{⋆★⋆} MG Heth, Henry

Henry "Harry" Heth​

Born: December 16, 1825

Birthplace: Black Heath, Virginia

Father: Captain John Heth 1798 – 1848

Mother: Margaret L. Pickett 1801 – 1850

Wife: Harriett Clay Selden 1834 – 1908

(Buried: Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia)​

Children:

Nannie Randolph Heth 1861 – 1912​

(Buried: Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia)​

Education:

1847: Graduate from West Point Military Academy – (38th​ in class)​

Occupation:

1847: Brevet 2nd​ Lt. United States Army, 1st​ Infantry Regiment

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1847 – 1853: 2nd​ Lt. United States Army, 6th​ Infantry Regiment​

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1853 – 1855: 1st​ Lt. United States Army, 6th​ Infantry Regiment​

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1855 – 1861: Captain United States Army, 10th​ Infantry Regiment​

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1861: Resigned from United States Army on April 25th​​

Civil War Career:

1861: Lt. Colonel & Quartermaster Virginia Provisional Army​

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1861: Spent a majority of the year in Kanawha Valley, Virginia​

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1862 – 1863: Brigadier General in the Confederate Army Infantry​

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Commanded a Division in Confederate Department of East Tennessee​

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1863: Participated in the Battle of Chancellorsville​

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1863 – 1865: Major General of Confederate Army Infantry​

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1863: Wounded during the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania​

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1864: Division Commander during the Overland Campaign

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1864: Division Commander during the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia​

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1865: Led his Division in the retreat to Appomattox, Virginia​

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1865: Surrendered with General Lee at Appomattox Court House, VA​

Occupation after War:

Insurance Businessman in Richmond, Virginia​

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Surveyor for United States Office of Indian Affairs​

Died: September 27, 1899

Place of Death: Washington, D.C.

Cause of Death: Bright's Disease

Age at time of Death: 73 years old

Burial Place: Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia

 

[Pollaco]

From what I've read Heth was originally promoted to Major General in Oct. 1862 but the commission was not confirmed. He was later recommissioned a Major General on May 24, 1863.

 

[Pollaco]

It was alledged that Robert E. Lee once called him "Henry". The only case of Lee calling any of His generals by their first name.

 

[Pollaco]

According to the Myth this the general who started it all at Gettysburg by looking for shoes isn't it.?

 

[nc native]

Harry Heth was a cousin of George E. Pickett on his mother's side of the family. Finishng near the bottom of their graduating classes at West Point must run in the family I guess. Events on day one at Gettysburg may have turned out differently had Heth not been knocked silly by a spent bullet while directing his troops and effectively taken out of the battle.

 

[John Hartwell]

Henry Heth's obituary, from the Washington Times, September 27, 1899:

 

[John Wolf Smith]

Heth could have been commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department.

 

[gentlemanrob]

Happy Birthday Major General Henry Heth! Salutes remembering General Heth on his birthday.

 

[Pollaco]

Harry Heth was a cousin of George E. Pickett on his mother's side of the family. Finishng near the bottom of their graduating classes at West Point must run in the family I guess. Events on day one at Gettysburg may have turned out differently had Heth not been knocked silly by a spent bullet while directing his troops and effectively taken out of the battle.

He was at the very bottom of his West Point class in 1847.Some of his Classmates were A.P. Hill and Ambrose Burnside. There were almost a dozen others as well.

 

[USS ALASKA]

The Memoirs of Henry Heth (Contributions in Military Studies) by James Morrison

"Of particular interest to students of history are Heth's accounts of life in the Army and the United States before and after the Civil War....Morrison's introductory essay on Heth the man, Indian fighter, Confederate general and loyal Virginian, is a masterpiece of scholarship, subtle wit and graceful writing." - Military Review

Amazon.com: The Memoirs of Henry Heth (Contributions in Military Studies): 9780837163895: Morrison, James: Books

Amazon.com: The Memoirs of Henry Heth (Contributions in Military Studies): 9780837163895: Morrison, James: Books

www.amazon.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[John Hartwell]

Heth was apparently quite a horseman and marksman. He had written a marksmanship manual for the Army. I also read in Sir Richard Francis Burton's The City of the Saints: and across the Rocky Mountains to California:

"The Indians generally hunt the buffalo with arrows. They are so expert in riding that they will, at full speed, draw the missile from the victim's flank before it falls. I have met but one officer, Captain Heth, of the 10th Regiment, who ever acquired this art"(p. 52.)​

Burton spent a good deal of time with Heth at Fort Floyd and Salt Lake City, and the two became close friends. Burton's trip was in the summer of 1860, and he has some interesting observations (he is always highly opinionated) about Americans and American politics and military affairs at the time. He notes that as he was writing the manuscript for the book, he heard of Mr. Lincoln's election.

 

[Luke Freet]

According to the Myth this the general who started it all at Gettysburg by looking for shoes isn't it.?

Indeed, his division was the one which initiated combat with Buford on the first day. Though the search for shoes is a myth.

 

[Luke Freet]

Henry "Harry" Heth​

View attachment 337491

Born: December 16, 1825

Birthplace: Black Heath, Virginia

Father: Captain John Heth 1798 – 1848

Mother: Margaret L. Pickett 1801 – 1850

Wife: Harriett Clay Selden 1834 – 1908

(Buried: Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia)​

Children:

Nannie Randolph Heth 1861 – 1912
(Buried: Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia)​

Education:

1847: Graduate from West Point Military Academy – (38th​ in class)​

Occupation:

1847: Brevet 2nd​ Lt. United States Army, 1st​ Infantry RegimentView attachment 337492


1847 – 1853: 2nd​ Lt. United States Army, 6th​ Infantry Regiment


1853 – 1855: 1st​ Lt. United States Army, 6th​ Infantry Regiment


1855 – 1861: Captain United States Army, 10th​ Infantry Regiment


1861: Resigned from United States Army on April 25th​​

Civil War Career:

1861: Lt. Colonel & Quartermaster Virginia Provisional Army


1861: Spent a majority of the year in Kanawha Valley, Virginia


1862 – 1863: Brigadier General in the Confederate Army Infantry


Commanded a Division in Confederate Department of East Tennessee


1863: Participated in the Battle of Chancellorsville


1863 – 1865: Major General of Confederate Army Infantry


1863: Wounded during the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania


1864: Division Commander during the Overland CampaignView attachment 338724


1864: Division Commander during the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia


1865: Led his Division in the retreat to Appomattox, Virginia


1865: Surrendered with General Lee at Appomattox Court House, VA​

Occupation after War:

Insurance Businessman in Richmond, Virginia


Surveyor for United States Office of Indian Affairs​

Died: September 27, 1899

Place of Death: Washington, D.C.

Cause of Death: Bright's Disease

Age at time of Death: 73 years old

Burial Place: Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia

Heth was, as far as I'm aware, a solid division commander, though with few moments of brilliance to his name. He's gotten some criticism for his actions at Gettysburg, though I personally don't find his actions unreasonable given the information he had at the time.
In 1865, he was the senior division commander in Third Corps, and with A. P. Hill's death, was technically its commander, though in practice the command was incorporated into Longstreet's Column.

 

[Sheltowee]

He seemed a pretty brassy fella', to me.

"January 10, 1866 - Gen. Henry Heth, late of the Confederate States army, while on a visit to Cincinnati, examines the earthworks thrown up in the rear of the cities of Covington and Newport, in Sept., 1862, to check the progress of his army. He said he was constantly advised to the accessions of the U. S. forces, and their exact situation, and was abundantly able to capture the three cities. The Cincinnati Commercial reports him as saying that 'he was fully aware of the absence of veterans, and knew when [Union] Gen. Granger came in with his regiment from Corinth. He telegraphed to Gen. Kirby Smith, at Lexington, that he could take Cincinnati with the loss of perhaps a hundred men, and asked for instructions. General Smith's reply ordered him to take the city. He promptly prepared to mass his forces and break the greatly extended and imperfect Federal lines - fixing the time and place to do so. But a second telegraph from Gen. Smith informed him that Gen. Buell's movements made it necessary for Gen. Bragg to concentrate his whole army; that a division could not be spared, even to hold Cincinnati; and after Buell was whipped in Kentucky, the cities on the Ohio river would fall into their hands without further fighting. This compelled a countermand of the order to advance upon the Federal entrenchments, and the Confederate troops moved off rapidly to the center of Kentucky.'" from The History of Kentucky, by the Late Lewis Collins, Judge of the Mason County Court, Revised, Enlarged Four-Fold, and Brought Down to the Year 1874 by His Son, Richard H. Collins, A.M., LL.B.[/center]

 

[Story]

I distinctly remember his counter from AVALON HILL's 'Gettysburg'.

Don't laugh, the context made history stick for a 10 year old.