Excuse Me History is back with a new addendum to "The Gettysburg Campaign." In this mini-series "Meade on Trial", we'll discuss the 1864 hearings held by the United States Congressional Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. The Joint Committee, led by the Radical Republican Senators Benjamin Wade and Zachariah Chandler, sought answers as to why the Army of the Potomac failed to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia at Gettysburg or along the banks of the Potomac River. The Committee convened in the late winter and early spring of 1864 to investigate the actions of the army during the Gettysburg campaign and General George Meade in particular. Their goal was to remove Meade from command and replace him with a more radically minded general, ideally Joseph Hooker. In this first episode we'll discuss the formation and purpose of the Joint Committee, the Radical Republican plan for the war, and the first two witness testimonies: Daniel Sickles and Abner Doubleday.