Robert Selden Garnett (1819 - 1861)

Born 16 Dec 1819 in Lloyds, Essex County, Virginia, USA

Ancestors

Died 13 Jul 1861 at age 41 in Corrick's Ford, Tucker County, Virginia, USA

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Biography

Robert Garnett is Notable.

Brig Gen Robert Garnett served in the United States Civil War.
Mustered out: Jul 13, 1861 (KIA)
Side: CSA

Brigadier General Robert Garnett was Killed in Action at Rich Mountain on July 13, 1861 during the US Civil War.

Robert Selden Garnett was a career military officer, serving in the United States Army until the American Civil War, when he became a Confederate States Army brigadier general. He was the first general officer killed in the Civil War.

The son of Robert S. Garnett, and Charlotte Olympe Aubry de Gouges, he was born on 16 December 1819 in the family plantation "Champlain" in Essex County, 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.^[1] 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.

In 1861, CS Brigadier General Robert Selden Garnett led the Confederates opposing McClellan. A Virginian, West Point graduate, and veteran of twenty years of antebellum military service, Garnett had been assigned command in northwestern Virginia in June. “They have not given me an adequate force”, one witness recalled Garnett’s stating just before he left to assume the post. “I can do nothing. They have sent me to my death.” Garnett’s force numbered only about 4,600 in early July; however McClellan’s commnded more than 20,000 Federal soldiers. The battle took place at Rich Mountain isolating Garnett at Laurel Hill. He retreated but was attacked on July 13 at Corrick Ford on Shavers Fork of the Cheat River. Mortally wounded while directing his rear guard. Garnett became the first general to die in the war. Most of his men eventually eluded the Federal pursuit.^[2]

Rich Mountain Battlefield

Rich Mountain Battlefield Civil War Site, which included Camp Garnett, is five miles wet of Beverly on Rich Mountain Road and is open to the public. The four hundred protected acres are managed by the Rich Mountain Battlefield Foundation.

Estimated Casualties: 74 US, 88 CS

Death

In recognition of Garnett's service during the Mexican-American 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 grave monument, which he had erected for his wife and child, does not have his name on it. One face mentions his wife, one face his son, and one face has the words "To My Wife and Child." The fourth face is blank

Sources

1. ↑ Encyclopedia of Virginia: Robert S. Garnett
2. ↑ Civil War Battlefield Guide retrieved at murdercube.com/files/History/Kennedy,_Frances_-_Civil_War_Battlefield_Guide.pdf, no longer available

• Genealogy of the Mercer-Garnett family of Essex county, Virginia. Supposed to be descended from the Garnetts of Lancashire, England. Comp. from original records, and from oral and written statements of members of the family, by James Mercer Garnett (1840-1916), 1910. Page 40: Link at archive.org Archive Genealogy: Mercer-Garnett Family

See also:

• Garnett, Robert S, Compiled service records of Confederate Generals and Staff Officers, and Nonregimental Enlisted Men, National Archives, 28 records.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #3294 (accessed 06 January 2018), for Robert Selden Garnett (16 dec, 1819–13 jul, 1861), , citing Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings County (Brooklyn), New York, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave.
• Burton, Matthew W. The River of Blood and the Valley of Death: The Lives of Robert Selden Garnett and Richard Brooke Garnett, C.S.A. Columbus, Ohio: The General's Books, 1998.

• Wikipedia: [[wikipedia:

Toggle the table of contents Robert_S.-Garnett| Toggle the table of contents Robert S. Garnett]]

• Wikidata: Item Q2158817