George E. Pickett

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General George E. Pickett

George E. Pickett (1825-1875) - Long time friend of President Lincoln, a graduate of West Point, veteran of the Mexican War and veteran of the U.S. Civil War on the Confederate side.

Born in Richmond, Virginia 28 Jan 1825, Pickett graduated from West Point in 1846, last in a class of 59. Among his classmates who became generals were George B. McClellan and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. In the Mexican War Pickett was brevetted lieutenant and captain for his service in the Siege of Vera Cruz and during the subsequent advance on Mexico City. He served in Texas, Virginia, and Washington Territory until Jun 1861, when he resigned his commission to enter the Confederate army.

In the Confederate army he quickly rose from colonel to brigadier general serving under Major General James Longstreet during the Seven Days' Campaign he was wounded at Gaines' Mill. He was a major general commanding a division at Fredericksburg.

Pickett is best known for the charge against the Federal center on the third day at Gettysburg. General Lee ordered a massive assault. At mid-afternoon Pickett's division, dressed as if on parade, marched directly into the Federal guns. Pickett attempted to coordinate the ill-fated movement and acquitted himself bravely but the frontal assault was a disaster and he ordered his men to withdraw when they could not break the Union center. He lost almost his entire division (about 15,000 men) in that charge and never forgave General Lee for ordering the assault.

After Fredericksburg he accompanied General Longstreet on his foraging campaign into southeastern Virginia. Pickett took the opportunity to begin his celebrated courtship of Miss Sallie Ann Corbell, a lovely southern belle little more than half his age, who lived in the area. She became his second wife and the champion of his reputation after he died in 1875.

Pickett's military reputation suffered after Gettysburg. He fought in battles at New Berne, Petersburg, and Five Forks. General Robert E. Lee relieved him of his command after Sayler's Creek, the day before the final surrender at Appomattox. Following the war he was an insurance salesman in Richmond and died in Norfolk July 30, 1875. His book, Soldier of the South, General Pickett's War Letters to His Wife, was published in 1928.

George Pickett's First Family

Morning Mist was a Haida woman that George married in about 1855. Pickett built them a home in 1856 when he was stationed at Fort Bellingham; today, it is the oldest house in Bellingham. Pickett and his wife had one child, James Tilton Pickett, born in the home in 1857. Morning Mist died when James was an infant.

When the Civil War began he resigned his commission and returned to his native Virginia, leaving his 4-year-old son with the Tilton family in Mason County. Pickett reportedly feared his son would be ostracized in Virginia because of his half-white, half-Indian ancestry.

George Pickett reportedly had contact with his son, but Pickett's new wife declined to acknowledge him. James was 18 years old when his father died in 1875. James Pickett's requests for the deed to the Bellingham home were denied by his stepmother, compelling him to threaten a lawsuit. The stepmother ultimately acquiesced. James Tilton Pickett became a prominent newspaper illustrator and lithographer working for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Portland Oregonian. He died in 1889.

Posts:

• West Point (1842-1846)
• Texas
• Virginia
• Fort Bellingham, Washington (1856-1859)- Captain Pickett was sent to Bellingham to build Fort Bellingham. Soon after his arrival in Bellingham, Washington, Captain Pickett began building a house on the bluff above Henry Roeder's lumber mill using planks from the mill. Pickett's house has the distinction of being the oldest building in Bellingham.

• American Camp, San Juan Island (1859-1861) - The Pig War in which Captain Pickett landed on San Juan Island and prevented British troops from establishing an outpost. Pickett left in Jun 1861, returning to Virginia to join the Confederate cause in the U.S. Civil War.

• Confederate Army (1861-1865)