Henry Heth
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Major-General Henry Heth |
|
|---|---|
General Heth
|
|
| Nickname(s) | "Harry" |
| Born |
December 16, 1825 Black Heath, Virginia |
| Died | September 27, 1899 (aged 73) Washington, D.C. |
| Resting place | Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia |
| Allegiance |
 United States Confederate States
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army Confederate States Army
|
| Years of service | 1847–61 (USA) 1861–65 (CSA) |
| Rank |
 Captain (USA) Major-General (CSA)
|
| Battles/wars | Indian Wars |
| Relations | George Pickett (cousin) |
Henry Heth (/ˈhiːθ/ not /ˈhɛθ/) (December 16, 1825 – September 27, 1899) was a career United States Army officer who became a Confederate general in the American Civil War.
He came to the notice of Robert E. Lee while serving briefly as his quartermaster, and was given a brigade in the Third Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia commanded by A.P. Hill, whose division he commanded when the latter was wounded at Chancellorsville. He is generally blamed for accidentally starting the Battle of Gettysburg by sending half his division into the town before the rest of the army was fully prepared. Later in the day, Confederate troops succeeded in routing a Union corps, but at a heavy cost in casualties. Heth continued to command his division during the remainder of the war and briefly took command of the Third Corps in April 1865 after the death of General Hill. Heth surrendered with the rest of Lee's army on April 9.
Henry Heth was born at Black Heath in Chesterfield County, Virginia, son of United States Navy Captain John Heth, and Margaret L. Pickett. He was a cousin of George Pickett. He usually went by "Harry," the name also preferred by his grandfather, American Revolutionary War Colonel Henry Heth, who had established the Heth family in the coal business in the Virginia Colony after emigrating from England about 1759. (The name Heth is pronounced as Heath.)
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