Small clipping meas. approx. 1.75 x 1.00 inch. Bold ink inscription reads “H. HETH / MAJ. GNL.” in two lines. Reverse does have some writing on the back that is visible on front but it does not obscure this rare Confederate autograph.

Henry Heth was born December 16, 1825 at Black Heath, Chesterfield County, Virginia. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at the bottom of his class in 1847. He was commissioned a brevet 2^nd Lieutenant and assigned to the 1^st Infantry Regiment. His antebellum career was served primarily in western posts. He was serving as a 1^st Lieutenant in the 6th Infantry when another officer refused a captaincy in the new 10th Infantry on March 3, 1855, and Heth was appointed in his place. He played a prominent role in the 1855 Battle of Ash Hollow leading a company of mounted infantry against the Lakota. In 1858, he created the first marksmanship manual for the Army.

After the Civil War began at Fort Sumter, Heth resigned from the U.S. Army and joined the Confederacy. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and served for a brief time as Robert E. Lee's quartermaster in the Virginia Provisional Army. He spent the remainder of 1861 in the Kanawha Valley in western Virginia in the 5th and 45th Virginia Infantry regiments. He was promoted to Brigadier General on January 6, 1862.

In March 1863, Lee brought Heth into his command, the Army of Northern Virginia, as a brigade commander in Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill's division. He assumed temporary command of the division when Hill was wounded. Following the death of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, Lee reorganized his army into three corps, promoting Hill to the Third Corps. Heth retained his division command and was promoted to Major General on May 24, 1863.

Heth's division made history by inadvertently starting the Battle of Gettysburg. Marching east from Cashtown on July 1, 1863, Heth sent two brigades ahead in a reconnaissance in force. The brigades made contact with Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. John Buford and the famous battle began with its unhappy results for the Confederacy.

Harry Heth commanded his division through the 1864 Overland Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg. Following the death of Gen. A.P. Hill on April 2, 1865, Heth briefly took over command of the Third Corps. Heth led his troops in the retreat of the Appomattox Campaign to Appomattox Court House, where he surrendered with Lee on April 9, 1865.

After the war, Heth worked in the insurance business and later served the government as a surveyor and 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.

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