All he's got is the buffet. I'm not suggesting we start a campaign to get him one, but does he deserve one? Personally, I don't think so - he did his job at Gettysburg, but I don't think his service rose to monument stature. Anybody disagree?
Interesting that Pickett's charge is generally considered praiseworthy - or at least valiant - while Grant's Cold Harbor attack is held in a negative light.
Interesting that Pickett's charge is generally considered praiseworthy - or at least valiant - while Grant's Cold Harbor attack is held in a negative light.
I don't know if Pickett would have wanted a monument to such a monumental failing, and the decimation of his division. Didn't he blame Lee for that, even after the war?
I wonder if there ever was an attempt to have a Pickett monument at Gettysburg?
In the 1890's and the 1900's, after the wounds weren't quite so fresh, there was a push to commemorate and preserve the battlefields of the Civil War while the veterans were still around. I believe there were several commissions, not a singular commission. I know Shiloh had their own commission. Anyway, I don't think it was a case of the victors deciding history, but rather the victors wanting to preserve the victory more than the south wanted to preserve the loss. Throw in the fact that the north had more money for monuments, and it becomes obvious as to why there are more monuments to northern generals and regiments than there are to the southern heroes. I can't say for certain, but I would guess that if the south had won, Fredericksburg may be better preserved. I don't think many parts of the south wanted to memorialize, commemorate, and put money into preservation and monumemtation the way the north did.
I think to place a new monument on a battlefield now, there are a LOT of hoops to jump through. Maybe someday, descendants and/or fans of Pickett will jump through the hoops, raise the money, and petition for a monument. I wouldn't hold my breath.
Just an opinion from a westerner.
It's interesting to note Sickles also has a monument. Not that this is an argument for or against Pickett having one, but food for thought.
To continue the argument..
General Armistead is honored both with a monument and a marker showing where he fell.
I can find no reason, save his death, why he is more deserving that Pickett of commemoration, except that Pickett became a vocal critic of Lee.