George Gordon Meade, the Union general who defeated Lee’s forces at the Civil War battle of Gettysburg, died November 6, 1872. He was 56.

Meade was born December 31, 1815 in Cadiz, Spain. The son of a wealthy American businessman, he graduated from West Point in 1835, ranking 19th out of a class of 56.

Meade resigned his commission a year later to pursue a civil engineering career. Six years later, he re-joined the Army as an engineer, serving in that capacity until the start of the Civil War.

A captain at the outbreak of hostilities, Meade was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers by Governor Andrew Curtin of Pennsylvania.

Meade saw considerable combat the first two years of the war, including the Seven Days battles, Second Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. By this time he was a major general in command of V Corps.

When Joseph Hooker was relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac, Meade was his replacement. Shortly after taking command, he was confronted with a major battle in Pennsylvania where Robert E. Lee had decided to invade the North once again.

Near the small town of Gettysburg, Lee’s and Meade’s forces collided. The three-day battle brought extreme casualties for both sides. Lee was able to withdraw his crippled troops back across the Potomac. At the same time, Meade was widely criticized for not destroying Lee’s weakened army while he had the upper hand.

Meade offered his resignation, but instead he was given a regular army promotion to brigadier general and kept in command of the Army of the Potomac.

When Grant was made supreme commander of federal forces in late 1863, Meade became his subordinate. Meade continued to participate in battle after battle, including the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg.

At war’s end, he had been promoted to regular army major general.

His last assignment after the war was as commander of the Military Division of the Atlantic. He died at his post in Philadelphia of pneumonia on November 6, 1872. He is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.