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land Fusiliers.London: Leo Cooper, 1970.PETTIGREW, JAMESJOHNSTON
Pettigrew, James Johnston
(July 4, 1828–July 17, 1863)
Confederate General
T
he intellectually in-
clined Pettigrew
was a brilliant
scholar and among the
Confederacy’s best-edu-
cated officers. Having ren-
dered distinguished ser-
vice at Gettysburg, he lost
his life three days later in
an insignificant skirmish
and was greatly mourned.
James Johnston Petti-
grew was born in Tyrell
County, North Carolina,
on his parents’ planta-
tion. He was universally
addressed by his middle
name. Pettigrew proved
an exceptionally brilliant
young man, and in 1842
he gained acceptance
into the University of
North Carolina, aged but
- He graduated four
years later as class valedictorian and was in-
vited to spend six months as a professor at
the U.S. Naval Observa-
tory in Washington, D.C.
In 1850, Pettigrew ven-
tured to Germany, where
he spent two years at the
University of Berlin
studying law. He also
traveled throughout Eu-
rope, becoming enam-
ored of the cultures of
Spain and Italy. Although
still relatively young, he
also became fluent in six
languages, including He-
brew and Arabic. In 1853,
Pettigrew moved to Char-
leston, South Carolina,
where he opened a suc-
cessful law practice and
entered politics. Planta-
tion-born and -bred, he
nonetheless opposed the
resumption of the slave
trade. He was, however,
an ardent secessionist and convinced that
war with the North was inevitable. PettigrewJames Johnston Pettigrew
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill