AKA George Edward Pickett

Born: 16-Jan-1825
Birthplace: Richmond, VA
Died: 30-Jul-1875
Location of death: Norfolk, VA
Cause of death: Infection
Remains: Buried, Shockoe Hill Cemetery, Richmond, VA

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Military

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Battle of Gettysburg

Military service: US Army (1846-61, Capt.), Confederate Army (1861-65, Maj. Gen.)

George Pickett graduated last in his class at West Point Military Academy, and served in the Mexican War. He became famous for commanding a garrison during the brief so-called Pig War between US and Britain in 1859, where three British warships with nearly a thousand men refused to attack Pickett's garrison of 68 soldiers. He rose to the rank of Captain in the US Army, then resigned during the US Civil War to join Confederate forces as a Brigadier General. He saw significant action at the battles of Gaines Mill, Gettysburg, Dinwiddie Court House, and Five Forks. At Gettysburg, he led what became known as Pickett's Charge, a failed attempt to assault Union forces that led to staggering casualties among Pickett's men. He also ordered the mass execution of deserters in Kinston, North Carolina.

His first wife was a distant cousin of William Henry Harrison. His second wife was a Native American, whom Pickett met near the base in Bellingham, Washington, where he was stationed. After the end of the US Civil War, he worked as an insurance salesman and died in poverty. His widowed third wife earned a comfortable income from writing three best-sellers about Gen. Pickett, the war, and their lives together.

Father: Robert Pickett (businessman, b. 1800, d. 1856)
Mother: Mary Pickett (m. 1823)
Brother: Charles F. Pickett (Confederate military officer)
Wife: Sally Harrison Steward Minge Pickett (m. 1851, d. 1851 childbirth)
Wife: Morning Mist Pickett (Native American, m. 1856, d. circa 1861, one son)
Son: James Tilton Pickett (artist, b. 1857, d. 1889)
Wife: LaSalle "Sallie" Corbell Pickett (biographer, b. 1843, m. 1863, d. 1931)

    University: US Military Academy, West Point (1846)

    Relieved of Command 8-Apr-1865

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