General Heth started the battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, when he marched his troops down the Chambersburg Pike and ran into General John Buford's Cavalry

He was severely wounded during the Battle of Gettysburg

Image by Vannerson & Jones, Richmond, Vairginia

(1825-99) Born in Chesterfield County, Virginia, he was the son of United States Navy Captain John Heth, and Margaret L. Pickett, sister of Robert Pickett, who was the father of Confederate general, George Pickett, Henry Heth's first cousin. He usually went by the name of "Harry," the name also preferred by his grandfather, American Revolutionary War Colonel Henry Heth. He graduated in the West Point class of 1847, and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant and assigned to the 1st Infantry Regiment. His antebellum career was served primarily on western outposts. In 1858, he created the first marksmanship manual for the Army. At the outbreak of the War Between the States, Heth resigned his commission in the U.S. Army, and joined the Confederate States Army, where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. His initial assignment was to muster and drill regiments of state militia in southwestern Virginia. He was commissioned colonel of the 45th Virginia Infantry, and saw action under General John B. Floyd in the 1861 western Virginia campaign leading his regiment in the battles of Kessler's Cross Lanes, and Carnifex Ferry. He was promoted to brigadier general to rank from January 6, 1862, and took part in the Kentucky campaign under General Edmund Kirby Smith. He then joined the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee, and was assigned a brigade in General A.P. Hill's division, which he led at Chancellorsville. He fought with aggressive qualities in his first large-scale combat, attacking without reserves against a Union force emerging from the Wilderness. Heth assumed command of General Hill's division after Hill assumed corps command after General Stonewall Jackson's wounding. Following the death of Jackson, Lee reorganized his army into three corps, promoting Hill to the command of the Third Corps. Heth retained his division command under Hill and was promoted to major general on May 24, 1863. It was General "Harry" Heth who started the battle of Gettysburg when on the morning of July 1, 1863, he advanced with two of his brigades down the Chambersburg Pike towards Gettysburg expecting only to meet some local militia. Instead he ran into General John Buford's dismounted cavalry who were armed with repeating carbines and the battle of Gettysburg commenced in earnest. General Heth was severely wounded in the battle, but managed to participate in all of the subsequent engagements of the army including the 1864 Overland Campaign, the Battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and the Appomattox Campaign. Heth surrendered with General Robert E. Lee's army at Appomattox Court House, Va., on April 9, 1865. After the war, he worked in the insurance business, and later served the government as a surveyor, and worked in the Office of Indian Affairs. He died in Washington, D.C., on September 27, 1899, and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery, in Richmond, Virginia. Heth served as the first Commander of the "Centennial Legion of Historic Military Commands" when it was founded in 1876.

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 4 card. Bust view in Confederate uniform. Back mark: Vannerson & Jones Photographers 77 Main Street, Richmond, Va., with a 2 cents orange George Washington, U.S. Internal Revenue tax stamp on the verso. Very nice image. Desirable Confederate Gettysburg general with Richmond imprint. Very scarce.