Editing George Pickett (section)

===Relief controversy===
A controversy existed over whether Pickett was relieved of his command in the final days of the war. After the war, Lee's Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel [[Walter H. Taylor]], wrote that following the [[Battle of Sayler's Creek]] on April 6, 1865, he had issued orders for Lee relieving Major Generals [[Richard H. Anderson (general)|Richard H. Anderson]] and [[Bushrod Johnson]], whose forces had been lost in the battle and who thereby no longer had troops under their command. In fact, Anderson had returned to his home in South Carolina following the battle. In addition, Taylor recollected that he had issued an order relieving Pickett as well. Pickett's division was still intact, though reduced in number to about the size of a brigade.<ref>Warner, p. 240.</ref> No copies of these orders exist. [[Douglas Southall Freeman]], a biographer of Lee, supported this assertion, writing in 1935 that at the same time Lee relieved Anderson of command, he took the same action regarding Pickett and [[Bushrod Johnson]], but the order regarding Pickett apparently never reached him. As late as April 11, he signed himself, "Maj. Genl. Commdg."<ref>Freeman, vol. 4, p. 112.</ref>

In contradiction to this assertion, in his 1870 book ''Pickett's Men'' Walter Harrison reprinted an order from Lieutenant Colonel Taylor to Pickett dated April 10, 1865, in which Taylor addressed Pickett as "Maj Gen G E Picket {{sic}}, General Commanding" The order was a request for an account of the movements and actions of Pickett's Division from the time of the Battle of Five Forks on April 1 to the surrender at Appomattox on April 9. In the report Pickett submitted, he said:
{{quote|The second day after the battle referred to (Five Forks) not being able to find General Anderson's headquarters, I reported to Lieut. Gen. Longstreet, and continued to receive orders from him until the army was paroled and disbursed."<ref>Harrison p. 149</ref>}}
Pickett's official report to Taylor was signed "G.E. Pickett, Major-Gen., Commd'g."<ref>Harrison, pp. 141–151.</ref> This is the April 11 report mentioned by Freeman above. Thus in Pickett's official report to Taylor he speaks of commanding his men and interacting with his superior officer right up until the surrender at Appomattox. Taylor attempted to explain the apparent contradiction by telling [[Fitzhugh Lee]] that he addressed his request in the manner he did because Pickett was not dismissed from the Army, and for the period in question, Pickett was initially in command.<ref>Marvel, p. 216.</ref> This explanation, however, leaves unanswered the question of how Taylor expected Pickett to answer for the period of time Pickett purportedly was not in command. The explanation does not explain Pickett's report which covered the entire period, nor the fact that Pickett signed the report as the acting commander, nor did it explain Longstreet's interactions with Pickett over this period of time. Furthermore, there is no record of Taylor requesting reports from any other officers dismissed from the service on the movements of their former troops, nor of his referring to such officers in a manner which would connote active command.{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}}

The medical officer of Pickett's division, Dr. M. G. Elzey, was with Pickett at the time of these events. When an elderly Colonel [[John S. Mosby]] raised this issue in 1911, Elzey wrote a letter to the ''[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]]'' in answer to Mosby:
{{quote|I was General Pickett's personal medical advisor, and continued to be such until the time of his death. We rode together a greater part of the way during the retreat of our army from Petersburg to Appomattox. We escaped together from the battlefield at Sailor's Creek and were constantly together until we reached Appomattox. I repeat it, therefore, with all confidence, that I am a competent witness to the fact that he was never under arrest, but remained in command of his Division until the last scene at Appomattox.
M. G. Elzey<ref>[http://www.pickettsociety.com/mosby.html Letter to the Times-Dispatch], April 2, 1911</ref>}}

In Longstreet's final report, he makes no mention of Pickett or his division. Nor does Longstreet mention any other officer being in charge of the unit, nor Pickett commanded the men remaining in his division and reported to Longstreet.<ref>Marvel, pp. 214–217</ref> These men surrendered with Pickett at Appomattox. Regarding Pickett and his division, no source can be produced which asserts anything otherwise.{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}}