Video: 'Ken.Burns.The.Civil.War.5of9.The Universe of Battle.' (Meade appointed at 8:49)

(Sunday, June 28, 1863, early morning; during the American Civil War) — U.S. President Abraham Lincoln appointed Maj. Gen. George Meade as commander of the Army of the Potomac today, following the resignation of Maj. Gen. Joseph Hoooker and his disappointing performance in the Battle of Chancellorsville.

Meade was the fifth and final general Lincoln appointed to command the Army of Potomac during the American Civil War, although Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of all Union armies, would locate his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac and provide operational direction to Meade from May 1864 to the end of the war in April 1865.

A messenger from President Lincoln arrived early this morning to inform Meade of his appointment as Hooker’s replacement.

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He had not actively sought command and was not the president’s first choice. John F. Reynolds, one of four major generals who outranked Meade in the Army of the Potomac, had earlier turned down the president’s suggestion that he take over.

Three corps commanders, John Sedgwick, Henry Slocum, and Darius N. Couch, recommended Meade for command of the army and agreed to serve under him despite outranking him.

While his colleagues were excited about the change in leadership, the soldiers in the Army of Potomac were uncertain of Meade since his modesty and lack of theatrical and scholarly demeanor did not match their expectations for a General.

Just three days later, Meade would lead Union forces in the Battle of Gettysburg, which would involve the largest number of casualties of the entire war.