21. George Pickett, United States Army, Confederate States Army
George Pickett descended from an old and established Virginia dynasty, raised on his family’s plantation estate at Turkey Island, near Richmond. He was an ardent defender of slavery, and studied law briefly in Springfield, Illinois, where he consulted with then State Representative Abraham Lincoln. Legend has it that Lincoln secured Pickett’s appointment to West Point as part of the class of 1846, though the story is false. As a state representative, no appointments were available for the future President. Pickett graduated last in his class, and accepted a commission in the infantry, served in the Mexican-American War gained national fame for his exploits, and remained in the Army through the antebellum period.
His most famous exploit during the Civil War, in which he rose to command a division with the rank of major general, was the charge he led on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Pickett’s Charge led to casualties of over 50% for the Confederates, though it became known to some romanticists as the high-water mark of the Confederacy. After Gettysburg, while in North Carolina, Pickett ordered the execution of 22 prisoners of war, claiming they were deserters from a North Carolina regiment who had gone over to the Union. The war crime forced Pickett to flee to Canada following the war, fearing prosecution. He remained in Canada for over a year before receiving word that the matter had been dropped by the US Army investigators.