Meade Takes Command

Meade Takes Command. "Come to give me trouble.". , Near this spot, on the grounds of Prospect Hall, Union Gen. George Gordon Meade replaced Gen. Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac on June 28, 1863. Meade took command reluctantly because he was concerned about changing leaders in the middle of a campaign. Additionally, he felt his longtime friend Gen. John F. Reynolds was more capable and more deserving of the assignment., Meade described his appointment in a letter to his wife, "At 3:00 A.M., I was aroused from my sleep by an officer from Washington entering my tent, and after waking me up, saying he had come to give me trouble. At first, I thought that it was either to relieve or arrest me.... He then handed me a communication to read; which I found was an order relieving Hooker of command and assigning me to it.... As a soldier, I had nothing to do but accept and exert my utmost abilities to command success.... I am moving at once against [Confederate Gen. Robert E.] Lee, whom I am in hopes [Gen. Darius N.] Couch will at least check for a few days; if so, a battle will decide the fate for our country and our cause.", [Captions:] , Prospect Hall had been a Confederate camp in 1862 and became a Confederate hospital after the Battle of Monocacy in 1864. It has since served as St. John's Literary Institution and St. John's Catholic Prep., Meade, known in some circles as "Old Snapping Turtle" because of his sudden bursts of temper, was also known as a general who was not afraid to fight., Ironically nicknamed "Fighting Joe Hooker" in a news dispatch, he often quarreled with his superiors yet he was popular with his men., Positions of the Union Army of the Potomac June 28, 1863, Gen. George G. Meade takes command of the Union army camped near Frederick., Gen. Robert E. Lee's army is scattered across Pennsylvania.