Pickett or Pettigrew?

P

ickett or Pettigrew? This has been a question discussed since shortly after the end of the War for Southern Independence. Once the horrors of the so-called reconstruction of the former Confederate states was over and people of the South could resume a somewhat normal life they began to study the late unpleasantness and shared their stories so future generations would know what had transpired during those four long years of war and sacrifice.

North Carolinians in particular realized their story was not being told, or if told, was inaccurate. The third day of the Battle of Gettysburg was the most egregious.

Many of the officers of North Carolina troops were dead and could not tell their stories. Captain W. R. Bond, a veteran of the Army of Northern Virginia, set out to correct this omission in history with his pamphlet, Pickett or Pettigrew? An Historical Essay, first published in 1888.

The Scuppernong Press is proud to bring this pamphlet back into print for readers in the twenty-first century to learn and enjoy. We hope it will inspire our readers to explore further the events of July 3, 1863.