Meade not at McLean house

[Broch]

Does anyone know the reason Meade was not present at the actual surrender proceedings at the McLean House? Also, is there any record that
Meade expressed his thoughts on not being present? (Apologies if this has been previously discussed; couldn't find anything.)

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Wasn't he ill?

 

[NFB22]

Where Was Meade During the Surrender at Appomattox? | The Surrender at Appomattox

Have you ever looked at one of those famous paintings of that famous surrender in that famous parlor in Appomattox.... and thought to yourself: "Something is missing from this picture"? Well, if you're a hardcore Civil War buff, you know good and well where Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade -- the...

civilwartalk.com

 

[Broch]

Thanks for the answer!

 

[rbasin]

Neither apparently was Sheridan

 

[Broch]

Actually paintings of the event do show Sheridan in attendance.

 

[RedRover]

Neither apparently was Sheridan

Col. Marshall of Lee's staff distinctly recalled conversing with General Sheridan in the McLean house.

 

[rbasin]

Col. Marshall of Lee's staff distinctly recalled conversing with General Sheridan in the McLean house.

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But Sheridan said he wasn't. That's the rub.

 

[hughes]

Wasn't there a meeting between Generals Meade and Lee on the 10th at which the topic of the grey in General Meades beard was discussed?

 

[RedRover]

But Sheridan said he wasn't. That's the rub.

He says he was there in his memoir, vol. 2:

 

[rbasin]

He says he was there in his memoir, vol. 2:

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Right. There was an article in one of the magazines I think I still have, I'll look for it. In it Sheridan was fairly adamant that he wasn't there. This was shortly after the war I believe.

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

Col. Marshall of Lee's staff distinctly recalled conversing with General Sheridan in the McLean house.

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Well, Sheridan WAS there, then, and the story is good, too.

 

[RedRover]

Wasn't there a meeting between Generals Meade and Lee on the 10th at which the topic of the grey in General Meades beard was discussed?

Col. Theodore Lyman described that incident...

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

I didn't realize that General Meade was CSA General Henry A Wise's brother-in-law by his first wife.

"Colonel George Meade, who was an Aide-de-Camp on the staff of his father, General George G. Meade, had taken a light ambulance with food and other necessaries over into the Confederate lines for the relief of his uncle, General Henry A. Wise."

Apparently, at the end, they found Gen. Henry Wise, "old, sick, impoverished, a prisoner with nothing to live for, not even his son, who was killed at Roanoke, standing there in an old gray, wet blanket, glad to accept at our hands a pittance of biscuit and coffee, to save him and his staff from starvation."

From the book, The Final Bivouac.

I wish I knew how the meeting went between Colonel George Meade, the nephew and his uncle, General Henry Wise. I wasn't able to find anything on it. Does anyone know? It all sounds terribly pathetic and poignant.

 

[RedRover]

I didn't realize that General Meade was CSA General Henry A Wise's brother-in-law by his first wife.

"Colonel George Meade, who was an Aide-de-Camp on the staff of his father, General George G. Meade, had taken a light ambulance with food and other necessaries over into the Confederate lines for the relief of his uncle, General Henry A. Wise."

Apparently, at the end, they found Gen. Henry Wise, "old, sick, impoverished, a prisoner with nothing to live for, not even his son, who was killed at Roanoke, standing there in an old gray, wet blanket, glad to accept at our hands a pittance of biscuit and coffee, to save him and his staff from starvation."

From the book, The Final Bivouac.

I wish I knew how the meeting went between Colonel George Meade, the nephew and his uncle, General Henry Wise. I wasn't able to find anything on it. Does anyone know? It all sounds terribly pathetic and poignant.

General Meade's son, in his biography of his father, includes this letter from General Meade, relative to General Wise...

General Wise's grandson Barton H. Wise, recalled in his biography of his grandfather, 1899, p. 368...

The Life of Henry A. Wise of Virginia, 1806-1876

www.google.com

Another son of Henry A. Wise, John S. Wise (b. 1846) was a junior officer in the Confederate Army, but joined Johnston's army in North Carolina before the surrender of Lee's army at Appomattox. A short time after the war he recalled staying at his uncle General Meade's house...

The End of an Era

www.google.com

 

[rbasin]

He says he was there in his memoir, vol. 2:

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Found it.. written by Gary Gallagher
Where was 'Little Phil'? https://share.google/ODXrlGvzB0kcxlR0d

 

[RedRover]

Found it.. written by Gary Gallagher
Where was 'Little Phil'? https://share.google/ODXrlGvzB0kcxlR0d

An interesting article, but it seems like a non-issue. Sheridan's memoirs says he left the house when the negotiation between Grant and Lee commenced, and went back in again when they had concluded the details.