NY Brig. General Robert Garnett CSA's First General Killed in the War Grave in Brooklyn Photo Tour

Pat Young

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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The grave of Confederate Brigadier General Robert Garnett is located in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn. How it came to be there, and how it was lost and rediscovered is a tragic and fascinating tale. I visited the grave this afternoon and am back to tell the story.


 
I was reading E.P. Alexander's personal memoirs yesterday when he mentioned the death of Robert Garnett. At first I thought he meant Dick Garnett, but then recalled Dick's cousin Robert. I looked him up and found out that not only was he the first Confederate general killed in the Civil War, but that he was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, fifteen blocks from my fiancee Michele's home. I went there late yesterday to photograph the Drummer Boy statue and to find Robert Garnett's grave. I could not find it and darkness fell fast on that cloudy afternoon. I went back today and couldn't find it again. Luckily, an approaching car on the narrow road forced me to pull off the road, and, strange to say, I had pulled off directly in front of the grave. It consists of a large obelisk with a standard modern Confederate headstone next to it.

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Robert Selden Garnett was born on December 16, 1819. His well-to-do family owned a plantation called Champlain in Essex County, Virginia. He graduated from West Point, finishing in the middle of his class. Garnett had a distinguished career in the Old Army, including service in the Mexican War. He was on the staff at West Point for two stints, including serving as commandant of cadets under Robert E. Lee.

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Robert Garnett in his United State Army uniform.
Note: In a later post on this thread @east tennessee roots says that this photo is disputed. Some believe it is Richard and not Robert Garnett.​
 
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Robert Garnett was essentially off the military map in the three years leading up to the Civil War. According to the Encyclopedia of Virginia:

Garnett went with his regiment to Fort Steilacoom in the Washington Territory. In August 1856, he supervised the construction Fort Simcoe. Garnett returned to the East in November and married Marianna E. Nelson of Boston, Massachusetts, on January 24, 1857. A son, Arthur Nelson, was born to the couple in February 1858 after they returned to Fort Simcoe. Marianna and Arthur died of fever on September 17 and 23, respectively. Garnett took the bodies to New York, where they were buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. He then went on a leave of absence in Europe that lasted until March 1861.

The obelisk was erected by Garnett to memorialize his wife and baby. He then tried to heal. When he rejoined the army, he had only four months left in his life.

Here is the face of the monument Robert Garnett had inscribed to the family that had perished that terrible week in 1858:

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According to the Virginia Encyclopedia:

After the Virginia Convention adopted the Ordinance of Secession on April 17, 1861, Garnett resigned from the United States Army. The resignation was accepted on April 30, 1861. Robert E. Lee, then commanding Virginia's Provisional Army, recommended that Garnett be promoted to colonel and named adjutant general. Governor John Letcher did so on April 25. Appointed brigadier general in the Confederate army on June 6, Garnett went to Staunton to assume command of the Department of Northwestern Virginia. He had as his mission to prevent further Union incursions and to protect the vital rail lines and turnpikes in the region.

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Staunton Virginia in 1857.
 
After George McClellan defeated Confederates in what is now West Virginia at the Battle of Philippi, he turned towars Garnett's front. Garnett had fewer than 5,000 men and McClellan had several times that number. When McClellan's subordinate William Rosecrans won a victory against a small Confederate force at Rich Mountain on July 11, Garnett, at nearby Laurel Hill, faced the possibility of being cut off. He pulled his raw troops back.

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If Dick Garnett was killed in the largest battle of the war, his cousin Robert was killed in one of the smallest. Here is an account of the Battle of Corrick's Ford from a local history site:

The battle at Corricks Ford took place on July 13th, 1861 along the Cheat River as part of the western Virginia campaign. By later standards, the battle was a minor skirmish, and was thought to be the final part of the Battle of Rich Mountain. This was the end of a series of battles between the forces of Union General George B. McClellan and Confederate General Robert S. Garnett. McClellan had defeated part of Garnett's on July 11, 1861 during the Battle of Rich Mountain. On the hearing of the defeat, Garnett fell back toward Virginia with approximately 4,500 men around midnight that night. Garnett began to march towards Beverly, but had recieved false information implying that McClellan's men occupied the town. The Confederates then backtracked, and abandoned their efforts to secure the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike, and trekked over Cheat Mountain towards the Cheat River Valley. General Thomas A. Morris then pursued the Confederates with the 14th Indiana Infantry on July 13th, 1861, and took over Garnett's forces that were located along the Cheat River. Garnett took it upon himself to guard the rear of the forces with means to delay the Union attacks as the Confederates were retreating. Garnett was shot off of his horse and became the first General to die in battle. Due to the Confederate's retreat and Garnett's death, the Union had sole control over the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike and ultimately western Virginia.
 
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3 things to add about Robert Shelden Garnett:

A. He was buried in Baltimore and his body was moved to Brooklyn after the war
B. Bit unknown, but he designed the State Seal of California
C. His mother was a French immigrant. Charlotte De Gouges, daughter of the feminist and abolitionist poet Olympe de Gouges who was guillotined in 1793.

Pretty fascinating family story.

He also was the only dark haired Garnett, getting the coloring from his mother.
 
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