Editing George Meade (section)

====Command of the Army of the Potomac====
In the early morning hours of June 28, 1863, a messenger from [[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] arrived to inform Meade of his appointment as Hooker's replacement.{{sfn|Pennypacker|1901|p=130}} Upon being woken up, he'd assumed that army politics had caught up to him and that he was under arrest, only to find that he'd been given leadership of the [[Army of the Potomac]]. 

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.{{sfn|Hyde|2003|p=18}} 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.{{sfn|Tagg|1998|pp=2-3}} While his colleagues were excited for the change in leadership, the soldiers in the Army of Potomac were uncertain of Meade since his modesty, lack of the theatrical and scholarly demeanor did not match their expectations for a General.{{sfn|Coddington|1997|p=210}}

Meade assumed command of the Army of the Potomac on June 28, 1863.{{sfn|Pennypacker|1901|p=1}} In a letter to his wife, Meade wrote that command of the army was "more likely to destroy one's reputation then to add to it."{{sfn|Chick|2015|p=10}}