 George Meade ( 1815 – 1872 ) was a career military officer from Pennsylvania who is best known for his role as a Union general during the Civil War . He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1835 and briefly served in the Army during the Second Seminole War . He began working as a civil engineer for railroad companies and the Department of War until reenlisting in the army in 1842 . Meade fought in the Mexican – American War and was promoted to first lieutenant for his heroic actions at the Battle of Monterrey . From the 1850s until the onset of the Civil War in 1861 , Meade was involved in coastal surveying and designing lighthouses , mainly for the Corps of Topographical Engineers . He was promoted to brigadier general at the beginning of war , but was badly wounded at the Battle of Glendale in 1862 . He recovered and led forces during major battles , including Antietam and Fredericksburg . In June 1863 , Meade succeeded in defeating General Joseph Hooker as commanding officer of the Army of the Potomac , and fought his greatest battle only days later at Gettysburg , the bloodiest battle of the war . He succeeding in defeating General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate forces , but was criticized by President Abraham Lincoln for allowing Confederate forces to retreat to Virginia . Meade continued to serve as the Army of the Potomac 's commanding officer until the end of the war , though Ulysses S. Grant was appointed general @-@ in @-@ chief of all Union armies , superseding Meade 's authority . 
