 Gettysburg National Military ParkVirtual Tour - Day Three Ziegler's Grove: Gen. James J. Pettigrew |
"I consider Pettigrew the most promising young man of the South."
 (Battles & Leaders) |
Returning to America, he received a special gift from his namesake James Johnston- fifty thousand dollars. The gift, it was hoped, would provide Pettigrew with a sound financial base so he could devote his life to public service. Despite his gift of foreign languages and civil knowledge, Pettigrew leaned toward the military as a way to serve his country and his state. Promotions came rapidly and by December 1860, he was serving as an aide to the governor of South Carolina and participated in the negotiations between the governor's office, South Carolina military authorities, and the Union commander of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.
When war was declared, Pettigrew returned to North Carolina and accepted the command of the 22nd North Carolina Infantry. Because of a need for qualified officers, the new colonel was soon ordered to Virginia to accept a promotion to brigadier general on February 26, 1862. When a young relative requested a "safe place" on Pettigrew's staff, he replied, "I assure you that the most unsafe place in the Brigade is about me. By all means let him get rid of this idea of a safe place, which he will regret after time. The post of danger is certainly the post of honor." He was true to his word. During the Peninsula Campaign in the summer of 1862, Pettigrew was severely wounded and captured. Exchanged two months later, the general recovered from his wounds and returned to his North Carolina brigade just in time to begin the Gettysburg Campaign.
Pettigrew's Brigade was one of the strongest in Henry Heth's Division. Freshly uniformed and armed with rifles from state military depots, his regiments presented a fine military appearance during the march through the Pennsylvania countryside. Some of his regimental officers were also members of the North Carolina planter "aristocracy", including Colonel Collett Leventhorpe leading the 11th North Carolina Infantry and twenty one year-old Harry Burgwyn at the head of the 26th North Carolina. Not having been in serious combat for nearly a year, his brigade mustered a strength over 2,500 officers and men.
Pettigrew's Brigade tangled with the Iron Brigade on July 1 at the McPherson and Herbst Farms, where all four regiments suffered devastating losses. General Pettigrew was appointed to command the division after the wounding of General Heth that afternoon, and attempted to reorganize the battered division during the next day's battle as they lay behind Seminary Ridge. On July 3rd, he fought valiantly in the famous infantry assault now known as "Pickett’s Charge", where he was severely wounded in the left hand by a canister ball. Despite the great pain he was in, Pettigrew remained with his soldiers until it was obvious that the attack had failed. Holding his bloody hand, the despondent officer walked toward Seminary Ridge and encountered General Lee. Pettigrew attempted to speak, but Lee, seeing the horrible wound, spoke first: "General, I am sorry to see you are wounded; go to the rear." With a painful salute, the handsome officer said nothing but continued to the rear.
General Pettigrew continued to command the division during the retreat to the Potomac River until Heth was finally well enough to return to command. Stopped by the flooded Potomac River at Falling Waters, Maryland, Pettigrew's command was deployed in a dense skirmish line. Union cavalry probed the southern defenses throughout the night as Lee's army crossed the pontoon bridges into Virginia. On morning of July 14, Pettigrew's command was one of the last Confederate units still north of the Potomac River, when the Union troopers closed in. On foot and in the front line, Pettigrew was directing his soldiers when he was shot by a Union cavalryman at close range, the bullet striking him in the chest. He was immediately carried to the rear and across the Potomac River where he died three days later near Bunker Hill, Virginia.
The loss of Pettigrew emotionally devastated his family and there was an official day of mourning held for him in North Carolina. His death also affected Lee who remarked, "The army has lost a brave soldier and the Confederacy an accomplished officer." General Pettigrew's body was returned to North Carolina and interred at his family estate in Tyrrell County.
National Park Service
Gettysburg National Military Park
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