Editing George Meade (section)

==Early life and education==
Meade was born on December 31, 1815, in Cádiz, Spain,{{sfn|Warner|1964|p=315}} the eighth of ten children of [[Richard Worsam Meade I|Richard Worsam Meade]] and Margaret Coats Butler.{{sfn|Huntington|2013|p=11}} His grandfather Irishman [[George Meade (merchant)|George Meade]] was a wealthy merchant and land speculator in Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baltzell |first1=Edward Digby |title=Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class |date=1958 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia |isbn=978-0-88738-789-0 |page=142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tHywLPU-iewC&pg=PA142 |access-date=6 February 2023}}</ref> His father was wealthy due to Spanish-American trade and was appointed U.S. naval agent.{{sfn|Huntington|2013|p=11}} He was ruined financially because of his support of Spain in the [[Peninsular War]]; his family returned to the United States in 1817, in precarious financial straits.{{sfn|Huntington|2013|p=12}}

Meade attended elementary school in Philadelphia{{sfn|Cleaves|1960|p=9}} and the American Classical and Military Lyceum, a private school in Philadelphia modeled after the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.{{sfn|Sauers|2003|p=4}} His father died in 1828 when George was 12 years old{{sfn|Huntington|2013|p=12}} and he was taken out of the Germantown military academy. George was placed in a school run by [[Salmon P. Chase]] in Washington D.C.; however, it closed after a few months due to Chase's other obligations.  He was then placed in the Mount Hope Institution in Baltimore, Maryland.{{sfn|Cleaves|1960|pp=9-10}}

Meade entered the [[United States Military Academy]] at [[West Point, New York|West Point]] on July 1, 1831.{{sfn|Pennypacker|1901|p=13}} He would have preferred to attend college and study law and did not enjoy his time at West Point.{{sfn|Pennypacker|1901|p=12}} He graduated 19th in his class of 56 cadets in 1835.{{sfn|Huntington|2013|p=13}} He was uninterested in the details of military dress and drills and accumulated 168 demerits, only 32 short of the amount that would trigger a mandatory dismissal.{{sfn|Hyde|2003|p=15}}