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Hancock succeeded to the command by order of Meade, and soon called for assistance in holding the heights of Gettysburg. Meade became convinced of the superiority of Gettysburg as a defensive position and ordered the concentration there. While waiting for others to come up, the Union troops, on July 2d, occupied Cemetery Ridge, and Lee posted his on Seminary Ridge. General Meade reached the front at noon, and the battle began at 4 P. M. The Third Corps which formed the left advanced to the attack, but was driven back, though the lines were not broken. After a desperate struggle they now gained Little Round Top, whose importance had previously been overlooked. In the evening a council of war was held, which advised against either attacking or retreating. Yet Meade did early on the 3d attack Ewell and drove him back from intrenchments he had captured on the right. General Lee, knowing the bravery of his troops, had determined to renew his attack, and at I P. M. the Confederates opened fire with one hundred and forty-five guns, to which the Federal army replied with eighty. After two hours' severe cannonading, General George E. Pickett led his bold charge against Meade's centre. His division was exposed to a heavy artillery fire, yet pressed on until it reached the Union breastworks. Pickett and most of his command fell, and the gallant few who survived the storm of fire were made prisoners. . The heroism of this charge was not excelled in any battle of the war. Yet it was ineffectual, and Meade then ordered an advance on the left and drove back General Hood's division. Though both parties remained in their positions, the advantage was decidedly with Meade. On the evening of the 4th Lee retreated to the Potomac, and finding the river swollen, intrenched himself until the waters should subside. Meade moved cautiously by a longer route, and on reaching the Confederates, also intrenched himself until a reconnoissance could be made. But on the night of the 13th Lee quietly crossed the river, and was not further molested in his retreat to the Rapidan.

The Army of the Potomac moved but slowly into Virginia, and the detachment of large forces caused inactivity for some time.

No reverse was experienced while General Meade was

in command. His ability was attested in the actions at Bristoe Station, Kelly's Ford, and in some operations in December. In the following spring General Grant was called to Washington and made commander of all the United States armies and determined to accompany the Army of the Potomac in the field. General Meade remained in immediate command of the Army of the Potomac, and secured the confidence and respect of General Grant, though he was necessarily obscured to the public view by his nearness to his superior. General Meade had taken part in every battle of the Army of the Potomac but two, and led it in the grand review at Washington at the close of the war.

Afterwards General Meade commanded the military division of the Atlantic, though for some time he held the Department of the South. He died of pneumonia at Philadelphia, on the 6th of November, 1872.

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THOMAS, like Scott and Farragut, was of Southern birth, yet remained firm in his attachment to the Union during the momentous. crisis of Civil War. He was born in Southampton County, Virginia, on the

31st of July, 1816. He was of Welsh descent, and his early life is obscure. He was always deliberate in action, careful and pains-taking. graduated from West Point in 1840, and

served first in the Seminole War, in Florida.

He

In the Mexican

War he accompanied General Taylor, and with his artillery secured the victory at Buena Vista. He was engaged in Texas and Florida until 1851, and then became instructor in artillery at West Point. When new cavalry regiments were formed in 1854, Thomas was selected by Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War, to be major.

He remained in Texas until the eve of the outbreak of the Civil War. He was on leave of absence in the North when his regiment was surrendered in Texas, early in 1861. Thomas, however, renewed his oath of allegiance to the Union, and advanced into Virginia, encountering Jackson

(afterwards distinguished as "Stonewall"), and later Joseph Johnson. In August he was made brigadier-general of volunteers, and assigned to the Department of the Cumberland. The State of Kentucky was in the utmost confusion through the divided loyalty of the people. It was the task of Thomas, at first under General Robert Anderson, and afterwards under General D. C. Buell, to organize the Union volunteers. He advanced towards East Tennessee, in January, 1862, and at Mill Springs defeated the Confederates under General Zollicoffer, who was slain. This decisive victory saved Kentucky to the Union cause. Thomas marched with Buell's army to the help of Grant at Shiloh, and subsequently for a time held the command of Grant's army. When Buell's army was concentrated at Louisville, in the following autumn, the command was offered to Thomas, but declined, and in October it was given to General Rosecrans.

Bragg met Rosecrans on December 31, 1862, at Stone River, near Murfreesboro, and by an overwhelming charge drove back the whole right wing of the Union army three miles. But the centre, under Thomas, remained firm, and repelled every assault. On January 2, 1863, when the battle was renewed, Thomas made a bold attack on the enemy's right, in consequence of which Bragg retreated. Rosecrans kept his army quiet until the following June, when it moved steadily forward down to Chattanooga, in the mountainous region at the southeast corner of Tennessee. But after taking possession of this town, it became necessary still to fight Bragg's army, which had been reinforced by Longstreet, Polk and Buckner. The army of Rosecrans advancing into the rugged country of North Georgia, was in three divisions, under Thomas, Crittenden and McCook, separated by difficult mountains. This was the opportunity Bragg was desiring, hoping to defeat the commanders successively. But his purpose was discovered, and the Union army was hastily concentrated on the right bank of the Chickamauga. Here, on September 19th, Bragg intended both to overwhelm the Union centre and to turn its left, where Thomas was posted, and cut off the communications with Chattanooga. But though both armies were ready for battle, and Bragg had intended to begin the at

tack at daybreak, the confusion caused by the difficulty of the country and some neglect of orders, delayed it until 10 A. M. Thomas had thrown up some entrenchments in front, and when the Confederate right, under Polk, assailed him, he resisted vigorously until reinforcements came up. By a blunder, however, a gap was left in the Union front, through which Longstreet soon poured his troops and drove the Union centre towards Chattanooga. Thomas was thus isolated, and though he was reinforced by Sheridan's division, was compelled to sustain a still more violent attack than at first. The firmness with which he held his ground gained him the appellation, "The Rock of Chickamauga." McCook and Crittenden had been swept from the field, and with them Rosecrans ; who, however, while retreating to Chattanooga, sent back his chief-of-staff, J. A. Garfield, to learn the fate of Thomas. That sturdy hero had been able to repel every attack, both of Polk and Longstreet, until he reached the spurs of Missionary Ridge. Here night came on, and Thomas withdrew quietly by moonlight to Rossville. On the next day he offered battle, but Bragg did not renew the fight. On the night of the 21st Thomas returned to Chattanooga, where Rosecrans was erecting defences. A few weeks later the command was transferred from Rosecrans to Thomas, and on October 23d Grant arrived at Chattanooga purposing to relieve it from siege by Bragg. This was effected on November 5th by the battle of Missionary Ridge, in which Hooker made his famous charge up the steep hill and across it, breaking the Confederate centre.

In the following spring (1864) Thomas came under Sherman's command, and in encounters which interrupted the march to Atlanta, he sustained his well-earned reputation. In May he drove the enemy from Resaca, but in June was repulsed at Kenesaw Mountain; in July the impetuous Hood was unable to move "the Rock" from his firm base. After Atlanta was captured, Hood started on a daring expedition towards Kentucky, hoping to cut off Sherman's base of supplies. Thomas was then ordered back to Nashville, which he endeavored to put in a posture of defence. Schofield was sent to obstruct Hood's advance, and defeated him at Franklin, but fell back to Nashville. Thomas appeared to be slow in

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