As he indicates below, George Meade was indeed busy 150 years ago today. His army was fighting the battle of Peebles’ Farm in an attempt to force Robert E. Lee to extend his already thinly stretched lines. The Willie Sergeant to whom he refers is Mrs. Meade’s brother, a colonel in the 210^th Pennsylvania Volunteers. George, of course, is the Meades’ son, assigned to the general’s staff.

I have only time to write you a few hurried lines. We have been actively engaged for the last two days, and yesterday we had a pretty sharp fight, gaining some advantages and meeting with some checks.

George and myself are well. Willie Sergeant has arrived with his regiment, and is under my command. He is well and in good spirits.

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), p. 231. Available via Google Books.