Generals Grant and Meade: (photo via Wikipedia Commons)
Both George Meade and Ulysses Grant were West Pointers, and share a singular coincidental date in history.
Meade and Grant: Common Bonds
George Meade (1815-72), Pennsylvanian, came from a military family. His father was a naval officer, but died when his son was thirteen, leaving the family nearly impoverished. Young Meade entered West Point (for the free education) at sixteen, graduated mid-class and fulfilled his military obligations for a brief time. Never truly enjoying a military life, he resigned to pursue a career in civil engineering. But in 1842, he re-enlisted in the army, served as a junior officer in the War with Mexico, and spent the next decade in the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, where he earned distinction.
Then came the Civil War, and Meade was named Brigadier General of a Pennsylvania Volunteer unit, with a glowing recommendation from Governor…
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