Meade’s friends head home. The Overland Campaign approaches.

I have had a very satisfactory time with Cram, and am sorry he and Cadwalader are going back. I have sent by Mr. Cadwalader, who will stop in Philadelphia and give it to you, a copy of my testimony before the committee. You must keep this private and sacred. If anything should happen to me, you will have the means of showing to the world what my defense was.

My relations with Grant continue friendly and confidential, and I see no disposition on his part to take advantage of his position.

Meade’s correspondence taken from The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Major-General United States Army, Vol. 2, (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1913), pp. 191-2. Available via Google Books.