Richard B. Garnett

Richard Brooke Garnett (November 21, 1817 – July 3, 1863) was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He was unjustly court-martialed by Stonewall Jackson for his retreat at the First Battle of Kernstown after Jackson’s poorly planned attack failed. Jackson, who rarely accepted blame for his military mistakes sought to deflect from his defeat by charging Garnett. The charges were quickly dismissed by General Robert E. Lee. Garnett was killed during Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. Some have speculated that Jackson unjust treatment of Garnett led to his death.

Early life Garnett was born on the "Rose Hill" estate in Essex County, Virginia, the son of William Henry Garnett and Anna Maria Brooke, both of primarily English ancestry. He had a twin brother, William, who died in Norfolk in 1855. He was the cousin of Robert M. T. Hunter as well as Robert Selden Garnett, also a Confederate general, who holds the dubious distinction of being the first general officer killed during the Civil War. Both of the Garnetts graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1841, with Richard standing 29th out of 52 cadets, two spots below Robert. Garnett was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 6th U.S. Infantry and he served in a variety of posts in Florida, fighting the Seminoles, and then in the West, where he commanded Fort Laramie, rode with the Utah Expedition, and was a noted Indian fighter.

During the Mexican–American War, he served in staff positions in New Orleans, and was promoted to first lieutenant on February 16, 1847. along with Longstreet, Richard S. Ewell, and others at his funeral.

Gettysburg and death

During the Gettysburg campaign, Garnett's brigade continued in the division of George Pickett and, due to the order of march, did not reach the battlefield from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, until late on the afternoon of July 2, 1863, missing the first two days of the Battle of Gettysburg. Pickett's division was assigned by Gen. Lee to lead a great assault on the Union's center on Cemetery Ridge on July 3. Garnett's brigade was in the front rank of Pickett's division, on the left, next to Brig. Gen. James L. Kemper's brigade. Garnett was in no shape to lead an infantry charge; he was suffering from fever and an injured leg when his horse kicked him and he could not walk. But Garnett yearned to settle the record of his military dishonor from Kernstown, which the aborted court-martial could not. Despite protestations from other officers, Garnett insisted on leading his soldiers into battle on horseback, becoming a conspicuous target for Union riflemen.

Prior to starting out toward the Union defenses on Cemetery Ridge, Garnett conversed with Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead, another of Pickett's brigade commanders, about the proposed charge. Garnett reportedly said: "This is a desperate thing to attempt" to which Armistead added his prediction that "the slaughter will be terrible."

Garnett got within 20 yards of the "Angle" on Cemetery Ridge before he was killed, a bullet striking him in the head as he waved his hat to urge his men forward. His courier, Private Robert H. Irvine of the 19th Virginia, witnessed his death. Irvine's horse was hit and fell on Garnett, so the private pulled Garnett's body from underneath the animal and retrieved the general's watch, which he gave to the brigade adjutant. There are conflicting stories about whether Garnett's horse, a bay gelding named Red Eye, returned to the Confederate lines. Although Garnett was wearing a new uniform, somehow his body was never identified and he was buried by Union soldiers in a mass grave. Robert K. Krick presumes that his remains were later transferred to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. Garnett and Armistead were both killed; Kemper was gravely wounded.

In memoriam

In 1872, remains of Confederate dead were brought from Gettysburg and reinterred to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. The Hollywood Memorial Association erected a cenotaph in Garnett's honor in 1991, making the assumption that his remains were in this group. Years after the war, Garnett's sword was located in a Baltimore pawnshop and was purchased by former Confederate Brig. Gen. George H. Steuart, who died before he could return it to Garnett's family. It was subsequently returned by Steuart's nephew.

In popular media Garnett was portrayed by American actor Andrew Prine in the 1993 film Gettysburg, based on Michael Shaara's novel, The Killer Angels. In the movie, Garnett is killed by a close-range cannon shot as Garner rallies his troops towards the stonewall, and his horse returns to the Confederate lines riderless, perhaps to reflect how his body was never found. He reprised this role in 2003 in film's prequel Gods and Generals, although uncredited and without any dialog.

Disputed photograph A photograph long believed to be one of only two photographs of Garnett, is, in fact, a photograph of his cousin, Robert Selden Garnett, as indicated by the script along the black edge, which, when mirrored, reads "R.S. Garnett 6589." The bottom photograph of this article is possibly the only photograph known, although it is likely also a photograph of Robert Garnett, as Richard B. Garnett was described by contemporaries as a fair-haired man with blue eyes. A letter to the editor of America's Civil War magazine claims that the Library of Congress possesses a photograph of Richard B. Garnett that has been mislabeled as "Franklin Gardner, CSA, Born N.Y.C."