Key facts about Richard K. Meade, one of four West Point graduates to fight for the Union during the Civil War before switching sides.
- Richard Kidder Meade
- July 21, 1829
- near Petersburg, Virginia
- Richard Kidder Meade and Julia Edmunds (Haskins) Meade
- United States Military Academy (1857)
- Military officer
- civil engineer
- Second lieutenant (USA)
- Major (CSA)
- Margaretta Sergeant (1840)
- Old Snapping Turtle
Place of Death:
- Petersburg, Virginia
Date of Death:
- July 31, 1862
Place of Burial:
- Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg, Virginia
- Richard K. Meade attended the United States Military Academy from July 1, 1853 to July 1, 1857, graduating second in his class of thirty-eight cadets.
- Richard K. Meade served with the federal garrison of Fort Sumter and was present during the Confederate bombardment on April 12-13, 1861 that started the American Civil War. Throughout the ordeal, Meade served Anderson and the Union loyally.
- On May 1, 1861, Richard K. Meade resigned his commission in the U.S. Army after his home state of Virginia seceded from the Union on April 17, 1861
- During the summer of 1861, Richard K. Meade served as a major of artillery in the Provisional Army of the Confederacy.
- Richard K. Meade served briefly as an engineering officer on the staff of Major General James Longstreet beginning on June 9, 1862.
- Just a few after joining Major General James Longstreet’s staff, Richard K. Meade contracted typhoid fever and died at Petersburg, Virginia on July 31, 1862.
- Richard K. Meade was one of four West Point graduates to fight for the Union during the Civil War before switching sides. The others were Manning M. Kimmel, William T. Magruder, and Donald C. Stith.