Meade was taken by surprise and later wrote to his wife that when the officer entered his tent to wake him, he assumed that Army politics had caught up with him and he was being arrested.
Meade blev overrasket og skrev senere til sin kone, at da officeren kom ind i hans telt for at vække ham, regnede han med, at han var blevet indfanget af de politiske manøvrer i hæren, og at han skulle arresteres.