george meade is accused of not having the moral courage to make george meade decisions himself. george meade is accused of not attacking the enemy along the downs ville line near hegar's town on the 12th and 13th of july. lacking the moral courage to do that. he called a council of war. and that's how he has been remembered. i remember early on, working on this book. that someone came of unasked me. what are you working on now? i go well, i'm working on george mead. he's the guy that personally. that's how he's remembered by everybody. you've heard -- all of you have heard that. he's the guy that didn't pursue lee. let me give you, again, we got -- 45 minutes. let me give you some thoughts about all this. all this is revealed in the book. it's just fun to talk about. meade was ordered to be commander on june 28th. accepted kamau june 28 other being ordered to do so and to show you how this poor man was introduced to command of the army of the potomac. the minute he accepted command and became commander and hooker left, he learned that jab stewards brigades of cavalry had come a

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you know george mead. was never asked to become would he become commander of the army of the potomac? like other generals were who preceded him? general meade was simply ordered. to become commander of the army of the potomac by orders from the president of the united states dated, june 27 1863 and the reason for that was that nobody wanted to become commander of the army of the potomac. and it is true on june 2nd to john reynolds met. with henry hallick and the president of the united states as well as his secretary of war about the object or about the prospects of he becoming commander of the army of the potomac and he candidly said to george meade later that he declined. because he didn't want to pick up after burnsides and hookers leaving. now that pretty well expresses the opinions of lots of the high command of the army of the potomac. and when you stop and think about it. that poor army from the peninsula campaign in june of in july of 1862 to second, manassas to antietam to fredericksburg and to ch

first petersburg offense was george meade's gain completely not grants. he passed information on to hancock and burnside encouraging those officers to make an attack which brought an advantage over the beleaguered beauregard but hancock scored then someone leading on the 16th so the primary offensive responsibility on june 17 would belong to burnside. burnside's black division had not crossed the river so he would pass the services of his three white divisions and during the course of the day each of those divisions would venture separate assaults never achieving a nation with each other or the second and fifth corps on those flanks. the morning assault conducted by robert potter's division targeted the southern flank of beauregard's offenses centered on a high knoll occupied by something called a sham house. those of you who are familiar with this area to sham hock's knoll is just to the right side of the bag gate of fort lee en route 109. granted knitted that he wasn't sure what was going to happen but potter had moved his men up to the base of the hill

, gordon meade. are kind of co-located they're literally adjacent to each other most of the time during the campaign. we're going to talk about and but grant grant tells me, you know, i want you to be as independent as you would be if you were commanding the army of the potomac and i was in washington. but that can't be that's not realistic. that's not going to happen. so in that grant really is trying to do something you can't do. because grant is present with the army so grants responsible for what the army does if grant were in, washington. and me decided to do something dumb with the army. i grant would be responsible in the sense that he was in command of me, but he wouldn't have known what happened in so grand can see me. what did you do, you know? whereas when grants present with the army, he's responsible to a greater degree. he almost has to intervene and tell need no don't send those guys over there. send them over here now don't send that core around there. send it around here. he's got to

mead the overall general of the army of the potomac, under grant. both men were known to have terrible tempers. their tempers were in true for this day. they had a shouting match. i didn't get recorded, word for word, which is probably just as well but it was probably pretty pointed! meade was furious. he went to grant and said, rant! sheridan says if i turn him loose he could go in and whip the confederate cavalry in jeb stewart. did sheridan say that, and grant said yes, he did? well sheridan usually knows when he's talking about so go ahead and let him. they let sharon lewis. there is jeb stewart, the confederate calgary man, we have met him before. he is allegedly now! so while grant and lee face off spotsylvania, their respective cavalry corps go galloping across the country and collide all the way down here just outside of richmond yellow tavern. the site was inconclusive. sheridan got back to union lines. join butler and eventually rejoin grant. the significance of yellow tavern was deb stewart was mortally wounded, he died the next day. turn

meade's game completely not grant's. the pennsylvanian didn't hesitate he passed the information on to hancock encouraging those officers to make the attack to exploit the huge if fleeting numerical advantage over the beleaguered beauregard. hancock's corps had somewhat been bloodied on the 16th, so the events -- was the responsibility that belong to burnside. burnside's black division had not yet crossed the river. he would have the services of his three white divisions. during the course of the day, each of those divisions would venture separate assaults, never achieving coordination with each other, or with the second and fifth corps on their flanks. the morning assault, conducted by robert potter's division, targeted a southern flank of border guards defenses, centered on the knoll occupied by something called the shand house. those who are familiar with this area. the shand house null is just to the right side of the back gate to fort lee along route 109. the civil war trust is in process of acquiring some of that l

i like george meade, folks. thank you all. [applause] >> if you're entering american history tv, sign up for our newsletter using the qr code. received the weekly schedule of upcoming programs like lectures in history, the presidency, and more. sign up for the american history tv news later today, and be sure to watch american history tv every saturday, or anytime online, at c-span.org slash history. >> weekends on c-span two are an intellectual feast. every saturday, american history tv documents america story, and on sundays, book tv brings you the latest in nonfiction books and authors. c-span two comes from these television companies and more, including mediacom. >> media come, along with these television companies, supports the c-span 2 as a public service. i run event >> good evening everybody and welcome. my name is --, pronouns he/him, and i run events here at the strand. before we move on to a discussion of mike duncan's new book, a hero of two worlds. i'd like to share some history. the strand was founded in 1927 by

meade's game completely not grants pennsylvania didn't hesitate he passed the information on to hancock encouraging those officers to make the attack to exploit the huge if possible fleeting numerical advantage over the beleaguered beauregard. hancock's corps had somewhat been bloodied on the 16th, so the events -- was the responsibility that belong to burnside. burnside's black division had not yet crossed the river. he would have the services of his three white divisions. during the course of the day, each of those divisions would venture separate assaults, never achieving coordination with each other, or with the second and fifth corps on their flanks. the morning assault, conducting by robert putters division, targeted a southern flank of border guards defenses, centered on the heinel occupied by something called the shand house. those who are familiar with this area. the shand house null is just to the right side of the back gate to fort lee along route 109. the civil war trust is in process of acquiring some of that land, now. granted admitted that he wasn't sure what was going to

among americans who know anything about the war, the clash between elise army and george gordon meade's army in the potomac typically represents a moment of profound reckoning. tourist visit gettysburg in huge numbers each year, more by far than go to any other military site in the continental united states. coverage of the wars assess guy quintessential in 2015 revealed the battles seemingly an shakeable whole uncommon understanding of the war. i'll mention just a few examples of this phenomenon. the washington post issued a civil war special edition which hit the news stands on -- it described gettysburg as a massive mash-up, a conflict that sits at the heart of american history. not only the sort of focal point of the war, it's that great tipping point for all of american history. usa today offered a 47-page special edition in july, 2013, titled gettysburg, turning point in the civil war. the principal argument in that issue described the battle as, quote, the epic battle that would decide the fate of the nation. national geographic gave readers a special issue in may of 2012 on the

gordon meade. upon abraham lincoln's election, successful election in the fall of 1860, a seven-page letter to the newly elected president and he's going to start that letter by giving a lot of advice to the president elect on the state of the united states military at the time. that a lot of gusto if you will to write a seven-page letter to the newly elected president telling your thoughts on the state of the united states military but not only will he give me compact on that, include a caution if you will to be careful of some high-ranking officers that lincoln should trust as they might be deception us. it's not just advice pope offers lincoln, it's not just advice pope has included in this letter, it's a way for pope to insert himself into incan's inner circle right at the outset of the work and it's our personality trait, a desire for promotion that will come back into pop's career time and time again, pope believes this letter will not only serve as entranceway into lincoln's inner circle but

that's the bottom line in the end for george templeton strong as it was. for abraham lincoln on july 14th in a letter written but never sent to mead although he knew that mead got the message via hallock the president affirmed. i am very very grateful to you for the magnificent success. you gave the cause of the country at gettysburg. the aftermath of the battle however, left lincoln oppressed. that's his word not mine at the seeming lack of aggressiveness on the part of mead. and of his fellow union commanders the mcconnell mcclellan created a culture of command in the army the potomac and of course it was still there when mead took over. i did not believe you appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune involved in lee's escape stated lincoln in a passage emphasizing his opinion. did gettysburg signaled. no grand turning point. he was within your easy grasp and to have closed upon him would in connection with our late successes vicksburg and elsewhere have ended the war. as it is. concluded a bitterly disappointed lincoln. the war will be prolonged indefin

gordon meade. upon lincoln's election, his successful election in the fall of 1860, he will write a seven-page letter to the newly elected president. and he's going to start that letter by giving a lot of advice to the president elect on the state of the united states military at the time. that takes a lot of gusto, if you will, to write a seven-page letter to the newly elected president telling him your thoughts on the state of the united states military. not only will he give lincoln his thoughts on that. he will also include a warning, a caution, if you will, to be careful of some of the high ranking officers that lincoln should trust, as they might be secessionists. it's not just advice that probe offers lincoln. it's not just advice that pope has included in this letter. it's a way for pope to insert himself into lincoln's inner circle right at the outset of the war. and it's a personality trait, a desire for promotion, that will come back into pope's career time and time again. pope believes