Robert S. Garnett

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This article is about the Civil War Confederate General. For the congressman, see Robert S. Garnett (congressman).

Robert S. Garnett

Robert Selden Garnett (December 16, 1819 – July 13, 1861) was a career military officer, serving in the United States Army until the American Civil War, when be became a Confederate States Army brigadier general. He was the first general officer killed in the Civil War.

[edit] Early life and career

Garnett was born at the family plantation in Essex County, Virginia. Along with his cousin, Richard B. Garnett, Robert attended the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, graduating 27th in a class of 52. Seven classmates, including his cousin, would die in combat in the Civil War. He was assigned as a second lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Artillery in July 1841. He spent a year on the Northern Frontier during the Canada Border Disturbances, serving in Buffalo and Fort Ontario in New York before being assigned garrison duty at Fort Monroe in his native Virginia. In 1843 Garnett became an assistant tactics instructor at West Point before becoming an army recruiter and then an Aide-de-camp to General Wool. Garnett served in the Mexican-American War under Zachary Taylor and received two brevets for distinguished service, one at the Battle of Monterrey and the other for "Gallant and Meritorious Conduct" in the Battle of Buena Vista.

In 1848, he transferred to the 7th U.S. Infantry and served in the Seminole Wars in Florida before heading to the Presidio of Monterey, California. After a brief stint on a review board in Washington D.C., he served on the frontier in Texas, being promoted to captain. He returned to West Point as Commandant of Cadets before being transferred to garrison duty in Virginia. Being named a captain in the 1st U.S. Cavalry, he once again served on the frontier. The much travelled Garnett was promoted to Major of the 9th U.S. Infantry and went west to the Washington Territory, where he served in the 1856 Yakima Expedition and the 1858 fighting against the Puget Sound Indians. He designed and supervised the construction of Fort Simcoe. He requested and was granted an extended leave of absence later that year when his wife and young son died from disease and he returned east to bury their remains. Still in mourning, he was travelling in Europe when the Confederate States of America were formed.

[edit] Civil War

When Virginia seceded from the United States, Garnett resigned his commission in April 1861 and became Adjutant General of the Virginia troops, serving under Robert E. Lee. In June, he was assigned as brigadier general of the Provisional Army. At the start of the Civil War, Union forces had rapidly crossed the Ohio River to seize a portion of northwestern Virginia (now a part of West Virginia), winning a key victory at the Battle of Phillipi. On June 15, Lee assigned Garnett to reorganize the Confederate forces in the area. He deployed his forces at strategic points along the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike, hoping to defend the vital supply route from the Federal troops. A series of small battles occurred, with the Confederates being forced to withdraw under pressure from George B. McClellan's Union forces.

After a defeat at Battle of Rich Mountain, Garnett withdrew from his Laurel Hill entrenchments under cover of darkness, hoping to escape to northern Virginia with his 4,500 men. However, he received what later proved to be false information that his escape route to Beverly was blocked by Union troops. He instead marched to the northeast, following ridges and valleys in a more circuituous route. Pursued for several days by as many as 20,000 Federals, Garnett paused at several stream crossings to slow his adversaries. While directing his rear guard in a delaying action at Corrick's Ford, Garnett was shot and killed during a Union volley. A friend in the Union army would recover his body after Garnett's remaining men had fled.

In recognition of Garnett's service during the Mexican War, a Federal honor guard conveyed his body under a flag of truce to his relatives, who buried Garnett in Baltimore, Maryland. He was later re-interred next to his wife in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, one of two Confederate generals buried there. His headstone makes no mention of his military service, simply bearing his name and the legend "To My Wife and Child."

In California, the General Robert S. Garnett Chapter 2570 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was named in his memory and honor. They funded a monument to Garnett, who had designed California's State Seal during his brief stint serving at the Presidio in Monterey in 1849.