Civil War - Pickett

George Pickett

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Gettysburg and Picketts Charge PIckett's division arrived at the battle of Gettysburg on the second day of the battle. After two days of heavy fighting, Lee's troops had pushed the Union Army back onto higher ground., and was having trouble finishing them off. Lee then decided on a massive assult to finish off the Rebels. After the assult, an iniffective cannonade followed. Before the assult, Pickett was in good health and was supposed to be able to carry the Union defenses. As the battle went on, Pickett, in command, decided upon a charge to try to break the Union center. However, the task was impossible and Picketts group lost many lives. Escaping with his life, he survived a few more battles before he was captured and relieved of his command. After the war he was an insurance salesman and died July 30, 1875.

Civil War After the firing on Fort Sumter, Pickett left the Union and began his long journey home from his post in Oregon to help serve his state. As soon as he arrived, he resigned from the United States Army and was made a Major in the Confederate States Army Artillary. Within a month he was made a Colonel. After being made a Colonel, his first combat command, was the Peninsula Campaign, where he led a brigade. At Gaines Hill, Pickett was grazed by a bullet in his shoulder and knocked off his horse. A doctor examined the graze and said it was nothing serious, which Pickett claimed it was. The medic said he was able to take care of the wound himself, but he spent the next three monthes on medical leave. He returned to the army in September of 1862 and was given command of a two brigade division in the corps. Next he was promoted to Major General on October 10th. However, his brigade would not see major combat until the Gettysburg Campaign the next summer.

Early Life Gerige Pickett was born in Richmond, Virginia to a large prominent family. At the age if 17, his family sent him to study law. However after a few monthes of law school, Pickett was appointed to West Point. At West Point he was popular but not so bright, and he finished last in a class of 59 students. Fortunately for him, as he graduated, a war broke out, and the army was in a desperate need for officers. He was immediately commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant and thrust into the Mexican-American War. After the War, while serving on the Texas plains, he was promoted to 1st lieutenant.