General George Meade

A painting of General George Meade by Bucks County painter Thomas Hicks 1876 from the collection of the Philadelphia War Museum. The roots of the museum go back to the end of the Civil War, when Union officers formed the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS). In 1888 they founded a museum in Philadelphia, and over the years, Union officers and their descendants donated a rich array of artifacts, including plaster casts of Lincoln's hands and face, battle photos, Jefferson Davis' smoking jacket, battle flags, the first John Wilkes Booth wanted poster, bullet-riddled tree trunks, photos of black soldiers and regiments, diaries, letters, drawings, swords, and firearms - a seemingly endless stream of personal, quirky, evocative objects. The collection that dates back to the civil war has been without a home and now will be housed in the National Gallery in Gettysburg. The famous preserved head of Gen. George G. Meade's horse, Old Baldy, which was displayed by the Civil War Museum for many years, was returned to its owner, the Grand Army of the Republic Museum and Library in Frankford, in 2010.