George Meade Biography

George Gordon Meade (December 31, 1815 – November 6, 1872) was a career United States Army officer and civil engineer best known for defeating Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. He previously fought with distinction in the Second Seminole War and the Mexican–American War. During the Civil War, he served as a Union general, rising from command of a brigade to command of the Army of the Potomac. Earlier in his career, he was an engineer and was involved in the coastal construction of several lighthouses.