MEADE, GEORGE GORDON - (1815 - 1872) - Union Major General who rose from command of a Brigade to head the Army of The Potomac - best known for defeating Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Depite his successes during the Overland Campaign, The Siege of Petersburg and Appomatax Courthouse - Meade would forever be overshadowed by the direct supervision of the General in Chief, U.S. Grant. Outstanding and historically important A.L.S., 8vo. 1p. Headquarters, Army of the Potomac, 11:30 A.M. October 11, 1864, to Lieutenant General, Ulysses S. Grant, concerning events at Petersburg, in full: "Nothing un-usual has occurred on my lines during the past 24 hours, beyond picket firing and occasional interchange of artillery shots on the Jerusalem plank road. Deserters yesterday stated that Maj. Gen. Whiting with 10,000 men from North Carolina was at Stoney Creek. I have directed General Gregg to send a reconnoitering party in that direction to endeaver to ascertain something positive about this." This A.L.S. was initially described as being an autograph draft of a telegram sent by Meade to Grant concerning events at Petersburg, however, this is not the case. According to The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, June 1, to Aug. 15, 1865, by U.S. Grant and John Y. Simon, General Meade sent Grant the initial telegram on October 10, 1864 at 12:10 PM. The telegram, for the most-part, is the same as the A.L.S. except that the former ends with the statement "No indications of movements by the enemy reported either by deserters or signal officers". The A.L.S. we offer is an update that is neither in the Official Records nor the papers of U.S. Grant. The A.L.S expresses Meades concerns about General Whiting being at Stoney Creek with 10,000 North Carolina troops but as far as we can ascertain it is most likely that General Whiting was in the peaceful military district of Wilmington North Carolina. Also, it appears that through some confusion several high ranking Union Generals, upon hearing of the death of Confederate $2250 General John Gregg, on October 7, 1864, at Petersburg - actually thought it was Union General David M. Gregg, also at Petersburg, who Meade had given the resposibility of verifying the whereabouts of General Whiting! Perhaps Meade thought twice and discarded the update! Attached to a 12" X 6 1/2" cardboard mount and inserted into a gold frame to 13 1/2" X 7 1/2". Usual folds - otherwise very good condition. 2250.00

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