George Pickett

Pickett before the charge

Portrayed in Famous Battles of the Civil War, George Edward Pickett (January 16, 1825 – July 30, 1875) was a career United States Army officer who became a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He is best remembered for leading 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 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. Pickett participated in the Pig War of 1859. Near the beginning of the American Civil War, he commissioned in the Confederate States Army, and he attained the rank of 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 did not return to command until 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 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 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 New Berne. Brigadier General John Peck sent Pickett a note telling him the men were US soldiers and should be treated as prisoners of war. Pickett thanked him for giving him the names, as he now knew who he was hanging. 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".

## In the video

Pickett appears in the Gettysburg section of the video after being summoned by Robert E. Lee to lead what would soon be known as the ill fated, "Pickett's charge". Pickett's men are shown ambitiously waiting the order to charge and enthusiastically run into the open field when it is given. The Confederates, unaware of the dangers that lay ahead, continued their path down the field when Union cannons began opening fire completely decimating the unit. Full regiments of men are shown running forward only to all be killed. As Pickett returns to Lee, the general asks, "Where is your battalion?". To which Pickett responds taking off his hat, "Sir, I have no battalion". This tragic news instantly brings Lee to remorse as he realizes the terrible decision he had made. Pickett tried to reassure the ever popular Lee that this was not his fault but the general knew the mistake he had made. After this one soldier is shown having made it across the field only to be swiftly captured. Every man that took part in the charge was captured, wounded, or killed, causing Lee to never again attempt an offensive for the rest of the war.

Yes sirCHARGEI have no battalion