Garnett

[cw1865]

Garnett personally got to within 20 yards of the "Angle" on Cemetery Ridge and was never seen again. He presumably was hit by canister fire and his body was so badly damaged that it could not be identified afterwards. His colleagues realized that he had been killed when his horse, "Red Eye", returned to the Confederate lines on Seminary Ridge without him.


We discussed this in the trivia game, so I was looking for evidence that Garnett somehow survived his wounds. The statement, 'the body was so badly damaged that it could not be identified' indicates that death was instantaneous. Nevertheless, how is the horse unscathed by this? Hmmm, that is interesting, any thoughts?

[michiganmoon]

Originally Posted by cw1865

Garnett personally got to within 20 yards of the "Angle" on Cemetery Ridge and was never seen again. He presumably was hit by canister fire and his body was so badly damaged that it could not be identified afterwards. His colleagues realized that he had been killed when his horse, "Red Eye", returned to the Confederate lines on Seminary Ridge without him.


We discussed this in the trivia game, so I was looking for evidence that Garnett somehow survived his wounds. The statement, 'the body was so badly damaged that it could not be identified' indicates that death was instantaneous. Nevertheless, how is the horse unscathed by this? Hmmm, that is interesting, any thoughts?

You know that is an interesting question... Wouldn't he have been wearing a uniform or other attire that would help with identifying him of his higher rank and therefore make it easier to find him even if he was badly mangled? I can understand regular soldiers not being indentified easily, but him... Hmm... I guess it is also possible that his stuff could have been taken as "souvenirs" by Union troops leading to his unidentification, yet it does seem odd that his body was never indentified the more I think about it considering his rank.

I highly doubt that he could have went anywhere (shirked), turned himself over as a prisoner or etc...without someone seeing him and noticing it.

If I had to guess I'd probably say he was hit in the face and Union soliders burried him without care of his rank.

[cw1865]

The Confederates agree with you inasmuch as they felt the Union soldiers should've recognized the corpse of a Confederate general and were chagrined that the Union army apparently buried him in a mass grave.

[ole]

A lengthy article could be written speculating on why Garnett's body was never identified and presumably buried.

Maybe he moved to Texas to hang around with "Bloody Bill" Anderson? Or died in a Yankee prison camp?

I lean toward the idea that his emblems of rank disappeared rather quickly in the immediate aftermath (and do we know if he was an habitual foppish dresser? Or more casual?

When the burial details went out to gather the dead, there was nothing left to identify him as a general officer--and then one would have to assume that the detail cared. He simply got covered up with all the rest of the Confederate dead.

ole

[VS on the belt plate]

Some sources say his sword was found years later in a Baltimore pawn shop. Not sure how it survived unscathed. He may have been disfigured when killed. But others say he was shot throught the head.

All known Confederate dead were disintered after the war. Unidentified CS dead were brought to Hollywood Cemetary,Richmond. His remains may be there.

According to Larry Tagg in his book,The Generals of Gettysburg,the General was in a new gray uniform. Tagg speculates that he may have been stripped of his sword and rank in 'the orgy of souvenir gathering' after the battle.

[mrtacitus]

I find it odd that the assumption that Garnett was killed by canister, his horse would return to the Confederate lines alive.

[samgrant]

Would it not depend on the rate of dispersal (spread) of the shot?

According to one webpage "When the enemy was located at a medium range from the guns (defined as approximately 100 to 400 yards from the artillery emplacement), canister shot was the ammunition of choice."

It was meant to kill/injure many of the enemy. If that shot meant for 100 to 400 yards was to hit a man at only20 yards ...... it might be logical that they guy was obliterated? Well, if the horse was not seriously wounded, perhaps Garnett's legs were all that was left of him. ???

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[ole]

Sounds as if we're assuming obliterated--and it is possible if he was leading the charge and the gunners had their pieces elevated for the troops behind him. But it would take only one of those balls to tear his head clean off.

First, I take it that whoever said Garnett got to within 20 yards is a reliable source. And let's not ignore that a general at 20 yards is a splendid target for an entire regiment; better'n any flag-bearer.

Second, cannister (as I've been told) past 200 yards is spread too thin to cause more than consternation to massed troops. On the other hand, at 100 yards or less, it cuts wide swaths through advancing troops. Any closer and each ball can take out three men unlucky enough to be standing in line. (Take a shotgun with any size load. At 40 yards, the shot hasn't enough velocity to damage a man; however, it might shoot his eye out, kid.)

Too many variables to be certain why Garnett wasn't given a General's burial. I lean toward the idea that his symbols of rank languished, and may still languish, in attics scattered across the U.S. And lacking boots, sash, sword, buttons and coat, he was simply gathered up with the several thousand other bodies on the slope and consigned to mass burial. (And consider that the burial parties had marched for days just before going through another three days of hell. Just how much do you think each of them cared?)

ole

[whitworth]

of burying bodies, many mangled and in such numbers in the July heat, the burying details would have little interest in who was getting buried.

[Borderruffian]

How bout this. Garnett gets unhorsed somehow continues on foot to the muzzles of the guns or near them. One shot of canister and he's bloody pile of rags.