Meet General Pickett
Gettysburg National Military Park Kidzpage

Gen. George Edward Pickett (Battles & Leaders)

Born in 1825, George Edward Pickett was a native Virginian. Even as a young man he was considered to be a "dandy of a fellow" who always had a flair for doing things in a big way. He enrolled at the US Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 1846. His first service was during the War with Mexico in 1847-48 where he received honors for gallantry in action. He later served on the Texas frontier and on the Pacific Coast. When the Civil War broke out, Pickett resigned his commission with the United States Army and offered his services to Virginia. He was given the rank of colonel and later promoted to brigadier general in charge of a brigade of Virginia troops. Wounded at the Battle of Gaines' Mill, Pickett survived to rejoin the army after the Maryland Campaign in 1862. He was soon promoted to major general and assumed command of a division of Virginia and North Carolina troops. His command missed the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, but soon after he was ordered to march three brigades of his division from the Richmond-Petersburg area to join the "Army of Northern Virginia", which was already in motion to invade the North.

It was a wonderful march for the general who was filled with high spirits for several reasons- he was part of a victorious army on active campaign, away from the often boring defenses near Richmond, and he was engaged to LaSalle Corbell, a young Virginia woman who he absolutely adored. General Pickett sincerely hoped that he would not miss the next great battle and once asked his commander, General Longstreet, not to start any fighting until he had arrived on the field. Little did he know that he and his division would see some of the worst fighting of the war at Gettysburg.

On July 3, 1863, General Pickett's division lined up on Seminary Ridge to participate in the grand assault on the Union center. His 5,000 Virginians charged upon the Union line on Cemetery Ridge and briefly broke through, but were thrown back after desperate fighting. Pickett lost nearly one-half of his division including all three of his brigadier generals- Garnett, Kemper, and Armistead. His command in shambles, the general's spirit was nearly crushed. It was a terrible defeat for he and his men, but a special event that would ever after be known as "Pickett's Charge" and the High Water Mark of the Rebellion.

Deeply saddened by the loss of so many of his men and friends, General Pickett led his division back to Virginia where they were allowed to rest and reorganize. The brigade, commanded by General Montgomery D. Corse, that had remained in Virginia during the Gettysburg Campaign soon rejoined Pickett's Division and helped raise the general's spirits considerably. That fall, Pickett was assigned to command the Department of Virginia and North Carolina during which time he wed Miss LaSalle Corbell. Their time together was brief for the general returned to command his division in the Army of Northern Virginia the following year.

On April 2, 1865, General Pickett was in command of Confederate troops during the Battle of Five Forks, an important crossroads several miles west of Petersburg, Virginia. A large Union force attacked his troops while the general was enjoying a fish fry picnic with fellow officers behind the lines. Pickett immediately galloped to the front but it was too late- the line was broken and many of his troops were already retreating from the battlefield. Despite his efforts to shore up the line, Pickett could do little but rally the survivors and retreat. With Five Forks in Union hands, Petersburg could no longer be held and General Lee ordered his army to abandon both Petersburg and Richmond the following day. General Pickett's luck worsened at the Battle of Sailor's (also called Saylor's) Creek, Virginia, on April 6, where what remained of his command was shattered in a brief but bloody battle. Pickett and his staff were able to escape the Union trap and he led what remained of his now small command to Appomattox Court House, where he surrendered and was paroled.

After the war, General Pickett returned to his wife and child in Richmond. Unable to find suitable work and after declining offers that would take him away from his family, he turned to farming for several years before he accepted a lucrative offer to sell insurance for a New York company in Virginia. He sold insurance bonds and acted as an agent for the insurance company in Richmond until his death in 1875. Buried in Hollywood Cemetery in the city, a monument in his memory was dedicated at his gravesite by former veterans of his old division. His widow, LaSalle Corbell Pickett, later published a collection of letters that her husband had written to her and a biography of the general entitled, Pickett and His Men. She also became his staunchest defender when a controversy arose regarding the general's actions at Five Forks, Sailor's Creek, and Gettysburg where some questioned whether he had actually participated in the attack that bears his name. Pickett was staunchly defended by former staff officers and soldiers who recalled his presence among the troops during the charge and put that question to rest. The other controversies did not die quite so easily.

Little could General Pickett realize during his lifetime how common his name would be when people speak of the last great charge at Gettysburg.

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Gettysburg National Military Park
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