Portrait, George Pickett, Major General

by American Landscapes

Title

Portrait, George Pickett, Major General

Artist

American Landscapes

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

Photographer: Unknown
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-cwpbh-00682
Source: Civil war photographs, 1861-1865, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Major General George Pickett was a Confederate officer best known for leading the ill-fated assault on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, now famously known as "Pickett’s Charge." A flamboyant and ambitious Virginian, Pickett graduated last in his class from West Point in 1846 but served with distinction in the Mexican-American War. By the time of the Civil War, he had risen to division command in the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee. Though his division had seen limited action before Gettysburg, Pickett was eager to prove himself in a major engagement.

On July 3, 1863, Pickett led approximately 5,000 to 6,500 men, his entire division, in a massive frontal assault against the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. This attack, combined with two other Confederate divisions under Generals Pettigrew and Trimble which were depleted from the previous two days of fighting, formed an assault force of roughly 12,500 men. Pickett’s men advanced over open fields under heavy artillery and rifle fire in what would become the high-water mark of the Confederacy and one of its greatest tragedies. The charge ended in disaster, with staggering Confederate losses and the near destruction of Pickett’s division. Pickett never forgave Lee for ordering the assault and reportedly never recovered emotionally from the defeat. He continued to serve in the Confederate army but saw limited success in later operations, particularly in North Carolina and during the defense of Petersburg. After the war, Pickett lived in relative obscurity and was said to have brooded over Gettysburg for the rest of his life, once bitterly remarking when asked why the charge failed: “I’ve always thought the Yankees had something to do with it.”

Following the war, Pickett briefly fled to Canada, fearing prosecution for his role in the execution of Union prisoners who were Confederate deserters who joined the Union, in North Carolina late in the conflict. He eventually returned to Virginia and settled in Norfolk, where he worked as an insurance agent. Although he avoided legal consequences, thanks in part to intervention by Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, Pickett never regained his former status or financial stability. He died in 1875 at the age of 50. His legacy was shaped heavily by his wife, LaSalle "Sallie" Corbell Pickett, who spent decades promoting a romanticized image of him in books and articles, helping to enshrine him in the mythology of the "Lost Cause."

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September 17th, 2025

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