburg to assume command of the 11th, 1st and 3rd Corps.
- A July 3 note to Howard inquiring the name, rank and regiment of the battery commander who was "shamefully wasting his ammunition in firing his battery for a considerable length of time, at what he supposed was a reconnoitering officer of the enemy." Meade, as you know, was constantly concerned about ammunition expenditure during the battle.
 
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