Gen george pickett civil war general

George Edward Pickett was born in Richmond, Virginia.  He received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at the age of 17, and graduated last in his class at West Point in 1846.  He was immediately sent to participate in the Mexican-American War where he received to brevet promotion for being the first to climb a parapet at the Battle of Chapultepec.  After the Mexican-American War, Pickett continued to serve in the United States military and was assigned to the Washington Territory, where he became involved in a land dispute with Great Britain known as the Pig War.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Pickett resigned from the United States military and was appointed as a colonel in the Confederate army.  After briefly commanding the defense of the Lower Rappahannock River, he was appointed a brigadier general on January 14, 1862.  Pickett first saw combat during the Peninsula Campaign, where he led his brigade at the battles