The battle of Gettysburg is less than a week away. However, it’s only been less than 24 hours since Major General George Gordon Meade received orders that he is now the commander of the Army of the Potomac. Meade then directs and informs Major General Joseph Hooker of his relief from command.
George Gordon Meade is now the 5th man to command the Army of the Potomac in less than a year. General Meade learns that the Confederates are in southern Pennsylvania ransacking communities and terrifying citizens on the frontier. He commands the Union army to slowly drift north to see if they can draw the Rebels to fight them in Mary-land.
His orders are to keep the Union army protecting Washington D.C. from the Confederates to the North.