Henry Heth

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Colonel Henry Heth, commander of the 45th Virginia Infantry Regiment, CSA

Henry Heth (* 16th December 1825 in Chesterfield County , Virginia ; † 27. September 1899 in Washington, DC ; and "Harry" Heth ) was an officer in the US Army and General of the Army of the Confederate States of America in the American Civil War .

Life

Heth graduated from the Military Academy at West Point , New York in 1847 as the 38th of his class. During his regular service in the Army before the Civil War, he rose to the rank of captain . After the outbreak of the Civil War he was regimental commander of the 45th Virginia Infantry Regiment as Colonel .

On January 6, 1862, Heth was promoted to Brigadier General. With this rank he took part in the Confederate "Heartland" offensive under Edmund Kirby Smith . His promotion to major general on October 10, 1862 was rejected by the Senate. In February 1863 Heth was the Virginia Army North displaced, where he is a brigadier in the Division of Ambrose Powell Hill led. After the Battle of Chancellorsville and the death of Thomas Jonathan Jackson , Heth was promoted to major general on May 24, 1863 . He led a division under Hill, who was meanwhile commanding general of III. Corps had been appointed. In this position, Heth played a key role in the Battle of Gettysburg .

When Harry Heth received the news on the evening of June 30, 1863 that there were regular cavalry of the northern states in addition to the militias in Gettysburg , he ordered his four brigades to attack the cavalry brigade of John Buford for the morning of July 1, 1863 . This attack came with the express approval of Commanding General AP Hill. With this attack, which Buford was initially able to repel, the Battle of Gettysburg began. Heth was seriously wounded in the battle, but subsequently took part in all other battles of the Northern Virginia Army before he was released from the army after the Northern Virginia Army surrendered in Appomattox CH.

After the war Harry Heth worked as an insurance broker. His grave is in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond , Virginia .

See also

literature

  • Ezra J. Warner: Generals in Gray - Lives of the Confederate Commanders . Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge (LA) 1959.
  • James Spencer: Civil War Generals . Greenwood Press Inc., Westport (CO) 1986.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Heth, Henry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heth, Harry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Major General of the Army of the Confederate States of America in the Civil War
DATE OF BIRTH December 16, 1825
PLACE OF BIRTH Chesterfield County, Virginia
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 1899
Place of death Washington