Count me among the many fans of Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War novel The Killer Angels (1974)—and the Ron Maxwell-directed movie, Gettysburg (1993), based upon it. Both breathe life into their characters—including Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, George Pickett, John Buford, and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain—and admirably relay the size and ferocity of the three-day Battle of Gettysburg and the decisions, good and bad, that shaped its outcome.
Largely absent from both works is George Gordon Meade, the general who assumed command of the Army of the Potomac on June 28, 1863, a mere three days before the epic battle opened, and who didn’t arrive on the field until after the first day’s fighting had ended. Shaara obviously didn’t hold Meade—whom he called “[v]ain and bad-tempered” and “full of self-pity” in the book’s foreword—in high regard. “No decision he makes at Gettysburg will be decisive,” Shaara concludes. In Maxwell’s movie, which runs over four hours long, Meade makes but one 45-second appearance on screen.
Meade, of course, had a much larger role to play in the Battle of Gettysburg than either Shaara or Maxwell let on. But even today, historians and buffs debate how large that role was. Was Meade the determined leader who finally outsmarted and outfought Robert E. Lee? Or was he wavering and cautious, preferring to disengage and pull back to ground of his choosing rather than fight the Battle of Gettysburg to a decisive conclusion?
Allen C. Guelzo analyzes that question in this issue’s cover story (“Meade’s Council of War,” p. 30), which focuses on the council of war Meade convened with his top commanders on the night of July 2 to decide the army’s next move. Want to share your thoughts on this or other articles in the issue? Send your emails to [email protected].
