George Allen Gilreath
George Allen Gilreath (September 26, 1834 – July 3, 1863) was a Confederate soldier who commanded the North Carolina 55th Regiment during Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. He was killed during the charge, which became known as the high-water mark of the Confederacy. Early years Gilreath was born in Wilkes County, North Carolina, on September 26, 1834, to Noah Gilreath Sr. and Elizabeth Allen of Wilkes County. He grew up on a family plantation where his grandfather Alexander Gilreath had settled in 1776. His grandfather, a Revolutionary War Veteran of the Wilkes County Regiment, operated a grist mill and blacksmith shop and served as tax collector, constable, justice of the peace, postmaster, and school board member. The plantation retained about a dozen slaves worked the land. In his early 20s, Gilreath left North Carolina and bought land in Hempsted County, Arkansas. On July 30, 1857, he married Lurana Gilbert but when his wife and young child died, he came back to Wilkes County. Civil War On March 1, 1862, at age 27, Gilreath volunteered at Wilkesboro, North Carolina, into Company B, 55th N.C. Troops, as a 2nd Lieutenant. The 55th was part of Davis's Brigade, Pettigrew's Division. He