Sallie Ann (LaSalle) Corbell Pickett, ca. 1875

LaSalle "Sallie" Corbell Pickett (May 16, 1843 – March 22, 1931) was an American author and the wife of Confederate General George Pickett.

Early life

LaSalle "Sallie" Corbell was born in Chuckatuck, Virginia, on May 16, 1843, the daughter of David John Corbell and Elizabeth Phillips, slaveholders and plantation owners near Suffolk.[1][2]

She attended the Lynchburg Female Seminary in Lynchburg, Virginia.[2]

Career

Mrs. Pickett, after 1910

Pickett obtained a professorship in belles-lettres and taught French, Latin and piano in Sherbrooke, Canada. She also sold her jewelry to maintain the family. After General Ulysses S. Grant insisted that the cartel which granted privileges to her husband should be honored, General Pickett and his family returned to their home in Virginia. Pickett accepted a position with the New York Life Insurance Company in Norfolk, with a large salary.[1][2]

Her husband died of scarlet fever in 1875. She received donations from across the Southern United States, and a subscription was started with eight thousand dollars from one State, and pledges of thousands more. Hearing of that plan to provide her with financial security, Pickett resolutely declined to accept financial aid, and soon obtained a position as a government clerk in the Federal Pensions Office sufficient to support herself and son. In the 1880s, she became a popular writer and speaker. Her first book was published in 1899, "Pickett and His Men". Between 1899 and 1931 she toured America and wrote for Cosmopolitan, McClure's and other popular magazines; she also published a dozen books.[1][2]

In 1891, after recovering from an accident, she was threatened with total blindness. With health broken and the almost total loss of her sight, she retained her position in the clerical service of the government.[1]

Personal life

General Pickett and LaSalle Corbell Pickett, 1863
"A Woman of the Century"

Sallie Corbell married Gen. George Pickett on September 15, 1863, a short time after his famous charge at Gettysburg. They had two sons: George Edward Pickett (1864–1911), who died at sea returning from the Philippines on an Army transport ship, and David Corbell Pickett (1866–1874), who died in childhood. When the war was over, fearing retaliation for his hanging of 22 Union soldiers, the General and his wife went to Canada for a year, living at the St. Laurent Hotel in Montreal.[1][2]

She died on March 22, 1931, and was originally buried at Abbey Mausoleum, Arlington National Cemetery, due to the fact that women weren't allowed to be buried in the Confederate section of Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. In 1998 she was reinterred in front of her husband.

Works

  • Pickett and His Men (1899)
  • Kunnoo Sperits and Others (1900)
  • Yule Log (1900)
  • Ebil Eye (1901)
  • Jinny (1901)
  • Digging Through to Manila (1905)
  • Literary Hearthstones of Dixie (1912)
  • The Bugles of Gettysburg (1913)
  • The Heart of a Soldier, As Revealed in the Intimate Letters of Gen'l George E. Pickett, C.S.A. (1913)
  • Across My Path: Memories of People I Have Known (1916)
  • What Happened to Me … (1917)
  • Soldier of the South: General Pickett's War Letters to His Wife (edited by Arthur Crew Inman, 1928)[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Willard, Frances Elizabeth, 1839-1898; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice, 1820-1905 (1893). A woman of the century; fourteen hundred-seventy biographical sketches accompanied by portraits of leading American women in all walks of life. Buffalo, N.Y., Moulton. p. 570-571. Retrieved 8 August 2017.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "LaSalle Corbell Pickett (1843–1931)". Retrieved 1 September 2017.
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