Maj. Gen. George Edward Pickett

Born:  January 28, 1825 Richmond Virginia

Died:  January 30, 1875 Norfolk Virginia

Buried:   Hollywood Cemetery Richmond, Richmond city, VA

George Edward Pickett was born into the Southern slaveholding elite on 25 January 1825 in Henrico County, Virginia. His parents encouraged him to consider law as a profession, but young George had little interest in the bar. After a short stint studying law, Pickett obtained admission to the U.S. Military Academy in 1842. He accumulated demerits, showed little aptitude for his studies, and graduated last in his class in 1846. Pickett next served in the Mexican-American War, marching with Winfield Scott"s army into Mexico City. He earned commendation and brevets from his superiors, and at the battle of Chapultepec in September 1847, he triumphantly unfurled the U.S. flag over the ramparts. The years immediately following the Mexican-American War were difficult ones for Pickett. He spent much of 1848 to 1854 in Texas serving in various isolated posts in the frontier army. He faced low pay and little chance for promotion. In November 1851 his first wife, Sally Minge, and their newborn baby died at Fort Gates, Texas—a loss so devastating that Pickett apparently went absent without leave from the army for several months. He eventually returned to his post, choosing the monotonous existence of the army over any civilian profession. In 1854, due mainly to the efforts of his father and other well-connected supporters, Pickett gained promotion to captain. After a short stint at Fort Monroe, Pickett went west again, this time to the far Pacific Northwest, where he would remain until the Civil War began in 1861. Captain Pickett saw limited action in the Yakima War, but by late August 1856, he had a new assignment: to protect white settlers in Bellingham Bay. Over the next three years Pickett frequently found himself caught between whites and natives, often feeling more sympathetic to the plight of the "savage" Indians than to that of the profit-seeking whites. Pickett also suffered another devastating personal loss while stationed at Fort Bellingham. Although the evidence is spotty, he apparently fell in love with and married an Indian woman, with whom he had a child. Soon after the child"s birth, the Indian woman died. Her son, James Tilton Pickett, grew to manhood without ever knowing his father. In 1859, Pickett was ordered to San Juan Island in the midst of a border dispute between the United States and Britain. Both nations claimed the island, and relations worsened when an American shot a pig owned by a British settler. The resulting "Pig War" never led to open hostilities, but Pickett found himself caught in the middle. In 1861, when the Civil War began, Pickett left his command in the West to join his native state of Virginia. He arrived in Richmond in September 1861 and quickly obtained a commission as colonel. By the end of the year, he had command of the lower Rappahannock River. In February 1861, he won promotion to brigadier general, largely thanks to his 15 years of professional army experience and the Confederacy"s need for brigadier generals. His brigade participated in the siege of Yorktown and the battles of Williamsburg and Seven Pines. Pickett was gaining a reputation as an aggressive brigadier, but at the battle of Gaines" Mill on 27 June 1862, he fell wounded in the shoulder and missed Lee"s Maryland campaign, including the battle of Antietam. It was perhaps during these several months of convalescence that George Pickett began courting LaSalle Corbell. LaSalle claimed she met George when she was a child and he a young army officer before the war. But it seems more likely that George became smitten with the vivacious Sallie early in the war. There is evidence of their budding affair a few months after his return to the army in the fall of 1862. By the spring of 1863, he was leaving his command, often in the middle of the night, to see his lover, returning bleary-eyed the next morning to face the disapproval of many officers and men. Upon Pickett"s return to field command in the fall of 1862, he was promoted to major general in the Army of Northern Virginia"s I Corps commanded by Longstreet. Pickett saw little action for the next several months. During the battle of Fredericksburg, his division was kept in reserve. When Lee and Jackson masterminded their brilliant win at Chancellorsville, Pickett"s men were miles away, engaged in the siege of Suffolk. Pickett"s first real opportunity to prove himself as a major general came on 3 July 1863, on the third day of the battle of Gettysburg. After two days of hard but indecisive fighting, Robert E. Lee selected Pickett"s fresh division to spearhead a frontal attack on the Union center. The charge failed and Pickett"s division was devastated. He never quite recovered from that day. George and LaSalle married in September 1863, but his military struggles continued. He became commander of the Department of North Carolina, a region vexed by desertion, Unionism, and guerrilla warfare. In February 1864, Lee ordered Pickett to lead an attack on New Bern, North Carolina, and retake the coastal city from Union control. It was another failure. Soon after New Bern, Pickett learned that his men had captured a number of North Carolinians identified as former Confederate soldiers. A court-martial was ordered, and in three separate hangings, 22 men were executed in Kinston, North Carolina. Family and friends watched in horror. Union officials were outraged, and Pickett was blamed. Pickett next took part in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign in May 1864, and only through sheer desperation did he stave off a strong Union offense. The strain eventually became too much, and Pickett collapsed— mentally and physically exhausted. When he regained his strength, he returned to field command in the Army of Northern Virginia. Pickett"s final ignominy came at the battle of Five Forks on 1 April 1865. Chosen to lead a special task force of infantry, cavalry, and artillery against an expected Union attack on the Confederate line, he initially succeeded in driving back the Federals at the battle of Dinwiddie Court House on 31 March. The next day though, when the Federals resumed the offensive, Pickett left his men poorly positioned as he took a long luncheon. As he and fellow officers ate shad and drank whiskey, the enemy punctured his line. By the end of the day, Federals had rolled up the Confederate flank, and Lee began what was to be his final retreat. Eight days later Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House. George Pickett was removed from command just before the surrender. Pickett returned home to his wife and infant son to try to begin life anew. Soon after the war ended, the U.S. War Department launched an investigation of the Kinston hangings, and George and LaSalle fled to Montreal. They returned a few months later, and eventually the investigation ended, thanks to the timely intervention of U. S. Grant. Pickett spent the remaining years of his life in Virginia, selling insurance and brooding about the charge at Gettysburg. He made few public appearances, and his health continued to deteriorate. George Pickett died in 1875 at age 50. His wife lived for another five decades, supporting George, Jr. and herself. She worked as a federal employee for several years, and then launched a successful writing and lecturing career. She wrote and spoke mainly about her husband, presenting an idealized image of him vastly at odds with the real man she had married. George Pickett the man became George Pickett the myth.

My Source:  Encyclopedia of the American Civil War — Lesley J. Gordon