Encyclopedia Article On "Meade, George Gordon"

[johncla]

I had occasion this morning to look at an encyclopedia entry on General Meade, and especially noticed the way they summarized Meade's role at the Battle of Gettysburg:

"On June 28, 1863 Lincoln ordered the reluctant Meade to replace Hooker in command of the army of the Potomac and to defeat the invading Confederate army. From July 1-3 'the greatest battle ever waged in North America' was fought at Gettysburg, and Meade completely repulsed Lee with great tactical skill. At the conclusion of his defensive victory, however, he failed to pursue vigorously, and Lee's army escaped."

That's Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1968 edition. The publisher for this edition is listed as "William Benton, Publisher". Chicago is the first in the list of cities for the publisher's location.

I specially note these phrases: "Great tactical skill...defensive victory...failed to pursue vigorously". Those phrases are new in my reading about the Battle of Gettysburg, and I agree on all counts. Pithy and well-chosen.

The author of the article is listed as "(J. R. Co.)". I dug around in the Index volume of the set, and matched those initials to this name: "James Richard Connor. ***'t Professor of History; Director, Office of Institutional Analysis, University of Virginia."

Professor Connor, thank you! I love the very pithy description of the battle and the retreat, and Meade's contribution to them.

 

[Stryker65]

What word was censored? ***'t Professor of History? It's an official title, so I don't see why...

On the subject of the reading, however, that's pretty interesting! What strikes me as a bit odd is how the publisher uses inflated language to describe the battle. I don't fully disagree, but the use of "Great" and "Completely" suggests a massive Confederate defeat -- while it was a defeat, it wasn't anything as, say, Stalingrad or Waterloo, in which case the "Great" and "Completely" could be used.

 

[John Hartwell]

What word was censored? ***'t Professor of History? It's an official title, so I don't see why...

The contraction of "Assistant" is apparently too suggestive for our censorship software.

That durned apostrophe's to blame!

"Asst" works just fine.

 

[jackt62]

I specially note these phrases: "Great tactical skill...defensive victory...failed to pursue vigorously". Those phrases are new in my reading about the Battle of Gettysburg, and I agree on all counts

"Failed to pursue vigorously?" That easy, and apparently definitive judgement fails to provide the greater context and complexity of the decisions that Meade was faced with after what was correctly noted as a great defensive victory.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

"Failed to pursue vigorously?" That easy, and apparently definitive judgement fails to provide the greater context and complexity of the decisions that Meade was faced with after what was correctly noted as a great defensive victory.

I was going to comment similarly.

However, it certainly reflects the prevailing wisdom of 1960s Civil War history.

 

[johncla]

What word was censored? ***'t Professor of History? It's an official title, so I don't see why...

The prof's title was Assistant Professor. The word 'assistant' was abbreviated to be the first three letters plus apostrophe t.
So...the first three letters of 'assistant' were probably censored by some automated tool, right?
It must be challenging to operate an online bulletin board these days. My sympathies.

 

[FZ11]

I had occasion this morning to look at an encyclopedia entry on General Meade, and especially noticed the way they summarized Meade's role at the Battle of Gettysburg:

"On June 28, 1863 Lincoln ordered the reluctant Meade to replace Hooker in command of the army of the Potomac and to defeat the invading Confederate army. From July 1-3 'the greatest battle ever waged in North America' was fought at Gettysburg, and Meade completely repulsed Lee with great tactical skill. At the conclusion of his defensive victory, however, he failed to pursue vigorously, and Lee's army escaped."

That's Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1968 edition. The publisher for this edition is listed as "William Benton, Publisher". Chicago is the first in the list of cities for the publisher's location.

I specially note these phrases: "Great tactical skill...defensive victory...failed to pursue vigorously". Those phrases are new in my reading about the Battle of Gettysburg, and I agree on all counts. Pithy and well-chosen.

The author of the article is listed as "(J. R. Co.)". I dug around in the Index volume of the set, and matched those initials to this name: "James Richard Connor. ***'t Professor of History; Director, Office of Institutional Analysis, University of Virginia."

Professor Connor, thank you! I love the very pithy description of the battle and the retreat, and Meade's contribution to

Slighting of Meade. I wonder if Connor was one of Sickles' aliases.