Two Cousins at Gettysburg
by Diana Loski
Harry Heth (l.) and George Pickett (r.)
(Library of Congress)
Countless family members fought together, and many died together, at Gettysburg. Fathers, sons, and brothers in arms all struggled together on the hills, woodlands, and valleys of south-central Pennsylvania in the summer of 1863. Two men from Virginia – one who played a significant role that began the battle and the other who participated heavily in its closing – are closely tied by blood. Yet, one managed to escape vitriol and ruin in spite of his blunder on Gettysburg’s first day; the other was forever embittered, who never was able to rise above his participation in the charge named for him. These two were cousins. They were Henry (Harry) Heth and George Pickett.
Heth and Pickett were born within a few months and a few miles of each other in the Old Dominion state. Pickett’s father, Robert, and Heth’s mother, Margaret, were siblings.
George Edward Pickett was born January 25, 1825, the eldest son of Robert and Mary Pickett. The timing of his birth proved an omen of the way he would live his life. At the time, there was political turmoil in the nation, as the preceding months had produced a Presidential election without a clear victor. Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams had vied for the office, and the political fallout was enormous. James Monroe, the last of the Founding Fathers, was finishing his second term in office. Tired and in ill health, he did not wish for another. Three eager politicians, with equally aggressive followers, vied for his place. At the time Pickett entered the world, the race was still undecided. In February, Henry Clay gave up his electoral votes for Adams, though Andrew Jackson had earned more popular votes. Adams then nominated Clay to his cabinet, and the Jacksonian Democrats were enraged.1
Just five years into the Missouri Compromise, the state of Virginia was still aristocratic in its demeanor. Robert Pickett was a member of a well-respected family line, and he owned a plantation called Turkey Island, but he was not adept at making money. As a result, the Picketts struggled in a place where money and prestige meant everything. Pickett’s uncle, John Heth, however, was a wealthy owner of a coal mine in Chesterfield County, at a time when industrialization was awakening in the early 19th century. At the end of the year, John and his wife, Margaret, welcomed their son, Henry, one of their youngest, on December 16, 1825. Because of the Heth family’s wealth and status, they were well acquainted with the well-bred families, including Robert E. Lee's.2
Harry Heth attended private schools in Virginia and New York City. With his easy manner and his father’s tremendous wealth, he was popular and made friends easily. His father’s untimely death in 1842 prompted Harry’s return to Virginia. A close family friend named John Tyler, who happened to be the President of the United States at the time, offered Harry an appointment at West Point.3
Just a year earlier, in 1841, George Pickett had managed to procure a spot at West Point, although his pathway there had not been so easily procured. There were no prominent politicians or Virginia peers to nominate him. A family friend from Kentucky, who had recently moved to Illinois, had been elected to Congress. Through John T. Stuart’s efforts, George managed to receive the coveted entry to the military academy. It is interesting to note that John Stuart, in moving to Washington to serve in the House of Representatives, had recently, and amicably, dissolved a partnership with another young lawyer in Illinois named Lincoln. The friendship between the two former partners lasted all their lives – and Pickett became familiar with the lanky prairie lawyer, and liked him.4
Pickett watched over his cousin at West Point, offering his “cousinly protection” so that Heth escaped the usual tricks and afflictions suffered by the new recruits. Both cousins preferred levity to study, and were often involved in pranks, antics, and general rule-breaking that often got them into trouble. Both graduated near the bottom of their respective classes: Pickett in 1846 and Heth in 1847. Both forged friendships during their time at West Point. Among them were A.P. Hill, Ambrose Burnside, Winfield Scott Hancock, Kirby Smith, Lewis A. Armistead, and Ulysses S. Grant. Heth was also on friendly terms with one of the cadets who graduated a year behind him: the Kentucky-born John Buford.5
Because of their abysmal grades, Heth and Pickett had no choice but to serve in the infantry in the Federal army. Both fought in the Mexican War. Harry’s stint was brief and colorless, but Pickett made a name for himself at Monterey, Chapultepec, and Vera Cruz, demonstrating exceptional bravery for which he was twice brevetted. At the close of the war, they returned to frontier duty. Heth actually liked it. He said that he “was young and did not mind roughing it.” One of his fellow officers during that time was John Buford, an avid horseman.6
Pickett’s heroics during the Mexican War helped him to forge new friendships, notably with one who had been senior to him at West Point. James Longstreet had admired Pickett – he had watched George storm the parapets at Chapultepec. The friendship that began in Mexico would last for the duration of their lives.7
Harry Heth married Harriet Selden in Virginia in 1857. The couple had seven children together. Pickett was less fortunate. He had married a native woman in the territory of Washington, and the couple had a son. She died when the child was still very young, and Pickett, needing to continue with his duties, left the boy in care of others.
When Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States in 1860, the dispute over slavery and states’ rights, which had smoldered for decades, finally exploded. Southern states began to secede in rapid succession. By the time Lincoln took the oath of office on March 4, 1861, four months had elapsed and seven Southern states had left the Union. In April, Virginia joined the new Confederacy. Many of the Federal army veterans from that state felt compelled to join their home state. Among them was Robert E. Lee. Heth, Lee’s old family friend, immediately tendered his resignation to the Union and joined the South. Pickett, who was on duty in the Pacific Northwest, did not resign until two months later. Twice widowed during his time on the frontier, Pickett’s eighteen-year stint as a Federal soldier was at an end.
Heth began the war as the colonel of the 45th Virginia infantry, and fought in the western theater. He was promoted to brigade command in January 1862, while he was stationed in Kentucky. He transferred to the Army of Northern Virginia in February 1863, commanding troops under his old West Point friend, A.P. Hill. He was warmly welcomed by another old friend, Robert E. Lee, who commanded the army. Lee and Heth both called one another by their first names. Heth remarked that he was the only soldier in Lee’s army who could call the commander by his first name.8
Pickett’s inaugural days with the Confederacy were lowly ones. Assigned to the artillery – of which he knew little – Pickett held the rank of major. Ordered to build defenses on the Rappahannock, the hero of Chapultepec felt demeaned. On Christmas Day 1861, he was transferred to Joe Johnston’s army – which in June the following year General Lee would command. While Lee had not been at West Point when the cousins attended, he had been stationed nearby, and had known all about their behavior. While he seemed to excuse Harry’s antics, he had not been as lenient with Pickett. Under General Johnston, though, with Longstreet in leadership, Pickett managed to acquire the command of a brigade, and his brigadier’s star, in early 1862. He fought in the Seven Days Battles on the Peninsula and was wounded at Gaines Mill. He returned in September, but did not fight at Antietam or Fredericksburg. Instead, he was sent to Richmond to fortify the city, as his cousin was just joining the Army of Northern Virginia. During the Battle of Chancellorsville, Pickett chafed with inactivity in Richmond.9
Heth, on the other hand, was part of A.P. Hill’s Division, Jackson’s Corps, at Chancellorsville. Jackson, who was mortally wounded in the battle, greatly affected Lee and the entire army. The loss of Jackson necessitated that Lee reorganize his army. He divided his two corps of at least 30,000 men in each into three corps of approximately 20,000 men each. Longstreet commanded the First Corps, Richard Ewell the Second Corps. A.P. Hill was assigned to lead the new Third Corps. Harry Heth then took over Hill’s Division, with the rank of Major-General – just in time for the Battle of Gettysburg.
As Lee’s army marched north into Pennsylvania, Pickett and his division of new recruits – having spent many weeks in Richmond – formed the rear guard of the army. Heth was the lead division commander of Hill’s Corps, as his troops headed toward Gettysburg. Unknown to the men in gray, a Union cavalry commander named John Buford carefully watched their advance. On June 30, 1863, Buford noticed that Heth’s men were approaching the crossroads town of Gettysburg. Buford knew Heth well – he had seen his misbehavior at West Point and knew his temperament while fighting on the frontier. Calculating their chances, Buford decided that drawing Heth into battle on the west side of town would buy time for the Union forces – a day’s march from Gettysburg – to reach the heights around the town.10
On July 1, 1863, a casual Harry Heth led with his two weakest brigades – Archer’s and Joe Davis’s – planning on nothing more than a shopping expedition in Gettysburg. On that same morning, cousin George was many miles away in Chambersburg, as part of the rear guard. Buford knew that Heth would fight first and ask permission later – and Harry did not disappoint. At approximately 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 1, 1863, one of Buford’s cavalrymen fired a shot at the Confederates as they walked toward Gettysburg on the Chambersburg Pike. The Confederates returned fire. The battle had begun.
Heth had been ordered to avoid a general engagement, as Lee and the rest of the high command were many miles away. Lee was unsure about the location of the Union army, and a spy had alerted Lee that the men in blue were much closer than once believed. However, when the Union forces fired on Heth’s men, Heth immediately engaged, disobeying direct orders. It proved to be a pivotal battle that Heth began, and that ended most tragically for his cousin.
Harry Heth advanced his division toward Gettysburg, fighting first with Buford’s dismounted cavalry, then with the Union’s First Corps Infantry on July 1. As his men advanced to McPherson’s Ridge, Heth was severely injured by an exploding shell. Fortunately for the reckless general, he had acquired a hat that was too large, and padded it with paper to better fit him. The cushioning absorbed some of the impact, and saved his life. His wound, though, prevented him from any more fighting at Gettysburg.
Because he commanded the rear guard of the army en route to Gettysburg, General Pickett and his division were the last to arrive on the field – too late to fight on the evening of July 2. Eager to get into the fight, and impatient from inactivity for many months, Pickett was thrilled at the prospect of leading a grand charge on July 3. His Virginians, mostly new and untried troops, numbered close to five thousand men. Like their commander, they too were eager to get into the fight, in order to prove themselves at last. For most of them, Gettysburg would be their only battle.11
The number of Confederates who fought in Pickett’s Charge – known officially as Longstreet’s Assault – is unknown. In all, three divisions of Confederate infantry charged the Union center line. The tactic was a textbook maneuver from the days of Napoleon. The former emperor of France had written a book on military tactics. One of his most famous ploys was to attack the flanks of the enemy’s line, and if that failed, to charge the middle of that line. He reasoned that, most defenders would expect another flank attack, and would answer it by strengthening their flanks, including removing many from the center.
George Meade, the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, though, had also studied Napoleonic tactics. When Lee hit his troops on the flanks July 2 and on the morning of July 3, he anticipated an assault on his center – and he was prepared.
The three Confederate divisions involved in Longstreet’s Assault consisted of Heth’s Division, led by General Johnston Pettigrew; Dorsey Pender’s Division, led by Isaac Trimble (Pender had been mortally wounded on July 2); both of these divisions had been heavily involved in the first day’s fight. Pickett’s Division finished the tally, sure that this fight would be their finest hour.
Just before the advance, Pickett rode to address his men. “Up men, and to your posts!” he declared. “Don’t forget today that you are from old Virginia!” His division responded hearily with cheers.12
After a two-hour cannon duel, the three divisions stepped off from the trees on Seminary Ridge. It was about 3 p.m.
The men on the Union line watched in amazement as the Confederate line emerged, stretching over a mile, and onto the fields as they advanced toward Cemetery Ridge. Pickett’s men were fresh, which was obvious from their new uniforms. The other two divisions had been in battle recently, and that was also obvious. Torn, ragged uniforms covered men who were clearly malnourished, tired, and many limped. Some were bandaged from wounds received earlier in the fight – but if they could walk, they were going to charge.
As the Confederates walked into the field between the ridges, Union artillery from Cemetery Ridge to Little Round Top opened on them. “Men fell like pins in a strike,” one soldier remembered. The survivors closed ranks and continued to press forward. By the time they reached the Emmitsburg Road, which was within an easy distance on which to fire by musket, the Union infantry, hiding behind the stone wall on Cemetery Ridge, rose and opened fire. Sheets of bullets, resembling a massive thunderbolt, exploded from thousands of muskets. “Men fall in heaps, still fighting, bleeding, dying,” one Virginian recalled. “Death lurks in every inch of space.” About sixty percent of the men advancing fell to wounds, death, and capture. The battle lasted less than an hour. After the Confederate retreat, soldiers counted two thousand dead Confederates between the Emmitsburg Road and the Angle.13
Many historians have wondered where Pickett was during the ill-fated charge. As a division commander, Pickett was not expected to be in the front lines. One member of his staff claimed that Pickett was “between the Emmitsburg Road and the Cemetery Heights” during the assault. All three of Pickett’s brigade commanders fell, and only one of them survived. All but one regimental commander was either wounded or killed. Of the nearly five thousand men in Pickett’s Division at Gettysburg, only 800 answered roll call the next morning.14
Pickett was stunned at the outcome of the charge. As he and Lee met on Seminary Ridge after the fight, Lee, somewhat condescending in his tone, said to the broken commander, “General Pickett, place your division.”15
Pickett replied, clearly distraught, “General Lee, I have no division now.”16
Harry Heth was never blamed for his disobedience that began the battle that eventually ended the Confederacy, but Pickett never recovered from the stigma of his failed charge. Additionally, George Pickett never forgave Robert E. Lee for costing him his division at Gettysburg. Lee, too, maintained a frosty relationship with Pickett after Gettysburg.17
The two cousins continued with the war until the bitter end at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Once the surrender was completed, both men visited some of their former West Point classmates on the other side. Among them was Ulysses S. Grant, who shared some whiskey with them.18
Like most Confederate combatants, Heth and Pickett returned penniless to Virginia. Undaunted, Harry quickly reunited with old friends from the North. While visiting Winfield S. Hancock in Baltimore, Heth brushed off the comment about past offenses. “The war is over,” he said to Hancock. Soon after that meeting, Heth found Ambrose Burnside in New York. The two former West Point classmates embraced and neither spoke for several minutes. They embarked in a business venture together, selling insurance. Heth lacked the business acumen of his father, and he was never wealthy, but his friendships on both sides of the former conflict flourished.19
Pickett’s post-war life was the antithesis of his cousin’s. He had married for a third time during the war, and his new bride LaSalle Corbell Pickett provided great comfort to an otherwise embittered veteran. Pickett lived for a time in Canada with his family, under the assumed name Edwards. Unable to work, he depended on the generosity of friends and sympathizers. In 1864, Pickett had executed several North Carolina men who had switched allegiances, and President Andrew Johnson intended to arrest Pickett for war crimes. Once Grant ascended to the Presidency in 1868, Pickett was able to return to Virginia.20
Shortly after his return, Pickett and his friend John Singleton Mosby, encountered an aged and ill Robert E. Lee at a hotel dining room in Richmond. Mosby was surprised at the cold interchange between Lee and Pickett. Later, Pickett confided to Mosby, “That old man had my division slaughtered at Gettysburg.”21
Like his cousin Harry, Pickett attempted to sell insurance, but disliked the work. He attended some of the Confederate reunions, where he was always warmly received. He frequently wrote to General Longstreet, who also suffered recriminations from the war. The pair consoled one another in the aftermath of the conflict that ruined their lives.
While traveling to Norfolk on insurance business, Pickett was struck with a fever. The fever progressed to a gastric ailment that rendered him unable to work. The disease produced an abscess on his liver which proved fatal. Pickett died on July 30, 1875, at the age of fifty. He was buried with some of his division who fell at Gettysburg, in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.22
Harry Heth outlived most of his West Point friends, colleagues, and former foes. He died in Washington, D.C. in the autumn of 1899 of Bright’s Disease. He was 73. He, too, has his final resting place in Hollywood Cemetery.23
They were alike in many ways, these two Virginia cousins. Born in the same year, just miles apart, their outcomes were diametrically different, caused by the grim destiny of war. Both will be forever remembered for the roles they played in the most pivotal battle of the conflict, on different fields, different days, at the place called Gettysburg.
Pickett's Charge: The Gettysburg Cyclorama
(Author photo)
Sources: Battle Report, Brig. Gen. Alexander Hays, Third Div., Union Second Corps, copy, Gettysburg National Military Park (hereafter GNMP). Coddington, Edwin B. The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1968. Foote, Shelby. Stars in Their Courses. New York: Random House, 1994. Gordon, Lesley J. General George E. Pickett in Life and Legend. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1990. Harrison, Kathy Georg. Nothing But Glory: Pickett’s Division at Gettysburg. Gettysburg, PA: Thomas Publications, 1987. Heth, Henry. The Memoirs of Harry Heth. Edited by James L. Morrison. Greenwood Press, 1974. Longacre, Edward. General John Buford: A Military Biography. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Publishing, 1995. Mosby, Colonel John S. Mosby’s Memoirs. Published by J.S. Sanders & Company, 1917. Oates, Stephen B. With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Harper & Row, 1977. Owen, Richard and James Owen. Generals at Rest. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Publishing, 1997. Pfanz, Harry W. Gettysburg: The First Day. Chapel Hill & London: University of North Carolina Press, 2001. Rollins, Richard, ed. Pickett’s Charge! Eyewitness Accounts. Redondo Beach, CA: Rank & File Publications, 1994. Selcer, Richard E. “Faithfully and Forever Your Soldier”: Gen. George E. Pickett, CSA. Gettysburg, PA: Farnsworth House Military Impressions, 1995. Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge & London: Louisiana State University Press, 1959 (reprint, 1994). Whitney, David C. and Robin Vaughn Whitney. The American Presidents. New York: Doubleday Books, 1993.
End Notes:
1. Warner, p. 239. Whitney, p. 56.
2. Warner, p. 133. Heth, p. 11.
3. Heth, p. 12.
4. Selcer, p. 8. Oates, pp. 39, 58. John Todd Stuart was the cousin of Mary Todd. He often spoke highly of Lincoln to the Picketts.
5. Heth, p. 14. Warner, pp. 132, 239.
6. Heth, p. 102.
7. Gordon, p. 36.
8. Heth, p. 181.
9. Selcer, pp. 26-27. Coddington, p. 12.
10. Pfanz, p. 52, 59. Longacre, p. 189.
11. Ibid.
12. Foote, p. 213.
13. Rollins, pp. 169, 180. Battle Report, Hays, GNMP.
14. Coddington, p. 505. Rollins, p. 195. Harrison, p. 128.
15. Selcer, p. 35.
16. Ibid.
17. Harrison, p. 124.
18. Heth, p. 200.
19. Ibid., p. 202.
20. Selcer, pp. 51-52.
21. Mosby, p. 381.
22. Warner, p. 240. Selcer, p. 55.
23. Owen, pp. 266, 278. Harrison, p. 123. Heth’s widow survived until 1907.
