Editing George Meade (section)

====Lee's retreat====
On July 4, it was observed that the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]] was forming a new line near the [[Catoctin Mountain|nearby mountains]] after pulling back their left flank, but by July 5 it was clear that they were making a retreat, leaving Meade and his men to tend to the wounded and fallen soldiers until July 6, when Meade ordered his men to Maryland.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3701sm.gcw0099000/?st=gallery |access-date=2023-03-06 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref>

Meade was criticized by President Lincoln and others for not aggressively pursuing the Confederates during their retreat.{{sfn|Hall|2003|p=264}} Meade's perceived caution stemmed from three causes: casualties and exhaustion of the Army of the Potomac which had engaged in forced marches and heavy fighting for a week, heavy general officer casualties that impeded effective command and control, and a desire to guard a hard-won victory against a sudden reversal.{{sfn|Chick|2015|p=11}} Halleck informed Meade of the president's dissatisfaction which infuriated Meade that politicians and non-field-based officers were telling him how to fight the war. He wrote back and offered to resign his command, but Halleck refused the resignation and clarified that his communication was not meant as a rebuke but an incentive to continue the pursuit of Lee's army.{{sfn|Hyde|2003|p=25}}

At one point, the Army of Northern Virginia was trapped with its back to the rain-swollen, almost impassable [[Potomac River]]; however, the Army of Northern Virginia was able to erect strong defensive positions before Meade, whose army had also been weakened by the fighting, could organize an effective attack.{{sfn|Hall|2003|p=259}} Lee knew he had the superior defensive position and hoped that Meade would attack and the resulting Union Army losses would dampen the victory at Gettysburg. By July 14, 1863, Lee's troops built a temporary bridge over the river and retreated into Virginia.{{sfn|Chick|2015|p=11}}

Meade was rewarded for his actions at Gettysburg by a promotion to brigadier general in the [[Regular Army (United States)|regular army]] on July 7, 1863, and the [[Thanks of Congress]],{{sfn|Warner|1964|pp=316-317}} which commended Meade "... and the officers and soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, for the skill and heroic valor which at Gettysburg repulsed, defeated, and drove back, broken and dispirited, beyond the [[Rappahannock River|Rappahannock]], the veteran army of the rebellion."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Centennial of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York |date=1904 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington |page=503 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TVQyAQAAMAAJ |access-date=11 March 2023}}</ref>

Meade wrote the following to his wife after meeting President Lincoln:
{{blockquote|"Yesterday I received an order to repair to Washington, to see the President. ... The President was, as he always is, very considerate and kind. He found no fault with my operations, although it was very evident he was disappointed that I had not got a battle out of Lee. He coincided with me that there was not much to be gained by any farther advance; but [[Henry W. Halleck|General Halleck]] was very urgent that something should be done, but what that something was he did not define. As the Secretary of War was absent in Tennessee, final action was postponed till his return."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Meade |first1=George |title=The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade Major-General United States Army |date=1913 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York |page=154 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3zITAAAAYAAJ |access-date=8 February 2023}}</ref>}}