Meade commanded several military departments. One of these was the Department of the South. In the fall of 1872, he came down with pneumonia. He died on November 6, 1872. His funeral became a state affair with President Grant attending. Thousands of people in Philadelphia lined the route of his funeral to say goodbye to the "hero of Gettysburg". On July 18, 1917, by order of the United States Department of War, Camp Meade, Maryland was named in honor of George G. Meade. In 1929, to differentiate it from Fort Meade in South Dakota, the camp was renamed Fort George G. Meade.