Across the field on the knoll stood Union army commander Gen. George G. Meade's headquarters, the heart of the Army of the Potomac during the winter of 1863-1864. Appointed to command just 19 days after the Battle of Brandy Station, Meade established his headquarters there with fresh water and a nearby signal station. The winter months were especially anxious for him as politicians and soldiers questioned his leadership and decisions at Gettysburg, and he sometimes traveled to Washington to defend himself before the Congressional Joint Committee on Conduct of the War, though he ultimately retained command. During the last part of the encampment, Meade planned operations with the new General-in-Chief, Ulysses S. Grant, who chose to accompany him in the spring campaign. Early on the morning of May 4, 1864, Meade and Grant departed Culpeper on a long road that ended eleven months later with the surrender of Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House. The encampment followed the hard campaigns of 1863, which had taken an immense toll on the Army of the Potomac, and Meade considered it vital to rest his command, replenish its ranks, and strengthen its damaged logistical infrastructure. In the second week of December 1863, Federal troops began building the vast winter camp that housed more than 150,000 men and beasts.
