Category: Civil War Women

Wife of Confederate General George Pickett Image: A publicity photo taken during her early years as an author and narrator LaSalle Corbell Pickett was a prolific author and lecturer, and the third wife of George Pickett, the Confederate general best known for his participation in the doomed assault known as Pickett’s Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg. She gave her birth year as 1848 in order to perpetuate the myth that she was the Child Bride of the Confederacy, and was only 15 years old when she married General Pickett. Early Years According to the Corbell family Bible: “Sallie Ann Corbell, daughter of John David [Corbell] and Elizabeth, his wife, was born the 16th of May, 1843.” Above the entry…

Wife of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart Flora Cooke was born in Missouri on January 3, 1836, the daughter of Virginia career Army officer Philip St. George Cooke. Educated at a private boarding school in Detroit, Flora met the dashing James Ewell Brown (JEB) Stuart while her father was commanding the 2nd U.S. Dragoons at Fort Leavenworth. His friends called him “Jeb.” Stuart had recently graduated from West Point and was stationed on the Kansas frontier. As befitted the daughter of a colonel of cavalry, Flora was a skilled horsewoman, and she soon began going on long evening rides with Stuart. The young officer was as taken with Flora as she was with him, and it did not take him long…

Fiancee of General John Reynolds Catherine Mary Hewitt became engaged to future Union General John Reynolds in California in the late 1850s. Since they were from different religious denominations – Reynolds was a Protestant, Hewitt a Catholic – she kept their engagement a secret, even from her parents. Kate and Reynolds had decided that if he were killed during the war and they could not marry, she would join a convent. Born in Stillwater, Saratoga County, New York, there is some dispute about the year of Kate Hewitt’s birth but 1836, despite the date on her grave marker, appears to be the most consistent and logical year. Her life from the beginning was tragic and tumultuous as she lost her…

Wife of Confederate General Richard Ewell Lizinka Campbell was the daughter of a Tennessee State senator, who was also Minister to Russia under President James Monroe. She was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1820, and was named for the Russian Czarina who had become her mother’s close friend. She grew up to be a beautiful young lady. Image: General Richard Ewell Somewhere along the way, Lizinka’s first cousin, Richard Stoddert Ewell, developed a great love for her. He was born in the District of Columbia and raised in Virginia. Though he sought Lizinka’s hand, she married another man. On April 25, 1839, Lizinka married James Percy Brown, a lawyer who owned plantations in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. When he…

Wife of General William Tecumseh Sherman Ellen Ewing was a beautiful young woman who played the harp and the piano. After their marriage, the Shermans moved frequently and suffered many long separations as they followed the fortunes of William’s military and business careers. Then the Civil War completely disrupted their lives. Eleanor “Ellen” Boyle Ewing, the eldest daughter of Thomas Ewing and Maria Wills Boyle Ewing, was born October 4, 1824, and grew up in Lancaster, Ohio. Thomas Ewing’s close friend Charles R. Sherman, a judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, died suddenly in 1829, leaving his widow with a family of young children. Thomas Ewing adopted William Tecumseh Sherman. Over the years, as Ellen and William grew up…

Wife of Confederate General Robert E. Lee Mary Anna Randolph Custis, great-granddaughter of Martha Washington, was born on October 1, 1808, the only surviving child of George Washington Wash Custis and Mary Fitzhugh. Wash was raised by George and Martha Washington after the death of his father (Martha’s son from a previous marriage). In 1802 he had settled his family in a quaint four-room brick home he named Arlington. As Mary grew, so did Arlington, as Wash invested time and money in its expansion. Mary usually found willing playmates among the children of the Arlington slaves. It’s interesting to note that neither Wash nor Molly supported or believed in slavery. Molly, like many abolitionists, set out to change things, and…