George Edward Pickett
George Edward Pickett (born January 25, 1825 in Richmond , Virginia , † July 30, 1875 in Norfolk , Virginia) was Major General of the Confederate during the Civil War .
Military career
After graduating from the Military Academy at West Point , New York last (59th out of 59), he earned an award during the Mexican War when he first stormed the heights at the Battle of Chapultepec . He commanded the first US soldiers who arrived on the San Juan Islands in 1859 and thus initiated the pig conflict.
In the American Civil War , he rose rapidly to the brigade commander in the Confederate army on was in the Battle of Gaines's Mill (see Seven Days Battles ) severely wounded and eventually was given command of a purely bobwhite Division in the corps of James Longstreet . Pickett's division spearheaded Lee's final attack at Gettysburg , which is why this brave and fateful attack went down in history as Pickett's Charge . This attack on the positions of the Union cost the division about 75% of its strength, which is why it did not fight in the Northern Virginia Army for a long time . After a few smaller campaigns in southern Virginia, Pickett and his division returned to the Northern Virginia Army in 1864 before the Battle of Cold Harbor and fought with them outside Petersburg .
Pickett was in command of the Confederate Forces in the Battle of Five Forks in 1865 that opened the fall of Petersburg and Richmond and the unconditional surrender of the Northern Virginia Army at Appomattox Court House . He and other senior officers were eating together during the attack and were difficult for their subordinates to find, earning him the wrath of Commander-in-Chief Robert E. Lee.
George Edward Pickett, who had turned down a general post in the Egyptian army after the war , died in Norfolk . He is buried in Hollywood Cemetery , Richmond.
Fort Pickett in Blackstone, Nottoway County , Virginia is named after him.
In art
- Actor Stephen Lang plays George Pickett in the feature film Gettysburg .
- In the sequel to this film, Gods and Generals , he is played by Billy Campbell .
- George Pickett appears on TV epic Torches in the Storm . As a cadet in West Point, he is a friend of the main characters George Hazard and Orry Main.
- In Ken Burn's documentary The American Civil War , Pickett's letters are quoted
literature
- Edward G. Longacre: Pickett. Leader of the Charge. A Biography of General George E. Pickett, CSA White Mane, Shippensburg PA 1995, ISBN 1-57249-006-3 .
- Lesley J. Gordon: General George E. Pickett in Life and Legend. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill NC 1998, ISBN 0-8078-2450-X .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pickett, George Edward |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Major general in the Army of the Confederate States of America |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 25, 1825 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Richmond , Virginia |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 30, 1875 |
| Place of death | Norfolk , Virginia |