1. George Edward Pickett was a career United States Army officer who became a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
46 Facts About George Pickett
1. 2.
George Pickett commanded a brigade that saw heavy action during the Peninsula Campaign of 1862.
3.
George Pickett's division was lightly engaged at the Battle of Fredericksburg and, along with most of Longstreet's Corps, missed the Battle of Chancellorsville while participating in the Suffolk Campaign in 1863.
4.
George Edward Pickett was born in his grandfather's shop in Richmond, Virginia, on January 16,1825, and raised on his family's plantation at Turkey Island.
5.
George Pickett was the first of the eight children of Robert and Mary Pickett, a prominent old Virginia family of English and French Huguenot origins.
6.
George Pickett was a cousin of future Confederate general Henry Heth.
7.
George Pickett went to Springfield, Illinois, to study law, but at the age of 17 he was appointed to the United States Military Academy.
8.
Legend has it that George Pickett's appointment was secured for him by Abraham Lincoln, but this is largely believed to be a story circulated by his widow following his death.
9.
July 1,1846, George Pickett was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 8th Infantry Regiment.
10.
George Pickett carried the flag over the wall and fought his way to the roof of the palace, unfurling it over the fortress and announcing its surrender.
11.
George Pickett received a second brevet promotion, to captain, following this action.
12.
In 1853, George Pickett challenged a fellow junior officer, future Union general Winfield Scott Hancock, to a duel;.
13.
In January 1851, George Pickett married Sally Harrison Minge, the daughter of Dr John Minge of Virginia, the great-great-grandniece of President William Henry Harrison, and the great-great-granddaughter of Benjamin Harrison V, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence.
14.
George Pickett built a frame home that year which still stands; Pickett House is the oldest house in Bellingham and the oldest house on its original foundation in the Pacific Northwest.
15.
In 1859 George Pickett was dispatched in command of Company D, 9th US Infantry, to garrison San Juan Island in response to discord that had arisen there between American farmers and the Hudson's Bay Company.
16.
George Pickett declined, and the British officer returned to his frigate, threatening to land his own men.
17.
George Pickett had set up camp and his battery of cannon near the Hudson's Bay Company's Belle Vue Sheep Farm, and directly under the cannons of the British warship.
18.
George Pickett rode a sleek black charger named "Old Black," and wore a small blue kepi-style cap, with buffed gloves over the sleeves of an immaculately tailored uniform that had a double row of gold buttons on the coat, and shiny gold spurs on his highly polished boots.
19.
George Pickett held an elegant riding crop whether mounted or walking.
20.
George Pickett's moustache drooped gracefully beyond the corners of his mouth and then turned upward at the ends.
21.
George Pickett led his brigade ably in the battles of Williamsburg and Seven Pines, earning commendations from his superiors.
22.
George Pickett continued to move forward with his men for a while, leading his horse on foot.
23.
George Pickett feared that he had taken a mortal blow to his shoulder, but the wound was initially assessed by others as minor.
24.
The shoulder wound turned out to be severe enough that, though it was not fatal, George Pickett was out of action for the next three months, and his arm would remain stiff for at least a year.
25.
When George Pickett returned to the Army in September 1862, following the Battle of Antietam, he was given command of a two-brigade division in the corps commanded by his old colleague from Mexico, Major General Longstreet.
26.
George Pickett has received some historical criticism for establishing his final position well to the rear of his troops.
27.
General Pickett had received orders from Robert E Lee to, with the Cavalry divisions of Major Generals William Henry Fitzhugh Lee and Thomas L Rosser, hold the vital railroad crossing at Five Forks at all costs.
28.
Meanwhile, Warren's troops overwhelmed George Pickett's left flank, and the Cavalry troops pinned the Confederates down elsewhere.
29.
George Pickett's division was still intact, though reduced in number to about the size of a brigade.
30.
Taylor attempted to explain the apparent contradiction by telling Fitzhugh Lee that he addressed his request in the manner he did because George Pickett was not dismissed from the Army, and for the period in question, George Pickett was initially in command.
31.
Nor does Longstreet mention any other officer being in charge of the unit, nor George Pickett commanded the men remaining in his division and reported to Longstreet.
32.
George Pickett surrendered with Lee's army and was paroled at Appomattox Court House on April 12,1865.
33.
George Pickett acted graciously and inquired whether he had found the Pickett house.
34.
George Pickett, fearing prosecution, fled with his wife and son to Canada.
35.
George Pickett returned to the United States with his family in 1866 to work as an insurance agent and farmer in Norfolk, Virginia.
36.
George Pickett was granted a full pardon, about a year before his death.
37.
Late in his life, Colonel John S Mosby, who had served under General J E B Stuart, was present when Lee and Pickett met briefly after the war.
38.
George E Pickett died in Norfolk, Virginia, on July 30,1875.
39.
George Pickett was initially interred in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Norfolk.
40.
George Pickett's remains were disinterred on October 23, and he was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, on October 24,1875.
41.
LaSalle Corbell George Pickett died on March 22,1931, having outlived her husband by more than 55 years.
42.
George Pickett was the first woman interred in the Confederate military burial section.
43.
George Pickett published two other books in her deceased husband's name, The Heart of a Soldier, As Revealed in the Intimate Letters of Gen'l George E Pickett and Soldier of the South: General Pickett's War Letters to His Wife.
44.
George Pickett's grave is marked by a memorial in Hollywood Cemetery, which was placed there in 1888.
45.
George Pickett could be charming, but it was tinged with sadness.
46.
George Pickett is referenced in Civilization V: Brave New World's Civil War scenario.