J. Johnston Pettigrew

Common card · No. 384842

James Johnston Pettigrew (July 4, 1828 – July 17, 1863) was an American writer, lawyer, and soldier. He served in the army of the Confederate States of America, fighting in the 1862 Peninsula Campaign and played a prominent role in the Battle of Gettysburg. Despite starting the Gettysburg campaign commanding a brigade, Pettigrew took over command of his division after the division's original commander, Henry Heth, was wounded. In this role, Pettigrew was one of three division commanders in the disastrous assault known as Pickett's Charge on the final day of Gettysburg. He was wounded, in the right hand, during the Pickett-Pettigrew Charge on July 3, 1863, and was later mortally wounded during the Union Confederate rearguard action while the Confederates retreated to Virginia near Falling Waters, Virginia (now West Virginia), on July 14, dying several days thereafter on July 17, 1863.

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