Meade was commissioned a second lieutenant and served in the Seminole Wars in Florida. He was an artillery officer for a year before resigning in 1837 to become a civil engineer. He reentered the army in 1842 after having difficulty in finding jobs. Meade was a second lieutenant in the Corps of Topographical Engineers when the Mexican–American War broke out in 1846. He was then placed in charge of lighthouse construction and later, surveying the Great Lakes.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Meade had risen to the rank of captain in the regular army. He was appointed a brigadier general to command a brigade of Pennsylvania volunteers. He was given the task of building several fortifications near Tenallytown, Maryland. It was about this time he gained his nickname "The Old Snapping Turtle" for being short-tempered with junior officers and his superiors. He was especially short with civilians and newspaper reporters. His command was attached to the Army of the Potomac in March 1862. His troops fought in the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek and the Battle of Gaines's Mill. Meade was seriously wounded at the Battle of Glendale. He remained on the battlefield giving orders until a loss of blood from two bullet wounds forced him to leave the field. He recovered in a Philadelphia hospital and returned to duty in September. He led a division of "Pennsylvania Reserves" at the Battle of South Mountain and again three days later on September 17, 1862 at the Battle of Antietam. At Antietam he took temporary command of I Corps after the corps commander was wounded. He participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg and after the battle was made commander of the V Corps. In May 1863, Meade's V Corps protected the important fords on the Rappahannock River at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Despite the Union Army heavily outnumbering the Confederates, the Army of the Potomac was defeated. This led to General Hooker being replaced as commander. On June 28, 1863 Meade was given overall command of the Army of the Potomac.
Having had command of the Army of the Potomac for only three days, and having to deal with a Confederate army which had already invaded Pennsylvania, Meade quickly reorganized his forces. He moved the army towards Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to stop Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
With parts of his army already at Gettysburg, Meade arrived late in the day on July 1. He decided to fight a defensive battle. His army held ground just south of Gettysburg. The next day saw some of the bloodiest fighting with the Union army holding the high ground and Lee's army attacking both flanks. Each attack was thrown back. That evening, Meade held a "council of war" with his officers. All said the army should stay and fight the Confederates. On July 3 the Confederates attacked the Union center with about 13,000 men. They broke through the center of the Union line only to be thrown back again. When Lee told General George Pickett to gather his division together and attack again, Picket replied he no longer had a division. They had been nearly wiped out during Pickett's Charge. At that point Lee realized he had been defeated. On July 4, 1863, following three days of battle at Gettysburg, the two armies watched each other from opposing ridges. Meade sent out skirmishers to probe the Confederate lines. But no order was given to attack. Lee was now concerned with getting his army and all their captured supplies back to Virginia. His army held its position while the more than 10,000 wounded men were moved by wagon train to Williamsport, Maryland. The train of wagons and ambulances with the wounded was some long. Meade discovered Lee's army had left the morning of July 5. Meade then ordered his nearly exhausted army to pursue Lee. Since the Potomac River was flooded, Lee's army was delayed in crossing. But by the time Meade's forces reached the Potomac, Lee had already escaped back into Virginia.
While Meade was proclaimed the "hero of Gettysburg", President Lincoln wasn't satisfied. He had expected Meade to follow and destroy Lee's army, which could have ended the war. Meade offered Lincoln his resignation but Lincoln refused to accept it. On July 7, 1863, Meade was promoted to brigadier general in the regular army. Both the battles of Bristoe Station and Mine Run were undecisive for the Union army under Meade. In the spring of 1864, Meade again offered his resignation when General Ulysses S. Grant became general-in-chief of all Union forces and made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac. While Meade remained in command, nearly all command decisions were made by Grant. This continued through the Siege of Petersburg after which Meade was promoted to major general. A week later, when Lee surrendered his army to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Meade was not present.
Meade commanded several military departments. One of these was the Department of the South. In the fall of 1872, he came down with pneumonia. He died on November 6, 1872. His funeral became a state affair with President Grant attending. Thousands of people in Philadelphia lined the route of his funeral to say goodbye to the "hero of Gettysburg". On July 18, 1917, by order of the United States Department of War, Camp Meade, Maryland was named in honor of George G. Meade. In 1929, to differentiate it from Fort Meade in South Dakota, the camp was renamed Fort George G. Meade.
Clementi MRT station
Clementi MRT Station (EW23) is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station in Singapore. It is part of the East West MRT Line. Part of the East West Line, Clementi MRT Station is heavily used by commuters who live in Clementi itself or further west to go to work and also, by students of the National University of Singapore, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and other schools around Clementi. Hence, the station experiences high passenger traffic throughout the day due to it serving a wide range of passengers.
The tracks between this station and Jurong East is the second longest between any two stations on the East West Line, the longest being the tracks between Expo and Changi Airport MRT Stations. It takes four minutes for trains to travel between these two stations.
The station is also directly linked to the Clementi Mall and Clementi Bus Interchange. Together, they form the Clementi Integrated Transport Hub (ITH).
It was opened on 12 March 1988.
On 5 August 1993, at around 7.53 am, two trains collided in the station. It appeared that one train had stopped at the station for longer than usual after experiencing a technical fault, and then a second westward train hit the first. It was caused by a 50 litre oil spill. 156 commuters were injured, many of whom were on their way to work. Eight were admitted to three hospitals, while the rest received outpatient treatment. In the aftermath of the accident, SMRT said that it would replace the faulty maintenance locomotives and purchase new ones. It also introduced a new policy for station managers to inspect tracks for oil or foreign objects before the start of service.
Together with Commonwealth and Queenstown stations, this station will see the construction of an additional pedestrian link bridge linking the station to two new exits, one on each side of the road. The exits will be equipped with fare gates and ticketing machines. It was completed and opened on 25 August 2015.
Queenstown MRT station
Queenstown MRT Station (EW23) is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station in Singapore. It is part of the East West MRT Line. It was opened on 12 March 1988.
The station was opened on 13 April 1988, as part of the extension of the MRT system from Outram Park to Clementi.