Editing George Pickett

{{About|the Confederate States Army general|the British physicist|George Pickett (physicist)}}
{{Short description|Confederate States Army general (1825–1875)}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2017}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{GA icon}}
{{Infobox military person
| image         = GeorgePickett.jpeg
| caption       = Pickett in uniform, {{circa|1862|lk=yes}}
| birth_name    = George Edward Pickett
| birth_date    = January 16, 1825<ref name=birth />
| death_date    = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1875|7|30|1825|1|16}}
| birth_place   = [[Richmond, Virginia]], U.S.
| death_place   = [[Norfolk, Virginia]], U.S.
| placeofburial = [[Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia)|Hollywood Cemetery]],<br/>Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
| allegiance    = {{unbulleted list|[[United States]]|[[Confederate States of America|Confederate States]]}}
| branch        = <!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please do not add the Army flag adopted by the U.S. government in 1956 (81 years after Pickett's death) as it would be historically inaccurate. Thank you. -->{{unbulleted list|[[United States Army]]|[[Confederate States Army]]}}
| branch_label  = [[Military branch|Branch]]
| serviceyears  = {{ubl|1846–1861 (U.S.)|1861–1865 ([[Confederate States of America|C.S.]])}}
| rank          = {{unbulleted list|[[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]] (U.S.)|[[Major general|Major-General]] (C.S.)}}
| commands      = Pickett's Division, [[First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia|First Corps]], [[Army of Northern Virginia]]
| known_for     = [[Pickett's Charge]]
| battles       = {{Tree list}}
* Mexican–American War
** [[Battle of Chapultepec]]
* [[Pig War (1859)|Pig War]]
* American Civil War
** [[Peninsula Campaign]]
** [[Battle of Fredericksburg]]
** [[Siege of Suffolk]]
** [[Battle of Gettysburg]]
** [[Second Battle of Petersburg]]
** [[Battle of Five Forks]]
{{Tree list/end}}
| battles_label = Battles
| relations     = [[Henry Heth]] (cousin)
| signature     = GeorgePickett_Signature.png
}}
'''George Edward Pickett''' (January 16,<ref name=birth>Military records cited by Eicher, p. 428, and Warner, p. 239, list January 28. The memorial that marks his gravesite in Hollywood Cemetery lists his birthday as January 25. The [http://www.pickettsociety.com/birthdate.html Pickett Society] claims to have accessed the baptismal record from St. John's Church in Richmond; at the time of young Pickett's christening on March 10, 1826, his parents gave their son's date of birth as January 16.</ref> 1825 – July 30, 1875) was a career [[United States Army]] officer who became a [[Major general (CSA)|major general]] in the [[Confederate States Army]] during the [[American Civil War]]. He is best remembered for being one of the commanders at [[Pickett's Charge]], the futile and bloody Confederate offensive on the third day of the [[Battle of Gettysburg]] that bears his name.

Pickett graduated last out of 59 cadets in the [[United States Military Academy]] class of 1846. He served as a [[US Second Lieutenant|second lieutenant]] in the United States Army during the [[Mexican–American War]] and is noted for his service in the [[Battle of Chapultepec]] in September 1847. After this, he served in the [[Washington Territory]] and eventually reached the rank of [[captain (United States O-3)|captain]]. Pickett participated in the [[Pig War (1859)|Pig War of 1859]]. Near the beginning of the [[American Civil War]], he was commissioned in the [[Confederate States Army]], and attained the rank of [[general officers in the Confederate States Army|brigadier general]] in January 1862. He commanded a brigade that saw heavy action during the [[Peninsula Campaign]] of 1862. Pickett was wounded at the [[Battle of Gaines's Mill]] on June 27.

He returned to command in September, following the [[Battle of Antietam]], when he was given command of a division in the Right Wing of the [[Army of Northern Virginia]], in the command of Major General [[James Longstreet]], which became the [[First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia|I Corps]] that December. His 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 [[Siege of Suffolk|Suffolk Campaign]] in 1863. During the [[Gettysburg Campaign]], his division was, much to Pickett's frustration, the last to arrive on the field. However, it was one of three divisions under the command of General Longstreet to participate in a disastrous assault on Union positions on July 3, the final day of the battle. The attack has been given the name "Pickett's Charge." In February 1864, Pickett ordered 22 North Carolinians in Union uniform hanged as deserters after a failed assault on [[Battle of New Bern (1864)|New Bern]]. His military career came to an inglorious end when his division was overwhelmed and defeated at the [[Battle of Five Forks]].

Following the war, Pickett feared prosecution for his execution of deserters and temporarily fled to Canada. An old Army friend, [[Ulysses S. Grant]], interceded on his behalf, and he returned to Virginia in 1866. He could not rejoin the Army, so he tried his hand at farming, then selling insurance. He died at age 50 in July 1875 from an "abscess of the liver."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Pig War|last=Vouri|first=Michael|publisher=Discover Your Northwest distributed by University of Washington|year=2016|isbn=978-0-914019-62-6|location=Seattle, WA|page=307}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
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 (James River)|Turkey Island]]. He was the first of the eight children of Robert and Mary Pickett,<ref>Pickett Society</ref> a prominent old Virginia family of [[English people|English]] and French [[Huguenot]] origins. He was a cousin of future Confederate general [[Henry Heth]].<ref name="Eicher428">Eicher, p. 428.</ref>

For a time in the 1840s, Pickett lived and served as a law clerk for his uncle Andrew Johnston in Quincy, Illinois.<ref>Prokopowicz, G.J. (2009) ''Did Lincoln Own Slaves? : And Other Frequently Asked Questions About Abraham Lincoln''. New York: Knopf Doubleday, p. 132</ref> He went to [[Springfield, Illinois]], to study law, but at the age of 17 he was appointed to the [[United States Military Academy]]. Legend has it that 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.{{Citation needed|date=April 2018}} Lincoln, as an Illinois state legislator, could not nominate candidates, although he did give the young man advice after he was accepted.<ref name="Tagg237">Tagg, p. 237.</ref> In fact, Pickett was appointed by Illinois Congressman [[John T. Stuart]], a friend of Pickett's uncle and a law partner of Lincoln.<ref>Hess, p. 37.</ref><ref name="George Pickett">{{cite web|url=https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/pickett_george_e_1825-1875#start_entry|title=George Pickett}}</ref>

Pickett was popular as a cadet at West Point. He was mischievous and a player of pranks, "a man of ability, but belonging to a cadet set that appeared to have no ambition for class standing and wanted to do only enough study to secure their graduation."<ref>{{cite book|title=Memoirs of Brigadier General William Montgomery Gardner| publisher=Special Collections, USMA Archives| page=8}}</ref> At a time when often a third of the class left before graduation, Pickett persisted, working off his demerits and doing enough in his studies to graduate, ranking last of the 59 surviving students in the Class of 1846.<ref>Robbins p. 96</ref> It is a position held with some backhanded distinction, referred to today as the "goat," for both its stubbornness and tenacity.<ref>Robbins p. xi Quote: The term goat connotes many things – stubbornness, persistence, but also mischievousness and playfulness. The goats were by and large charismatic, adventuresome, with a youthful bonhomie that generally made them very popular with their classmates.</ref> Ordinarily, such a showing would be a ticket to an obscure posting and a dead-end career, but Pickett, like [[George Armstrong Custer]] a generation later, had the fortune to graduate just as a war broke out, resulting in a sudden need for many junior army officers. Pickett's cousin Henry Heth graduated last in the Class of 1847.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324352004578131262893535452 |title=At West Point, 'Goats' Are an Exclusive Bunch |date=November 26, 2012 |last1=Rubin |first1=Ben Fox |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=July 19, 2016}}</ref>

==Early career==
July 1, 1846,<ref>LaSalle Corbell Pickett (Mrs. Gen. George E. Pickett), "Pickett and his men", The Foote and Davies Company, Atlanta, Ga., Second Edition, 1900, p. 129.</ref> Pickett was commissioned a [[brevet (military)|brevet]] second lieutenant in the [[8th Infantry Regiment (United States)|8th Infantry Regiment]]. He soon gained national recognition in the [[Mexican–American War]] when he carried the American colors over the parapet during the [[Battle of Chapultepec]] in September 1847. Wounded at the base of the wall, Pickett's friend and colleague Lieutenant [[James Longstreet]] handed him the colors. 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vko.va.ngb.army.mil/fortpickett/mtc/Garrison/History/pickett.htm |title=Who is General George Edward Pickett? |publisher=United States Army |access-date=June 28, 2016 |archive-date=November 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104070159/http://vko.va.ngb.army.mil/fortpickett/mtc/Garrison/History/pickett.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> He received a second brevet promotion, to captain, following this action.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historynet.com/george-pickett |title=George Pickett (History Net) |publisher=History Net |access-date=June 28, 2016}}</ref> His record of service, compiled by the Adjutant-General's Office in March 1887 at the request of his widow, states: Brevetted first lieutenant August 20, 1847, "for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreras, and Churubusco, Mexico"; and captain September 13, 1847, "for gallant and meritorious conduct at Chapultepec, Mexico."<ref>LaSalle Corbell Pickett (Mrs. Gen. George E. Pickett), "Pickett and his men", The Foote and Davies Company, Atlanta, Ga., Second Edition, 1900, p. 129.</ref>

June 28, 1849,<ref>LaSalle Corbell Pickett (Mrs. Gen. George E. Pickett), "Pickett and his men", The Foote and Davies Company, Atlanta, Ga., Second Edition, 1900, p. 129.</ref> while serving on the Texas frontier after the war, he was promoted to [[First Lieutenant#United States|first lieutenant]] and then to [[Captain (U.S. Army)|captain]] in the [[9th Infantry Regiment (United States)|9th Infantry Regiment]] March 3, 1855.<ref>LaSalle Corbell Pickett (Mrs. Gen. George E. Pickett), "Pickett and his men", The Foote and Davies Company, Atlanta, Ga., Second Edition, 1900, p. 129.</ref><ref name="Eicher428"/> In 1853, Pickett challenged a fellow junior officer, future Union general [[Winfield Scott Hancock]], to a duel; (they had met only briefly when Hancock was passing through Texas). Hancock declined the duel, a response not unlikely as dueling had fallen out of favor at the time.<ref name="Tagg112">Tagg, p. 112.</ref>

In January 1851, Pickett married Sally Harrison Minge, the daughter of Dr. John Minge of Virginia, the great-great-grandniece of [[President of the United States|President]] [[William Henry Harrison]], and the great-great-granddaughter of [[Benjamin Harrison V]], a signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence]]. Sally died during childbirth that November, at [[Fort Gates]], Texas.<ref name=Gordon>Gordon, ''Encyclopedia of the American Civil War'', pp. 1518–19.</ref>

Pickett next served in the [[Washington Territory]]. In 1856 he commanded the construction of [[Fort Bellingham]] on Bellingham Bay, in what is today the city of [[Bellingham, Washington]]. He also built a frame home that year which still stands; [[Pickett House (Bellingham, Washington)|Pickett House]] is the oldest house in Bellingham and the oldest house on its original foundation in the Pacific Northwest.<ref name="COB.org Pickett">{{cite web |title=George E. Pickett House |publisher=City of Bellingham |url=http://www.cob.org/services/neighborhoods/historic/tour/026.aspx |access-date=September 27, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414171010/http://www.cob.org/services/neighborhoods/historic/tour/026.aspx |archive-date=April 14, 2011  }}</ref> While posted to Fort Bellingham, Pickett married a Native American woman of the Haida tribe, Morning Mist, who gave birth to a son, James Tilton Pickett (1857–1889); Morning Mist died a few months later.<ref name="COB.org Pickett"/> "Jimmy" Pickett made a name for himself as a newspaper artist, before dying of tuberculosis at the age of 32 near [[Portland, Oregon]].<ref>Gordon, ''General George E. Pickett in Life and Legend'', pp. 169–70; Boltz, np.</ref>

In 1859 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]].<ref name=pigwar>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/sajh/historyculture/the-pig-war.htm |title=The San Juan Island National Historical Park – The Pig War  |website =National Park Service |access-date =February 24, 2016}}</ref> The confrontation, known as the [[Pig War (1859)|Pig War]], was instigated when American farmer Lyman Cutler shot and killed a pig that had repeatedly broken into his garden. The pig belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company, and though Cutler was prepared to pay a fair price for the pig, the Company was not satisfied, insisting he be brought before the British magistrate, thus initiating the territorial dispute. In response to the U.S. forces, the British sent a force of three warships and 1000 men. The British commander, Captain Geoffrey Phipps Hornby (H.M.S. 'Tribune', 30 guns),<ref>LaSalle Corbell Pickett (Mrs. Gen. George E. Pickett), "Pickett and his men", The Foote and Davies Company, Atlanta, Ga., Second Edition, 1900, p. 117.</ref> demanded that Pickett and his men leave. Pickett declined, and the British officer returned to his frigate, threatening to land his own men. Pickett with his 68 men appeared to be fully prepared to oppose a British landing, ordering them into a line of battle near the beach. "Don't be afraid of their big guns," he told his men, "We'll make a [[Battle of Bunker Hill|Bunker Hill]] of it."<ref>Robbins, p. 177; Tagg, p. 237.</ref> Pickett's presence and determination prevented the landing, the British being under orders to avoid armed conflict with United States forces, if possible.<ref name=pigwar /> 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 [[United Kingdom|British]] [[warship]]. Having this error pointed out to him, he moved the camp and battery a few miles north to high ground, to a spot overlooking Griffin Bay and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. After initial tensions passed the crisis was averted, both sides being unwilling to go to war over a pig. President [[James Buchanan]] dispatched Brevet Lieutenant General [[Winfield Scott]] to negotiate a settlement between the parties.<ref>Gordon, ''General George E. Pickett in Life and Legend'', p. 60.</ref>

There is also some controversy that Pickett and General [[William S. Harney]], per General [[Granville O. Haller]], maneuvered behind the scenes to provoke a war between the United States and Britain, to distract the North, allowing the South to seek independence or, as General [[George B. McClellan]] said, to unite the North and South.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Pig War|last=Vouri|first=Michael|publisher=Discover Your Northwest distributed by University of Washington|year=2016|isbn=978-0-914019-62-6|location=Seattle WA |pages=69–72}}</ref>

==American Civil War==
===Early assignments===
On April 19, after the firing on [[Battle of Fort Sumter]] and in response to President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion, Virginia joined three more Southern states in [[secession|seceding]] from the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/virginia_constitutional_convention_of_1861#start_entry |title=Virginia Convention of 1861 |last1=Lankford |first1=Nelson D. |publisher=Encyclopedia Virginia |access-date=July 22, 2016}}</ref> Native son Pickett sailed from [[San Juan Island]] to [[Bellingham, Washington]], to resign his commission and was told by his commander that he had to resign it in [[Washington, D.C.]] To accomplish this he sailed to [[Fort Steilacoom]], south of [[Tacoma, Washington]], and caught transport aboard a [[Packet boat|mail steamer]] to the [[Isthmus]] of [[Panama]], trekked 40 miles overland to [[Colón, Panama|Colon]], caught another ship to [[Richmond, Virginia]], to obtain a commission in the [[Army of Northern Virginia]], and continued to [[Washington, D.C.]], to turn in his resignation. Arriving after the [[First Battle of Bull Run]], he resigned his commission in the U.S. Army on June 25, 1861; he had been holding a commission as a [[Major (rank)|major]] in the Confederate States Army Artillery since March 16.<ref name="Eicher428" /> Within a month he was appointed [[colonel]] in command of the [[Rappahannock River|Rappahannock]] Line of the Department of [[Fredericksburg, Virginia]], under the command of [[Maj. Gen. (CSA)|Major General]] [[Theophilus H. Holmes]]. Holmes's influence obtained a commission for Pickett as a [[Brigadier General (CSA)|brigadier general]], dated January 14, 1862.<ref name="Eicher428" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Pig War|last=Vouri|first=Mike|publisher=Arcadia|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7385-5840-0|location=Charleston SC, Chicago IL}}</ref>

[[File:GeorgePickettearlyphoto.jpg|thumb|250px|Confederate Major General George E. Pickett]]
Pickett made a colorful general. He 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. He held an elegant riding crop whether mounted or walking. His moustache drooped gracefully beyond the corners of his mouth and then turned upward at the ends. His hair was the talk of the Army: "long ringlets flowed loosely over his shoulders, trimmed and highly perfumed, his beard likewise was curling and giving up the scent of Araby."<ref>Tagg, pp. 236–37.</ref>

Pickett's first combat command was during the [[Peninsula Campaign]], leading a brigade that was nicknamed the Gamecocks (the brigade would eventually be led by [[Richard B. Garnett]] in Pickett's Charge). Pickett led his brigade ably in the battles of [[Battle of Williamsburg|Williamsburg]] and [[Battle of Seven Pines|Seven Pines]], earning commendations from his superiors. At [[Battle of Gaines's Mill|Gaines's Mill]] on June 27 he was shot off his horse while leading his brigade in its first assault.<ref>Robbins, p. 241.</ref> Pickett continued to move forward with his men for a while, leading his horse on foot. A second assault by Pickett's brigade, led by Colonel [[Eppa Hunton]], along with the brigade led by [[Cadmus M. Wilcox]], broke the Union line. Pickett feared that he had taken a mortal blow to his shoulder, but the wound was initially assessed by others as minor.<ref>Tagg, p. 237; Carmichael, p. 29; Burton, pp. 128–29. Major John C. Haskell, a staff officer, encountered Pickett in a hollow, and wrote afterward that Pickett thought his wound was mortal and requested litter bearers. Haskell examined the wound, saw that it was slight, and rode off, satisfied that Pickett could take care of himself.</ref> The shoulder wound turned out to be severe enough that, though it was not fatal, Pickett was out of action for the next three months, and his arm would remain stiff for at least a year.<ref>Longacre, pp. 86–87; {{cite encyclopedia| url=http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Pickett_George_E_1825-1875|author=Gordon, Lesley J.|author-link= Lesley J. Gordon |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Virginia|title=George E. Pickett (1825–1875)|access-date=November 30, 2010}}</ref>

When Pickett returned to the Army in September 1862, following the [[Battle of Antietam]], he was given command of a two-brigade [[division (military)|division]] in the corps commanded by his old colleague from Mexico, Major General Longstreet. Pickett was promoted to major general on October 10. Shortly afterwards his division was upgraded to five brigades, commanded by Generals Garnett, [[James L. Kemper]], [[Lewis Armistead]], [[Montgomery Dent Corse]] and [[Micah Jenkins]]. The division was only lightly engaged at the [[Battle of Fredericksburg]] in December.<ref name="George E. Pickett">{{cite web |url= http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/george-pickett.html |title= George E. Pickett |publisher= Civil War Trust |access-date= February 24, 2016 }}</ref>

===Suffolk and courtship===
Longstreet and two of his divisions—those commanded by Pickett and [[John Bell Hood]]—were detached from Lee's main army in April while participating in the [[Siege of Suffolk|Suffolk Campaign]]. They thus missed the [[Battle of Chancellorsville]]. The Suffolk Campaign was minor and inconclusive, while the Battle of Chancellorsville was an enormous Confederate victory.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.cincinnaticwrt.org/data/ccwrt_history/talks_text/breiner_longstreet_suffolk.html |title= Pork Belly Politics or How Longstreet Brought Home the Bacon: James Longstreet and the Suffolk Campaign |last1= Breiner |first1= Thomas L. |date= September 16, 1999 |publisher= Cincinnati Civil War Roundtable |access-date= July 4, 2016 |archive-date= August 15, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160815213750/http://www.cincinnaticwrt.org/data/ccwrt_history/talks_text/breiner_longstreet_suffolk.html |url-status= dead }}</ref>

Before the Gettysburg Campaign, Pickett fell in love with a Virginia teenager, [[LaSalle Corbell Pickett|LaSalle "Sallie" Corbell]] (1843–1931), commuting back and forth from his duties in Suffolk to be with her. Although Sallie would later insist that she met him in 1852 (at age 9), she did not marry the 38-year-old widower until November 13, 1863. The couple had two children, George Edward Pickett, Jr. (born July 17, 1864)<ref>Selcer, p. 45.</ref> and David Corbell Pickett (born 1865 or 1866).<ref>The exact date of David's birth is not clear. See: Gordon, p. 235.</ref> David died in late 1873 or January 1874<ref>Although LaSalle Corbell Pickett gives the date of his death as April 1874, her memoirs are considered highly unreliable.  A letter from George E. Pickett to his wife, dated January 1874, refers to David's "recent" death. See: Gordon, p. 235.</ref> of [[measles]].<ref>Robbins, James S. ''Last in Their Class: Custer, Pickett, and the Goats of West Point.'' New York: Encounter Books, 2006, p. 399.</ref>

At Suffolk, Longstreet grew impatient with Pickett's frequent trips away from his division to see Sallie at her home in nearby [[Chuckatuck, Virginia|Chuckatuck]]. Pickett then decided to ask for permission for the visits from Longstreet's chief of staff, [[Moxley Sorrel|G. Moxley Sorrel]], who referred him to Longstreet. Instead of asking Longstreet, Pickett went without permission.<ref>Wert 1993, pp. 236–237</ref> After the war, Sorrel commented, "I don't think his division benefitted by such carpet-knight doings in the field."<ref>Sorrel 1992, pp. 146–147</ref>

===Gettysburg and Pickett's Charge===
{{Main|Pickett's Charge}}
Pickett's division arrived at the [[Battle of Gettysburg]] on the evening of the second day, July 2, 1863. It was reduced to three brigades present, Corse's still being detached in Virginia and Jenkins' transferred. It had been delayed by the assignment of guarding the Confederate lines of communication through [[Chambersburg, Pennsylvania]]. After two days of heavy fighting, [[Full General (CSA)|General]] [[Robert E. Lee]]'s [[Army of Northern Virginia]], which had initially driven the Union [[Army of the Potomac]] to the high ground south of Gettysburg, had been unable to dislodge the Union soldiers from their position.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg/maps/pickettscharge.html |title= Pickett's Charge |publisher= Civil War Trust |access-date= June 30, 2016 |archive-date= October 26, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111026013838/http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg/maps/pickettscharge.html |url-status= dead }}</ref> Lee's plan for July 3 called for a massive assault on the center of the Union lines on [[Cemetery Ridge]], based on the assumption that Meade had concentrated his forces to protect his flanks while leaving his center weak. Lee directed General Longstreet to assemble a force of three divisions for the attack—two divisions from the corps of Lieutenant General [[A. P. Hill]], under the temporary command of [[J. Johnston Pettigrew]] and Major General [[Isaac R. Trimble]], which had both seen action on July 1, and Pickett's fresh division from Longstreet's own corps.<ref>Davis, pp. 234–236</ref> The center was occupied by the Union [[II Corps (Union Army)|II Corps]], commanded by Major General [[Winfield Scott Hancock]].<ref name="Pickett's Charge: A 1901 Account of the Civil War's Most Famous Charge">{{cite web |url= http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg/gettysburg-history-articles/picketts-charge.html |title= Pickett's Charge: A 1901 Account of the Civil War's Most Famous Charge |last= Pennypacker |first= Isaac R. |publisher= Civil War Trust |access-date= June 16, 2016 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170317201227/http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg/gettysburg-history-articles/picketts-charge.html |archive-date= March 17, 2017 |df= mdy-all }}</ref> Longstreet was technically in command, not Pickett. Nevertheless, the attack became known as "Pickett's Charge". In addition, much of the mythology of the Charge arose from newspaper reports. As Pickett was the only major general from Virginia to participate in the charge, the Virginia newspapers both played up their native son's role and made the assault a more "glamorous" event.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://networks.h-net.org/node/4113/reviews/4518/kinsel-reardon-picketts-charge-history-and-memory |title=Kinsel on Reardon, 'Pickett's Charge in History and Memory' |last1=Kinsel |first1=Amy J. |date=April 1998 |publisher=Humanities and Social Sciences Online: H-Civ War |access-date=July 1, 2016}}</ref>

Following a two-hour artillery barrage meant to soften up the Union defenses, the three divisions stepped off across open fields almost a mile from Cemetery Ridge. Pickett inspired his men by shouting, "Up, men, and to your posts! Let no man forget today that you are from Old Virginia."<ref>Inscription on the monument for Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg National Park; Tagg, p. 239.</ref> Pickett's division, with the brigades of Brigadier Generals Armistead, Garnett, and Kemper, was on the right flank of the assault. It received punishing artillery fire, and then volleys of massed musket fire as it approached its objective. Armistead's brigade made the farthest progress through the Union lines. Armistead was mortally wounded, falling near "The Angle", at what is now termed the "[[high-water mark of the Confederacy]]". Neither of the other two divisions made comparable progress across the fields; Armistead's success was not reinforced, and his men were quickly killed or captured.<ref name="Pickett's Charge: A 1901 Account of the Civil War's Most Famous Charge"/>

[[File:Thure de Thulstrup - L. Prang and Co. - Battle of Gettysburg - Restoration by Adam Cuerden.jpg|thumb|[[Thure de Thulstrup]]'s ''Battle of Gettysburg'', showing Pickett's Charge.]]
Pickett's Charge was a bloodbath. While the Union suffered 1,500 casualties, the Confederates had over 6,000. Over 50% of the men sent across the fields were killed or wounded.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historynet.com/picketts-charge-gettysburg |title=Nothing But Glory Gained – Account of Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg |last1=Cheeks |first1=Robert C. |publisher= HistoryNet |access-date=June 30, 2016}}</ref> Pickett's division alone, out of about 5,500 men, 224 were killed, 1,140 wounded, and 1,499 missing/captured.<ref>[http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg/gettysburg-history-articles/picketts-charge.html Pickett's Charge] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326183629/http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg/gettysburg-history-articles/picketts-charge.html |date=March 26, 2010 }} ''Civil War Trust.'' Retrieved May 10, 2016.</ref> Pickett's three brigade commanders and all thirteen of his regimental commanders were casualties. Kemper was wounded, Garnett killed, and Armistead mortally wounded. Trimble and Pettigrew were the most senior casualties of the entire Confederate assault, the former losing a leg and the latter wounded in the hand and later mortally wounded during the retreat to Virginia. Pickett has received some historical criticism for establishing his final position well to the rear of his troops. Thomas R. Friend, who served Pickett as a courier, defended Pickett by writing that he "went as far as any Major General, commanding a division, ought to have gone, and farther."<ref>Hess, p. 177; Gordon, ''General George E. Pickett in Life and Legend'', p. 115.</ref>

As soldiers straggled back to the Confederate lines along Seminary Ridge, Lee feared a Union counteroffensive and tried to rally his center, telling returning soldiers that the failure was "all my fault." Pickett was inconsolable. When Lee told Pickett to rally his division for the defense, Pickett allegedly replied, "General Lee, I have no division."<ref name="Tagg240">Tagg, p. 240.</ref> Pickett's official report for the battle has never been found. While it is rumored that Lee rejected it for its bitter negativity and demanded that it be rewritten, an updated version was never filed.<ref>Reardon, pp. 85, 159–60, 186.</ref>

===Department of Southern Virginia and North Carolina===
After the Battle of Gettysburg, Pickett commanded the Department of Southern Virginia and North Carolina. In February, Pickett was ordered to capture [[New Bern, North Carolina]], from Federal forces. The subsequent [[Battle of New Bern (1864)|Battle of New Bern]] resulted in a Confederate defeat. Following the battle, Pickett ordered the execution of 22 United States Army soldiers of the [[2nd North Carolina Union Volunteer Infantry Regiment]] who were captured during the failed raid.<ref name="George Pickett history.com">{{cite web |url= http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/george-edward-pickett|title= George Pickett |publisher= The History Channel |access-date= June 21, 2016 }}</ref> Confederates claimed they were merely executing deserters.<ref>''The Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Series II,'' Volume VII, (1902).</ref> In fact many of the US soldiers put to death offered good evidence that they refused service in the Confederate States Army, serving only in the North Carolina home guard on the basis of refusing to take up arms against the United States.<ref name="Loyal Citizens">''An Account of the Assassination of Loyal Citizens of North Carolina'' by Rush C. Hawkins, 1897.</ref> One of the executed soldiers was just 15 years old.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historynet.com/cloaked-vengeance-george-pickett-and-the-hanging-of-union-prisoners.htm|title = Cloaked Vengeance: George Pickett and the Hanging of Union Prisoners|date = October 8, 2020}}</ref>

After the war Pickett fled to Canada to escape an investigation into the executions, but he returned to the United States after being promised by General Grant, to public controversy, that he would not face prosecution.<ref name="Loyal Citizens"/>

===Overland Campaign and Siege of Petersburg===
Following the New Bern battle, Pickett served as a division commander in the Defenses of Richmond. After [[P. G. T. Beauregard]] bottled up [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin Butler]] in the [[Bermuda Hundred Campaign]], Pickett's division was detached in support of Robert E. Lee's operation in the [[Overland Campaign]], just before the [[Battle of Cold Harbor]], in which Pickett's division occupied the center of the defensive line, a place in which the main Union attack did not occur.<ref>Rhea, p. 111.</ref> His division participated in the [[Siege of Petersburg]].<ref name="George E. Pickett"/>

===Battle of Five Forks===
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. On April 1, at the [[Battle of Five Forks]], their troops were attacked by a combined force under Major General [[Philip Henry Sheridan]], which consisted of the [[V Corps (Union Army)|V Corps]] of the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General [[Gouverneur K. Warren]], and the [[Cavalry Corps (Union Army)|Cavalry Corps]] of the Army, commanded by Brigadier General [[Wesley Merritt]]. Pickett, W.H.L. Lee, and Rosser were located behind the lines of their troops at the time of the attack, enjoying a [[shad bake]] while failing to inform their subordinate officers of their location. Meanwhile, Warren's troops overwhelmed Pickett's left flank, and the Cavalry troops pinned the Confederates down elsewhere. By the time the Confederate commanders realized the catastrophe, it was too late to prevent the defeat. The result of the battle, as well as that of the [[Third Battle of Petersburg]] the following day, forced Lee to abandon his entrenchments at Petersburg, leading to the capture of Richmond and surrender of his army on April 9.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/five_forks_battle_of#start_entry |title=Battle of Five Forks |last1=Luebke |first1=Peter |publisher= Encyclopedia Virginia |access-date=June 30, 2016}}</ref>

===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}}

===Appomattox===
On April 9, Pickett commanded his remaining troops in the [[Battle of Appomattox Courthouse]], forming up in the final battle line of the Army of Northern Virginia. He surrendered with Lee's army and was paroled at Appomattox Court House on April 12, 1865.<ref>Robbins, p. 292.</ref>

A legend told by Pickett's widow stated that when the Union Army marched into Richmond, she received a surprise visitor. He acted graciously and inquired whether he had found the Pickett house. Abraham Lincoln himself, the story goes, had come to determine the fate of an old acquaintance before the wars, and Sallie, astonished, admitted she was his wife and held out her infant for the president to cradle.<ref>Lankford, p. 242.</ref> Lincoln historian Gerald J. Prokopowicz has called this story a "fantasy".<ref>Prokopowicz, p. 132.</ref>

==Later life==
Pickett's execution of 22 captured Union Army soldiers, from North Carolina at New Bern, was then under investigation. Pickett, fearing prosecution, fled with his wife and son to Canada. Testimony at the hearings, including that of wartime North Carolina Governor [[Zebulon Baird Vance|Zebulon Vance]], alleged that at least some of the executed men had belonged to local militias and been unwillingly transferred to the regular Confederate army in "violation of their enlistment agreement," and thus should not have been treated as deserters and shot.<ref>{{cite book |last=Current |first=Richard Nelson |date=1992 |title=Lincoln's Loyalists: Union soldiers from the Confederacy |location=Lawrenceville, New Jersey |publisher=Princeton University Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/lincolnsloyalist0000curr/page/119 119–123] |isbn=978-1-55553-124-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/lincolnsloyalist0000curr/page/119 }}</ref> Pickett remained out of the country for a year until hearing that, at the recommendation of [[Ulysses S. Grant]], the investigation had ended. Pickett returned to the United States with his family in 1866 to work as an insurance agent and farmer in [[Norfolk, Virginia]].<ref name="George Pickett"/>

On June 23, 1874, House Resolution 3086, an "act to remove the political disabilities of George E. Pickett of Virginia", was passed by the U.S. Congress. Pickett was granted a full pardon, about a year before his death.<ref>[http://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/george-edward-pickett-facts/]George Pickett – Facts and APUSH Notes</ref>

Pickett lamented his men, lost in great number at Gettysburg. 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. He claimed their interaction was cold and reserved. Others present at the meeting disputed this, stating Lee only acted in his usual reserved and gentlemanly fashion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pickettsociety.com/mosby.html|title=Letter to the Editor|author=K.C. Stiles|work=Times-Dispatch|date=  March 25, 1911}}</ref> Pickett, Mosby said, complained bitterly to him after this meeting that "That man destroyed my division."<ref name="Tagg240"/> Mosby allegedly replied, "Yes, but he made you immortal." Most historians find the encounter as Mosby interpreted it unlikely. Asked by reporters why Pickett's Charge failed, Pickett frequently replied, "I've always thought the [[Yankee|Yankees]] had something to do with it."<ref>Boritt, p. 19.</ref>

George E. Pickett died in Norfolk, Virginia, on July 30, 1875.<ref>Brown, Fred R. ''History of the Ninth U.S. Infantry, 1799–1909.'' Chicago: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., 1909, p. 730.</ref> The cause of death was a [[liver abscess]], although whether it was alcohol-related, [[Amoebic liver abscess|amoebic]] or [[Pyogenic liver abscess|bacterial]] is not clear.<ref>[[Lesley J. Gordon|Gordon, Lesley J.]] ''General George E. Pickett in Life and Legend.'' Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1998, p. 236.</ref> He was initially interred in [[Cedar Grove Cemetery (Portsmouth, Virginia)|Cedar Grove Cemetery]] in Norfolk.<ref>Selcer, Richard F. ''"Faithfully and Forever Your Soldier": Gen. George E. Pickett, CSA.'' Gettysburg, Pa.:Farnsworth House Military Impressions, 1995, p. 54.</ref> His remains were disinterred on October 23, and he was buried in [[Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia)|Hollywood Cemetery]] in Richmond, Virginia, on October 24, 1875. More than 40,000 people lined the funeral route, while another 5,000 marched in the funeral procession.<ref>"The Late Gen. Pickett." ''New York Times.'' October 25, 1875.</ref> A memorial to Pickett was erected over his grave site and dedicated on October 5, 1888.<ref>Sedore, Timothy S. ''An Illustrated Guide to Virginia's Confederate Monuments.'' Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 2011, p. 161.</ref> The memorial was not, however, placed directly above Pickett's burial site, and the exact location of his remains is not clear.<ref name="DeadLostCause">"Dead of Lost Cause May Get U.S. Shrine." ''Washington Post.'' March 30, 1931.</ref>

LaSalle Corbell Pickett died on March 22, 1931, having outlived her husband by more than 55 years. Initially, Hollywood Cemetery declined to allow her to be buried next to her husband. Pickett's grandson, Lieutenant George E. Pickett III,<ref>Only George E. Pickett, Jr. survived into adulthood.  He died at sea while returning from [[Manila]], [[Philippines]], on April 18, 1911. See: [https://books.google.com/books?id=DZodAQAAIAAJ&dq=%22George+E.+Pickett%22+died+1911&pg=PA218 Department of War. ''War Department Annual Reports, 1911.'' Vol. 3. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1912, p. 218.] Retrieved October 24, 2013.</ref> threatened to have his grandfather disinterred and moved to [[Arlington National Cemetery]], where both grandparents could be buried side by side. Hollywood Cemetery quickly agreed to permit LaSalle's interment at Hollywood,<ref name="DeadLostCause" /> but this did not immediately occur for reasons which are not clear, and LaSalle was cremated and buried at [[Abbey Mausoleum (Arlington County, Virginia)|Abbey Mausoleum]] in [[Arlington County, Virginia]]. Originally a mausoleum for the wealthy, it went bankrupt in 1968. The structure fell into disrepair, and it was vandalized many times and several graves desecrated.<ref>Scannell, Nancy. "Mausoleum for Sale." ''Washington Post.'' April 28, 1986; Hong, Peter Y. "Vandalism in Va. Mausoleum Said to Indicate Satanism." ''Washington Post.'' June 23, 1994; Kunkle, Fredrick. "Giving Up Its Ghosts." ''Washington Post.'' January 27, 2001.</ref> In early 1998, the [[Military Order of the Stars and Bars]] and [[United Daughters of the Confederacy]] worked together to pay for LaSalle's disinterment and reburial in front of the George E. Pickett Memorial in Hollywood Cemetery. LaSalle Pickett was buried on Saturday, March 21, 1998. She was the first woman interred in the Confederate military burial section.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eEogAAAAIBAJ&sjid=F6YEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4345%2C4272739 "General's Wife Buried in Confederate Cemetery." ''Tuscaloosa News.'' March 21, 1998.] Retrieved October 24, 2013.</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Pickett's Grave.jpg|thumb|Pickett's grave site at Hollywood Cemetery]]
Decades after Pickett's death, his widow LaSalle (also known as "Sallie" and "Mother") became a well-known writer and speaker on "her Soldier," eventually leading to the creation of an idealized Pickett who was the perfect Southern gentleman and soldier. Much controversy attends LaSalle Pickett's lionizing of her husband. LaSalle was the author of ''Pickett and His Men'', a history of her husband's military campaigns, which was published in 1899.<ref>[[Lesley J. Gordon|Gordon, Lesley J.]] "[http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Pickett_LaSalle_Corbell_1843-1931 LaSalle Corbell Pickett (1843–1931)]" ''Virginia Encyclopedia.'' October 27, 2015. Web. Retrieved March 7, 2016.</ref> She 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'' (published in 1913) and ''Soldier of the South: General Pickett's War Letters to His Wife'' (1928). While "Pickett and His Men" has remained a historically valuable document, the latter two writings have been described as "unreliable works that were fictionalized by Pickett's wife."<ref>Eicher, p. 429.</ref> As a result, General Pickett has become a figure partially obscured by "[[Lost Cause of the Confederacy|Lost Cause]]" mythology.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uncpress.unc.edu:8080/browse/book_detail?title_id=23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224114356/http://www.uncpress.unc.edu:8080/browse/book_detail?title_id=23 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 24, 2013 |title=Book Review: General George E. Pickett in Life and Legend |publisher=UNC Press |access-date=June 30, 2016 }}</ref>

Pickett today is widely perceived as being a tragic hero of sorts—a flamboyant officer who wanted to lead his troops into a glorious battle, but always missed the opportunity until the disastrous charge at Gettysburg.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://scienceviews.com/parks/pickett.html |title= The Fame of Pickett's Charge |publisher=Science Views |access-date=June 23, 2016}}</ref> Historian [[John C. Waugh]] wrote of Pickett, "An excellent brigade commander, he never proved he could handle a division." He quotes [[George B. McClellan]], the Union general, as saying: "Perhaps there is no doubt that he was the best infantry soldier developed on either side during the Civil War."<ref>Waugh, p. 507. The McClellan quote is from remarks he wrote for Pickett's funeral, as reported by LaSalle Pickett in her hagiographic ''The Heart of a Soldier''.</ref>

Pickett's grave is marked by a memorial in Hollywood Cemetery, which was placed there in 1888.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://vaudc.org/pickett.html |title= Pickett Monument Undergoing Restoration Work |publisher= Virginia Division: United Daughters of the Confederacy |access-date= June 23, 2016 |archive-date= October 21, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161021050850/http://vaudc.org/pickett.html |url-status= dead }}</ref> A monument to Pickett also stands in the American Camp on [[San Juan Island]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], erected by the Washington University Historical Society on October 21, 1904.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pickettsociety.com/perpetuity.html |title= In Perpetuity: U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum |date=February 5, 2010 |publisher=George Pickett Society |access-date=June 22, 2016}}</ref>

[[Fort Barfoot]] in [[Blackstone, Virginia]], was named in his honor, before being renamed on March 24, 2023. It was completed in 1942 and served as an active U.S. Army training facility in [[World War II]] and is currently occupied by the [[Virginia National Guard]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vko.va.ngb.army.mil/fortpickett/mtc/Garrison/History/historyreadmore.htm |title=Fort Pickett |publisher=Virginia National Guard |access-date=June 20, 2016 |archive-date=July 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704075612/http://vko.va.ngb.army.mil/fortpickett/mtc/Garrison/History/historyreadmore.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/us/politics/army-base-pickett-barfoot.html |title=Army Base Renamed for Native American War Hero, Replacing Confederate |last=Cameron |first=Chris |date=March 24, 2023 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=April 4, 2023}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
Actor [[Stephen Lang (actor)|Stephen Lang]] portrayed Pickett in the 1993 film [[Gettysburg (1993 film)|''Gettysburg'']]. [[Billy Campbell]] portrayed him in the 2003 prequel ''[[Gods and Generals (film)|Gods and Generals]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://frontrowfeatures.com/features/tv-features/billy-campbell-takes-on-lincoln-3758.html |title=Billy Campbell Takes on Lincoln |last1=Sloane |first1=Judy |last2=Campbell |first2=Billy |date=February 14, 2013 |website=Front Row Features |access-date=June 20, 2016}}</ref> In a 2003 interview, Lang commented that "for all of Pickett's flamboyance, there's something organically sad about him. Have you ever looked at any of the portraits of him? You can see it in his eyes, the sadness. He could be charming, but it was tinged with sadness."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ehistory.osu.edu/articles/interview-stephen-lang-bringing-stonewall-jackson-life |title=An Interview with Stephen Lang: Bringing Stonewall Jackson to Life |last=Largent |first=Kimberly J. |date=January 2003 |publisher=Ohio State University |access-date=October 10, 2017}}</ref>

Pickett also appeared in two episodes of the 1985 mini-series ''[[North and South (TV miniseries)|North and South]]'', depicting him as a cadet at West Point, at which time he was a friend of George Hazard and Orry Main, the two main fictional characters of the series.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2dYQf8DDMw North and South Book 1 Episode 1] Retrieved June 30, 2016.</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3SHCfZpENU North and South Book 1 Episode 2] Retrieved June 30, 2016.</ref>

Pickett is referenced in ''[[Civilization V: Brave New World]]'''s Civil War scenario. Players can receive a promotion that gives a penalty for charging across open terrain.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/on-the-quirks-of-civil-war-generals-and-civilizations-scenario-design/1100-6409479/|title=On the Quirks of Civil War Generals and Civilization's Scenario Design|last=McGee|first=Maxwell|date=June 7, 2013|access-date=November 30, 2024|publisher=Gamespot}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)|List of Confederate States Army generals]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist|30em}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Boltz, Martha M. [http://www.pickettsociety.com/jimmie.html "The General's Second Family: The One That History Forgot."], ''Washington Times'', 2001.
* [[Gabor Boritt|Boritt, Gabor S.]], ed. ''Why the Confederacy Lost''. Gettysburg Civil War Institute Books. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. {{ISBN|0-19-507405-X}}.
* Burton, Brian K. ''Extraordinary Circumstances: The Seven Days Battles.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-253-22277-0}}.
* Carmichael, Peter J. "George Edward Pickett." In ''The Confederate General'', vol. 5, edited by [[William C. Davis (historian)|William C. Davis]] and Julie Hoffman. Harrisburg, PA: National Historical Society, 1991. {{ISBN|0-918678-67-6}}.
* Davis, Burke. "Gray Fox: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War." New York, NY: Rinehart & Company, Inc., 1956. {{ISBN|1-58080-069-6}}.
* Eicher, John H., and [[David J. Eicher]]. ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-684-84944-7}}.
* [[Douglas S. Freeman|Freeman, Douglas S.]] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/People/Robert_E_Lee/FREREL/home.html ''R. E. Lee, A Biography'']. 4 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934–35. {{OCLC|166632575}}.
* [[Lesley J. Gordon|Gordon, Lesley J.]] ''General George E. Pickett in Life and Legend''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998. {{ISBN|978-0-8078-2450-4}}.
* [[Lesley J. Gordon|Gordon, Lesley J.]] "George Edward Pickett." In ''Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History'', edited by David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. {{ISBN|0-393-04758-X}}.
* Harrison, Walter. [https://books.google.com/books?id=JkiUk23nTbgC ''Pickett's Men: A Fragment of War History'']. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1870. {{ISBN|978-1-4255-2073-1}}.
* Hess, Earl J. ''Pickett's Charge – The Last Attack at Gettysburg''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-8078-2648-5}}.
* Lankford, Nelson. ''Richmond Burning: The Last Days of the Confederate Capital''. New York: Viking, 2002. {{ISBN|0-670-03117-8}}.
* Longacre, Edward G. ''Pickett, Leader of the Charge: A Biography of General George E. Pickett, C.S.A.'' Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Publishing, 1995. {{ISBN|978-1-57249-006-2}}.
* Marvel, William. ''Lee's Last Retreat: The Flight to Appomattox''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-8078-5703-8}}.
* Prokopowicz, Gerald J. ''Did Lincoln Own Slaves? And Other Frequently Asked Questions about Abraham Lincoln''. New York: Pantheon Books, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-375-42541-7}}.
* Reardon, Carol. ''Pickett's Charge in History and Memory''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-8078-2379-1}}.
* Rhea, Gordon C. ''Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26 – June 3, 1864''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-8071-2803-9}}.
* Robbins, James S. ''Last in Their Class: Custer, Pickett and the Goats of West Point''. New York: Encounter Books, 2006. {{ISBN|1-59403-141-X}}.
* {{cite book |last=Sorrel |first=G. Moxley |author-link=Moxley Sorrel |date=1905 |title=Recollections of a Confederate Staff Officer |url=https://archive.org/details/recollectionsofc00sorr |others= Introduction by Senator [[John W. Daniel]] |location=New York |publisher=[[Neale Publishing Company|The Neale Publishing Company]] |lccn=05026135 |oclc=1051739509 |ol=6958849M |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}
* Tagg, Larry. [https://web.archive.org/web/20141022014655/http://www.rocemabra.com/~roger/tagg/generals/ ''The Generals of Gettysburg'']. Campbell, CA: Savas Publishing, 1998. {{ISBN|1-882810-30-9}}.
* U.S. War Department, [http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/records/list.cfm ''The War of the Rebellion''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913062844/http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/records/list.cfm |date=September 13, 2009 }}: ''a Compilation of the [[Official Records of the American Civil War|Official Records]] of the Union and Confederate Armies''. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.
* Vouri, Mike. [http://www.pickettsociety.com/pigwar.html "George Pickett and the "Pig War" Crisis,"] essay by San Juan Island National Historical Park interpreter at the Pickett Society web site.
* [[Ezra J. Warner (historian)|Warner, Ezra J.]] ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. {{ISBN|978-0-8071-0823-9}}.
* Waugh, John C. ''The Class of 1846: From West Point to Appomattox: Stonewall Jackson, George McClellan, and Their Brothers''. New York: Warner Books, 1994. {{ISBN|978-0-446-51594-8}}.
* {{cite book |last=Wert |first=Jeffrey D. |date=1993 |title=General James Longstreet: The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier-A Biography |url=https://archive.org/details/generaljameslong00wert |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/generaljameslong00wert/page/n99 5] |location=New York, NY |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-671-70921-1 |author-link=Jeffry D. Wert }}
* [http://www.pickettsociety.com/general.html Pickett Society biography]
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Pickett |first=La Salle Corbell |title=Pickett and his men  |url=https://archive.org/details/picketthismen01pick |publisher=Atlanta, Ga., The Foote & Davies company, printers |year=1900 |author-link=LaSalle Corbell Pickett}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.pickettsociety.com/mosby.html Details of Mosby's claims about Lee and Pickett]
* [http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Pickett_George_E_1825-1875 George E. Pickett in ''Encyclopedia Virginia'']
* [https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2009/01/lasalle-corbell-pickett.html LaSalle Corbell Pickett], Wife Of Confederate General George Pickett
* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/pickett/menu.html The Heart of a Soldier: As Revealed in the Intimate Letters of Genl. George E. Pickett C.S.A.] New York: Seth Moyle, c1913.

{{Gettysburg figures|state=collapsed}}

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