Robert Leamy Meade (December 25, 1842 – February 11, 1910) was an officer in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

and

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

. He was the nephew of Major General

George G. Meade George Gordon Meade (December 31, 1815 – November 6, 1872) was an American military officer who served in the United States Army and the Union army as Major General in command of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War from 1 ...

Early life and career

Meade was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, the son of Richard Worsam Meade II, an officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on June 14, 1862, and commanded a battalion of marines during the suppression of the New York City draft riots in July 1863. He took part in the daring boat attack against

Fort Sumter Fort Sumter is a historical Coastal defense and fortification#Sea forts, sea fort located near Charleston, South Carolina. Constructed on an artificial island at the entrance of Charleston Harbor in 1829, the fort was built in response to the W ...

on September 8, 1863, and was later

brevetted In military terminology, a brevet ( or ) is a warrant which gives commissioned officers a higher military rank as a reward without necessarily conferring the authority and privileges granted by that rank. The promotion would be noted in the of ...

for gallant and meritorious service. During the raid, he was captured by Confederate soldiers defending the fort, and he spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner of the Confederacy. Between the Civil War and the Spanish–American War, Meade served in a variety of billets at shore and aboard ships. In the early 1870s, he commanded the Marine detachment aboard the first U.S. warship to visit Cochin-China (now Vietnam) with the mission of deterring pirates from attacking American shipping in the area. He also served as Commanding Officer of the Marine Barracks at the New York Navy Yard and the Boston Navy Yard. While at the Boston Navy Yard, Lieutenant Colonel Meade made an enemy of Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, by refusing to award a construction contract to a firm recommended by Roosevelt.

Later career

During the Spanish–American War he served as fleet Marine officer on the cruiser USS ''New York'' and participated in the

Battle of Santiago de Cuba The Battle of Santiago de Cuba was a decisive naval engagement that occurred on July 3, 1898 between an United States, American fleet, led by William T. Sampson and Winfield Scott Schley, against a Restoration (Spain), Spanish fleet led by Pascu ...

. Victor Maria Concas y Palau, captain of the cruiser at the battle of Santiago, described the poor attitude of Meade to the Spanish prisoners at Portsmouth. He claimed that Meade's attitude was responsible of the death of several sailors, as he did not allow them to have the adequate medical help, and that he also had a lack of respect for Spanish officers. Immediately after the Spanish–American War, Meade was sent to the Philippines as part of a Marine detachment intended to counter the rising tensions between Filipino Muslim rebels and the government. Shortly after arriving in the Philippines, he was promoted to colonel on March 3, 1899, and was sent to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

during the Boxer Rebellion. He was the senior American officer during the events leading up to the

Battle of Tientsin The Battle of Tientsin, or the Relief of Tientsin, occurred on 13–14 July 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion in Northern China. A multinational military force, representing the Eight-Nation Alliance, rescued a besieged population of foreign n ...

, but he was medically evacuated before the actual battle occurred. For distinguished conduct and public service, he was appointed brigadier general, by brevet, on July 13, 1900. When Major General

Charles Heywood Major General Charles Heywood (October 3, 1839 – February 26, 1915) was the ninth Commandant of the Marine Corps. He served as an officer for over 45 years and was the first Marine to reach the rank of major general. During Heywood's term a ...

retired as Commandant of the Marine Corps in 1903, Brigadier General Meade was the longest serving Marine officer then on active duty, and he believed he was next in line to be General Heywood's replacement. President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

, undoubtedly remembering the insubordination of Major Meade in the affair involving a construction contract at the

Boston Navy Yard The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. It was established in 1801 as part of the recent establishment of t ...

, instead appointed Colonel George F. Elliott to be the new Commandant. Robert Leamy Meade retired from the Marine Corps on June 29, 1906 after 43 years of service and having taken part in every major military action that took place from the Civil War through the Boxer Rebellion. He was a member of the

Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), or, simply, the Loyal Legion, is a United States military order organized on April 15, 1865, by three veteran officers of the Union Army. The original membership was consisted ...

and the

Military Order of Foreign Wars The Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States (MOFW) is one of the oldest veterans' and hereditary associations in the nation with a membership that includes officers and their hereditary descendants from all of the Armed Services. Memb ...

. General Meade died at

Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by ...

, on February 11, 1910. He is buried in Huntington Rural Cemetery in

Huntington, New York Huntington is one of ten Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The town's population was 204,127 at the time of the 2020 census, making it the 11 ...

Awards

Sampson Medal The Sampson Medal was a U.S. Navy campaign medal. The medal was authorized by an Act of Congress in 1901. The medal was awarded to those personnel who served on ships in the fleet of Rear Admiral William T. Sampson during combat operations in t ...

Civil War Campaign Medal The Civil War Campaign Medal is considered the first campaign service medal of the United States Armed Forces. The decoration was awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces who had served in the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865. ...

Spanish Campaign Medal The Spanish Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which recognized those men of the U.S. military who had served in the Spanish–American War. Although a single decoration, there were two versions of the Spanish ...

Philippine Campaign Medal The Philippine Campaign Medal is a medal of the United States Armed Forces which was created to denote service of U.S. military men in the Philippine–American War between the years of 1899 and 1913. Although a single service medal, the Philippin ...

China Relief Expedition Medal The China Relief Expedition Medal was a decoration of the United States military which was issued to members of both the United States Navy and the United States Marines for service in the China Relief Expedition between 1900 and 1901 during the B ...

Namesake

Two ships have been named for him and his brother,

Richard Worsam Meade III Richard Worsam Meade III (also called Richard Worsam Meade, Jr., by many sources) (October 9, 1837 – May 4, 1897) was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. Biography Born in New York City, he was the son of Captain ...

. The sons of Richard Worsam Meade II, they were nephews of General

George Gordon Meade George Gordon Meade (December 31, 1815 – November 6, 1872) was an American military officer who served in the United States Army and the Union army as Major General in command of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War from ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meade, Robert Leamy 1842 births 1910 deaths People of New York (state) in the American Civil War United States Marine Corps colonels Union Marines American military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion Meade family