Editing George Meade (section)

===Richmond-Petersburg campaign===
Meade and the Army of the Potomac crossed the James River to attack the strategic supply route centered on Petersburg, Virginia. They probed the defenses of the city and Meade wrote, "We find the enemy, as usual, in a very strong position, defended by earthworks, and it looks very much as if we will have to go through a siege of Petersburg before entering on a siege of Richmond."{{sfn|Trudeau|1991|p=48}}

An opportunity opened up to lead the [[Union Army of the Shenandoah|Army of the Shenandoah]], to protect Washington D.C. against the raids of [[Jubal Early]]. Meade wanted the role to free himself from under Grant; however, the position was given to Sheridan. When Meade asked Grant why it did not go to himself, the more experienced officer, Grant stated that Lincoln did not want to take Meade away from the Army of the Potomac and imply that his leadership was substandard.{{sfn|Trudeau|1991|p=141}}

During the [[Siege of Petersburg]], he approved the plan of Maj. Gen. [[Ambrose Burnside]] to plant explosives in a mine shaft dug underneath the Confederate line east of Petersburg, but at the last minute he changed Burnside's plan to lead the attack with a well-trained African-American division that was highly drilled just for this action, instructing him to take a politically less risky course and substitute an untrained and poorly led white division. The resulting [[Battle of the Crater]] was one of the great fiascoes of the war.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wolfe |first1=Brendan |title=Crater, Battle of the |url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/crater-battle-of-the/ |website=www.encyclopediavirginia.com |publisher=Virginia Humanities |access-date=23 March 2023}}</ref>

[[File:MeadeArmy-Potomac.jpg|thumb|General Meade and other generals of [[Army of the Potomac]] in Washington, D.C., June 1865]]
Although he fought during the [[Appomattox Campaign]], Grant and Sheridan received most of the credit and Meade was not present when Lee surrendered at [[Appomattox Court House National Historical Park|Appomattox Court House]].{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2002|p=1296}}

With the war over, the Army of the Potomac was disbanded on June 28, 1865, and Meade's command of it ended.{{sfn|Huntington|2013|p=350}}