#AX 8 And thereafter the President did appoint General George Meade to command the army; and in this, it was said, he chose wisely. For Meade had before taken charge of the First Corps when Hooker was wounded in the Maryland campaign; and he was a man of greater boldness than McClellan, yet not rash as Burnside, neither was he dismayed by Lee, as Hooker had been. 9 And when Lee once did again cross the Potomac, seeking to bring the war into the North, the course of the roads did draw the two armies together at a place called Gettysburg. 10 And upon the first day there was much confusion in the fighting; for Lee was absent during a great part thereof, and Meade was not yet come upon the field. 11 And the forces of the Union, being sorely pressed, did fall back and take their stand upon a low ridge, which was not great in height, yet extended for a long distance. 12 And Lee, being set against them from the west, could see only that which lay before him; for his cavalry was not at hand to make report.