(December 16, 1825-September 27, 1899) Confederate General
Heth was a solid, capable divisional commander and reputedly the only Confederate officer whom Robert E. Lee addressed by his first name. He is best remembered for an impetuous meeting engagement in Pennsylvania that precipitated the Battle of Gettysburg.
Henry Heth was born in Blackheath, Chesterfield County, Virginia, on December 16, 1825, the son of a former naval officer. Heth was accepted into the U. S. Military Academy at West Point in 1843 and graduated at the very bottom of his class four years later. Commissioned a second lieutenant in the First U. S. Infantry, Heth journeyed south to participate in the final phases of the war against Mexico but saw little action. Over the next 12 years he fulfilled wide-ranging military service along the Western frontier. Heth rose to captain in 1855 with the 10th U. S. Infantry and that year finally experienced combat in the destruction of a Brule Sioux Indian village at Blue Water, Nebraska. Two years later he penned a manual entitled A System of Target Practice that was officially adopted by the army, and in 1858 Heth accompanied Col. Albert Sidney Johnston on the Mormon Expedition. In his career thus far, he had acquired the reputation as a dependable soldier who was brave in battle and attentive toward the needs of his men. Heth was also not particularly active politically, but when Virginia seceded from the Union in April 1861, he followed suit and tendered his services to the Confederacy.
In August 1861, Heth became a lieutenant colonel in the quartermaster service and was initially stationed in western Virginia under Gen. John Buchanan Floyd. There he rose to colonel of the 45th Virginia Infantry and fought in the minor action at Carnifex Ferry on September 10, 1861. President Jefferson Davis initially wanted to post him as commander of Confederate forces in Missouri, but several politically appointed generals, resenting his West Point background, blocked the transfer. Nonetheless, Heth rose to brigadier general in January 1862 and took control of the Lewisburg Military District. In this capacity he fought several successful skirmishes against Union forces, but on May 9, 1862, he was beaten by Col. George Crook at Lewisburg. He then transferred to Chattanooga to serve in the division of Gen. Edmund Kirby-Smith and accompanied the invasion of Kentucky. Shortly after, he received command of the Department of Eastern Tennessee, where he suppressed Unionist activities until February 1863. Heth, however, resentful of being detained in what he considered to be a military backwater, requested and received a transfer to the Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Robert E. Lee. This minor administrative adjustment proved a fateful decision for the South.
In the spring of 1863 Heth assumed command of a brigade in Gen. Ambrose P. Hill’s division, itself part of the I Corps under Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. On May 2, 1863, Heth accompanied Jackson’s famous flank march around the Union right at Chancellorsville. The Confederates were victorious, but Jackson was shot by his own troops and mortally wounded. Heth himself was also slightly wounded in the fighting but refused to quit the field. Later that month he was accorded the rank of major general and granted a division of his own. Unquestionably brave but with a tendency toward rashness, Heth was now singularly positioned to decisively influence upcoming military events.
Victory at Chancellorsville induced General Lee to invade Pennsylvania to seek a decisive victory on Union soil that would make the North sue for peace. However, Union forces under Gen. George G. Meade were still full of fight and pursued him closely. At length Lee ordered a general concentration of forces in the vicinity of Gettysburg, an important road junction. Heth’s division was in the advance but under strict orders not to precipitate an action until the rest of the army had concentrated. On the morning of July 1, 1863, Heth ordered a brigade under James Johnston Pettigrew into Gettysburg to acquire shoes for his barefoot soldiers. En route, this force encountered a brigade of dismounted Union cavalry under Gen. John Buford and was summarily pushed back. Disregarding orders, Heth brought up the balance of his division and renewed the contest. Anxious for a victory, he attacked recklessly without proper reconnaissance and was checked a second time. The increasing din of conflict led other units to congregate in the vicinity, and a major confrontation began unfolding. By the end of the day Lee had won a solid tactical victory, having pushed Union forces out of the town, but they simply retreated to the nearby heights and dug in. Thus, the Confederates were committed to fighting an enemy on the ground of their own choosing. This unhappy circumstance was the direct result of Heth’s impetuosity, which resulted in heavy losses for his division and a serious head wound for Heth. Reputedly, the general survived only because he had stuffed his hat, which was too large, with paper to make it fit. Heth recovered two days later and helped cover the Confederate withdrawal back to Virginia.
Despite Heth’s mishandling of affairs, he was still a popular leader and was closely engaged at Bristoe Station on October 14, 1863. The following summer he rendered useful service at the Wilderness, Cold Harbor, and in the trenches of Petersburg, Virginia. Heth won a surprising victory against the ailing Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock at Ream’s Station on August 24, 1864, capturing 2,000 prisoners. He remained with Lee right to the very end, surrendering along with the rest of the army at Appomattox in April 1865.
After the war Heth settled in Richmond, Virginia, to pursue business. He was largely unsuccessful and eventually found employment with the government. He was also active in veterans’ affairs, giving speeches, writing articles, and penning extensive memoirs about the war years. Heth died in Washington, D. C., on September 27, 1899, and was buried in Richmond. His tombstone was engraved with an appropriate epitaph-“In Action Faithful and In Honor Clear.”
Bibliography Gallagher, Gary W., ed. First Day at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Military Leadership. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1992; Gragg, Rod. Covered with Glory: The 26th North Carolina Infantry at Gettysburg. New York: HarperCollins, 2000; Hassler, William W. “Lee’s Hard Luck General.” Civil War Times Illustrated 5, no. 4 (1966): 12-20; Lowery, Terry. September Blood: The Battle of Carnifex Ferry. Charleston, WV: Pictorial Histories, 1988; Maney, R. Wayne. Marching to Cold Harbor: Victory and Failure. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane, 1995; McWhiney, Grady, ed. Battle in the Wilderness. Fort Worth, TX: Ryan Place, 1995; Morrison, James L., ed. The Memoirs of Henry Heth. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1974; Pfannes, Harry W. Gettysburg- The First Day. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001; Weinert, Richard P. The Confederate Regular Army. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane, 1991.
