Another Civilian Death: James W. Jackson

James W. Jackson

       James W. Jackson was 38 years old when the Civil War arrived at his front door. James lived in Alexandria, Virginia just across the river from Washington, D.C. He was the owner and operator of the Marshall House Inn. Before Colonel Elmer Ellsworth and his 11th New York "Fire Zouaves" arrived at his inn, he was already semi-famous. James flew the Confederate (1st National) Flag atop his hotel which was clearly visible from Abraham Lincoln's office in the White House. 

James Jackson's Marshall House

       Lincoln and his cabinet had observed the large Confederate flag flying across the Potomac River and discussed it. James Jackson had been quoted as saying they would take down his flag over his dead body. When Virginia voted to secede from the union, the following day, Federal troops occupied Alexandria. Ellsworth immediately entered the Marshall House and asked a boarder about the flag. The boarder had no knowledge of the flag. Ellsworth then climbed the stairs and removed the flag from the flagpole. While making his way down the stairs, Ellsworth met James Jackson carrying a double-barreled shotgun. Jackson shot Ellsworth in the chest at close range killing him instantly. He missed with the second barrel as he shot at a Private Brownell. Brownell shot Jackson in the face and then repeatedly bayonetted his body before throwing him down the stairs. 

Private Francis Brownell (above left) and Colonel Elmer Ellsworth

       Both sides considered each man a martyr and hero. No one seemed to question the legality of soldier's employed by the Federal government trespassing and removing private property. James Jackson left behind a wife and three children ranging from ages six and twelve years old. He rests today in the city cemetery, Fairfax, Virginia. Elmer Ellsworth was 24 years old and had never married. His only brother Charley had died the year before of smallpox at age 18. Both rest today in Hudson View Cemetery, Mechanicsville, New York. 

 

Robert Doak Lilley: The only Confederate General I ever cursed

Brigadier General Robert Doak Lilley

       For anyone that has any doubt, my personal hero's are Confederate Generals, Colonels, and Soldiers, not necessarily in that order. I would never speak evil of any of these guys, but a man has his limits, so to speak. I was pushed beyond my feeble limit with my red haired temper and poor General Lilley paid the price. 

       Robert Doak Lilley was born in Greenville, Virginia in 1836. He graduated from what is today Washington and Lee University. He then became a salesman of surveying instruments of his father's design. He just happened to be in Charleston, South Carolina when the Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in 1861. He returned to Virginia where he recruited a company in the 25th Virginia Infantry and became its captain.

       The above photograph was once considered the only wartime photographed image of General Lilley, like his grave, this too is now false. Part of his regiment was captured in the battle's in the Rich Mountain Campaign. Lilley managed to escape with part of his company. They would be a part of Stonewall Jackson's 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign. At the Battle of Cedar Mountain on August 9, 1862, Lilley saw the regiment break from a Federal assault. He personally took the regimental colors and helped solidify the Confederate line. He was commended for bravery at Second Manassas. He also led his troops, exhibiting great courage at Sharpsburg (Antietam) and Fredericksburg.

       He was promoted to Major just after new years of 1863. His regiment was sent back to the Shenandoah Valley during the Chancellorsville Campaign. They would rejoin Lee's Army for the invasion of Pennsylvania. He would fight under John Marshall "Rum" Jones at Gettysburg and be promoted to lieutenant colonel following that battle. 

       His next major battle would be at the Wilderness in the spring of 1864. He would fight at Spotsylvania and be promoted to colonel of the 25th Virginia Infantry. He was promoted to brigadier general following Spotsylvania. They joined Early in the invasion of Maryland and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864. 

       On July 20, 1864, while attempting to rally his broken lines at Stephenson's Depot, Lilley was hit three times and captured. Federal surgeons removed one of his arms that day. When the Federal army retreated from Winchester, they left the wounded brigadier behind. He was soon recovered by Confederate forces in the area. Once he was ready to take the field again, he commanded forces in the Shenandoah Valley. He held this command until the end of the war.

       

Another photograph of Lilley

       He spent his years after the war devoted to Washington and Lee College and his church. He would die in Richmond, Virginia in 1886 and be buried in Thornrose Cemetery, Staunton, Virginia or so they say. This is where we come to the part about me cursing a Confederate General for the first time in my life. My buddy Jerry Smith and our wives entered this cemetery in search of General Lilley and General Echols. General Echols was quickly found. General Lilley as my buddy Jerry likes to say (not so much). 

Robert Doak Lilley is fourth from left, standing just over Robert E. Lee's left shoulder

       We spread out and combed this cemetery for about two hours. There was not a sign of the tombstone you see below. I asked the locals and they claimed to have seen it before, but they couldn't locate the marker. My buddy Jerry found something on his phone that said that Lilley was buried near Jedediah Hotchkiss who was a map maker on Stonewall Jackson's staff. We found Jedediah's grave, and combed the area around it up to 100 yards, still no General Lilley. We left a message with a lady that oversee's the cemetery. She returned our call and told us that she could take us right to his grave, but we were almost to Richmond, Virginia by this time. 

       It was a hot afternoon (I don't do heat, it gives me a migraine, and this day was no exception), we had searched the cemetery several times, I was frustrated, had little sleep the night before and I may have cursed General Lilley under my breath a time or two that afternoon. I truly wasn't cursing him, but the fact that there was no way to find such a great man's grave. It only means I will have to return to the cemetery when I visit Gettysburg later this year. 

The possible resting place of General Robert D. Lilley, but I'm not betting my paycheck on him being there

Cooly Watching His Coming Death: John Marshall Jones

Brigadier General John Marshall "Rum" Jones

       John Marshall Jones was born in 1820 in Charlottesville, Virginia. He attended the United States Military Academy and graduated 39th among 52 classmates in the Class of 1841. He stood below average because of his ranking in conduct. His nickname may have something to do with his conduct problem. He was called "Rum" because of his fondness for the bottle. 

       He would serve in the U.S. Army until the outbreak of the Civil War having seen no action whatsoever. He served as a staff officer for General Magruder, General Ewell, and General Early until May 15, 1863 when he was elevated from lieutenant colonel to brigadier general. It would seem unfair that a general of his talent remained so long at a lower grade of rank, but it seems his nickname had something to do with his being promoted. Ewell often stated that Jones was a fine officer deserving of higher rank. 

Pre-war picture of General Jones

       Lee had a conversation with Jones about his drinking before asking that President Davis promote him. Lee told Davis that Jones had promised to resign if his old habits began to occur again. Regardless, Jones had an assignment ahead of him that would drive most sober men to drink. He was taking over the second brigade of Stonewall Jackson's old division (not the Stonewall Brigade). This brigade had been under several inept officers. The last officer was John Robert Jones (not related to John Marshall Jones) who had been court-martialed for cowardice at Antietam. 

       John Marshall Jones proved to be just what the brigade needed. He would prove to be a strict disciplinarian, yet he proved that he truly cared for the welfare of his men. He quickly turned the brigade into a proud hard fighting unit. He would lead them in a desperate assault on Culp's Hill at Gettysburg and fall with a severe thigh wound there. He would recover in time for the fight at Mine Run and fall again with a slight head wound. 

   

Battle of the Wilderness

       At the Battle of the Wilderness, Jones's brigade was struck in the right flank scattering his men. He and a staff officer Robert Davies Early attempted to rally the brigade. Having failed to stop them from retreating, Jones turned and faced the enemy. He and his staff officer "cooly watched watching the enemy when he was slain." Word soon spread throughout the army that "rather than survive the disgrace of his command, preferred death." 

       General Ewell considered Jones's loss an irreparable one. There was a stone placed on the south side of the Pike marking where Jones was shot down, but has since vanished. 

General Jones Grave

       His body would be carried back to the town where he was born in Charlottesville, Virginia and laid to rest in Maplewood Cemetery. He was 43 years old. 

William Booth Taliaferro: The man who couldn't destroy a Stonewall

William Booth Taliaferro

William Booth Taliaferro (pronounced Tah-liver), was born in 1822 in Virginia.  The man came from a very prominent family.  He was the nephew of James A. Seddon, who would become a Confederate Secretary of War.  He earned a degree at William and Mary College and then attended Harvard Law School.  He would work as an attorney until the Mexican War began.  He then joined the Eleventh United States Infantry where he was made a captain.  He would eventually be promoted to major before he was mustered out following the war.  Taliaferro would then serve in the Virginia House of Delegates and became a major general in the Virginia State Militia.  

When the Civil War began, Taliaferro would be made colonel of the Twenty-third Virginia Infantry Regiment.  The unit would see action at Rich Mountain and Corrick's Ford under Robert S. Garnett (Garnett would be the first general killed during the war at Corrick's Ford).  He was soon commanding a brigade consisting of Georgia, Arkansas and Virginia Infantry.  His subordinates hated him because he was a very strict disciplinarian.  He was assaulted by a drunken Georgia soldier under his command on one occasion.  

A young Taliaferro before the war

He also proved to be a thorn in the side of his superiors.  He and William Loring petitioned Richmond to remove "Stonewall" Jackson from command in January of 1862.  Though they both failed, Taliaferro was promoted to brigadier general.  Jackson protested the promotion, but at the same time appreciated Taliaferro's devotion to discipline.  Though neither man liked the other personally, they managed to serve together during the Valley Campaign and Seven Days battle's around Richmond.  

At Cedar Mountain, when General Charles Winder was killed, Jackson gave Taliaferro  command of the division.  He would command the division at the Battle of Groveton where he would be severely wounded.  The man would be absent recovering for three months.  He again commanded the division at the Battle of Fredericksburg where they were held in reserve, yet still suffered a slight wound.  Taliaferro felt he had earned a promotion to major general by this point.  He became frustrated thinking Jackson was blocking his promotion.  He would ask and be granted a transfer, both men happy to be rid of the other.  

Another wartime view of Taliaferro

Taliaferro was sent to General Beauregard in Charleston, South Carolina.  Beauregard placed the man in command of Battery Wagner, a sand fort located on Morris Island.  Taliaferro and his thirteen hundred man command endured a week of heavy shelling from Federal gunboats.  Following the bombardment, over 5,000 Federal infantry assaulted the fort.  The assault would fail, the Union army losing over 1400 men including Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, while Taliaferro's force lost less than 200.  

Colonel Robert Gould Shaw

Colonel Shaw was the son of a prominent Boston family and led the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Colored Infantry.  The Confederate government considered leading black troops against Southern forces to be inciting servile insurrection.  Also, during that time in American history, it was a disgrace for a white man to be buried in the same area as a black man.  When Shaw's father wrote the Confederate commanders at Charleston a request for the body of his son, the reply was, "We buried him with his niggers."  It is still argued today who exactly replied to Shaw's father. Some say it was Taliaferro, others claim it was General Trappier, while still others claim it was an unnamed Confederate major.  Regardless, it was meant as an insult.

Battery Wagner would never fall, despite being bombarded for another sixty days, it would eventually be abandoned for lack of supplies.  A month following the battle, Beauregard removed Talaiferro from command at Battery Wagner and placed him in command of an infantry division on James Island.  He would command a division for the remainder of the war, but saw very little actual fighting.  His command would be surrendered by Joseph E. Johnston to Sherman on May 2, 1865.  He would never receive his longed for promotion to major general.

After the war, Taliaferro would return to the Virginia State Legislature and serve as a judge.  He served on the boards of William and Mary College and the Virginia Military Institute.  William Booth Taliaferro would die in 1898 at the age of 75.  He rests today in Ware Church Cemetery, Gloucester, Virginia.  Who knows what he may have become had he not undermined "Stonewall" Jackson during the first year of the war.  

Taliaferro's resting place

The Mad Hatter: The story of Boston Corbett

Boston Corbett

       Thomas P. Corbett was born in London, England around 1832 and emigrated with his family to New York City. He later became a hat maker in York, New York. He soon married, but lost his wife in childbirth. After her death, he packed up and moved to Boston, Massachusetts where he continued his trade as a hatter. It was there that he joined the Episcopal Church and changed his name to Boston in honor of the city where he converted to Christianity. 

       He soon began to imitate Jesus and grew his hair long in an attempt to look like his Savior. In 1858, Corbett was walking down a city street when he was tempted to sleep with a prostitute. He immediately castrated himself with a pair of scissors. He ate a meal and attended a prayer meeting, blood dripping from his crotch before almost collapsing and being carried for medical attention. 

       He joined a militia regiment at the beginning of the Civil War, but eventually moved to the 16th New York Cavalry Regiment. He was captured in 1864 by John Mosby, the 'Gray Ghost of the Confederacy' and sent to Andersonville Prison Camp in Georgia. He would be exchanged within five months and return to his company as a sergeant. 

       Corbett was with the 16th New York Cavalry when they apprehended John Wilkes Booth at the Garrett Farm. He was one of the members that surrounded the barn. David Herold, Booth's accomplice surrendered, but Booth refused. The barn was set on fire to flush the assassin from his hiding place. The unit had orders that Booth must be brought back to Washington alive and no one was given permission to fire. 

       A gunshot rang out and John Wilkes Booth was hit in the neck. When the detectives walked around the barn and asked who fired the fatal shot, everyone denied they had fired their weapon. Finally, Boston Corbett admitted to having shot Booth. The detectives were very sloppy in their work and failed to check and see if Corbett's weapon had been fired at all. Today, some historians doubt the shot was fired by Corbett. Later in life, when asked why he had shot Booth, Corbett claimed the Lord had directed him to do so.

       

Another view of Sergeant Corbett

       Boston Corbett was arrested for disobeying orders, but Secretary of War Edwin Stanton would free the man. He would be given his share of the reward money for capturing Lincoln's killer. He then served as a witness against Henry Wirz, the commandant of Andersonville Prison Camp which resulted in that officers sentence to be hanged. Some believe Stanton released Corbett as an exchange for damning testimony against Wirz. 

       Following the war, Corbett returned to Boston and continued his living as a hatter again. He soon moved to Connecticut and later New Jersey. His life was slowly beginning to unravel. He attended a soldiers reunion in Ohio in 1875 where he threatened several men with a firearm. He eventually moved on to Kansas where he was arrested and sent to the Topeka Asylum for the Insane. 

       Corbett didn't stay in the asylum very long. He soon escaped and claimed he was heading to Mexico, but he traveled to Minnesota where he built a cabin in the woods near the town of Hinckley. There was a severe drought there in 1894 and a fire soon swept through the area. It is believed that almost 800 people died in the Hinckley fire. Corbett is believed to be one of those who perished. His body was never found. 

Hinckley, Minnesota following the fire

       It has been suggested that the use of Mercury in the hat making trade lead to the mental problems that plagued Corbett throughout his life. He is supposedly the first person to be coined the nickname, "Mad Hatter." 

The original Mad Hatter

Fighting Dick

Israel Bush Richardson

       Israel Bush Richardson was born in 1815 in Vermont. Supposedly a descendant of Revolutionary War hero Israel Putnam, he gained entry to the United States Military Academy. He graduated 38 out of 58 cadets in the West Point Class of 1841. He saw action in the Second Seminole War. He gained quite a bit of fame from his action during the Mexican War. It would be in Mexico that he earned the nickname, "Fighting Dick." 

       He left the army in 1855 to take up farming in Michigan. When the Civil War began, he helped organize the 2nd Michigan Infantry. He married Fannie Travor in early 1861. His regiment was sent to Washington where he again met Winfield Scott. Upon seeing him, Scott exclaimed, "I'm glad to have my 'Fighting Dick' with me again." 

       He disobeyed orders at Blackburn's Ford and engaged Longstreet against Federal General McDowell's wishes. His brigade was repulsed there, but he made up for this by covering the rearguard during the retreat to Washington. Following this action he was promoted to brigadier general. 

       He commanded a brigade during the Peninsula Campaign, seeing action at Yorktown, Seven Pines and the Seven Days battles. After the campaign, he was promoted to major general. He was engaged at Second Manassas and South Mountain. 

       Richardson would see his last action at Antietam. His troops smashed through the center of the Confederate line at what would later become known as 'Bloody Lane' and was in position to break Lee's army in half. Taking the lane, his men were hit by severe artillery fire from the Confederate reserve. He was talking with one of his artillery officers when an exploding shell sent shrapnel into his side, chest and shoulder. 

Site where Richardson was wounded

       While being carried from the field, he told a surgeon, "Tell General McClellan I have been in the front rank doing the duty of a colonel. I have done a hard days work, and have worked all day. I am wounded and he must detail someone to take my command."

        The wound was not considered to be dangerous. He was carried to the Phillip Pry house, the home McClellan used as his headquarters. Surgeons stopped the bleeding. President Abraham Lincoln visited Richardson in October, but infection set in, followed by pneumonia. He died in November. 

Phillip Pry House

       Richardson was forty-six years old. Nicknamed "Fighting Dick" and also "Greasy Dick" because of his fighting prowess. He was known for his courage in combat and was perfectly fearless in action. Fort Richardson in Texas is named for him. He rests in Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac, Michigan. 

Richardson's grave

       Not known for his social skills, his men loved him. He had said to them, "I won't ask you to go anywhere I won't go myself."

       I wonder if Todd Richardson, a good friend of mine, would deny being related to Israel Bush Richardson. Being a lieutenant in the 26th Alabama Infantry re-enacting group, I'm sure he would deny this. Maybe, I'll just nickname him "Greasy Dick."

Master Of War

General George Henry Thomas

       I strongly recommend the book 'Master Of War' by Benson Bobrick. The book is a biography on the life of Federal General George Henry Thomas. Mr. Bobrick makes a strong case that General Thomas was the best Union commander of the Civil War. I have always believed this myself. 

       Mr. Bobrick points out the reasons that he thinks General Thomas is often overlooked as a brilliant commander. Thomas was born in Virginia and unlike Ulysses Grant, he didn't have a congressman pushing him for promotion. Every laurel that Thomas won, he won on what he accomplished during the war. 

       George Thomas died in 1870 and after his death, both Grant and Sherman attempted to smear his reputation. Grant accused Thomas of being too slow in action. Thomas was known as a general who relied on maneuver, unlike Grant who fed his troops into a meat grinder with little thought. Thomas had the most complete victory of the war at the Battle of Nashville. At the same time Grant was calling Thomas too slow, he had been bogged down in front of Petersburg for six months without accomplishing anything of merit. 

Ulysses Grant

       Grant and Sherman became best friends during the war. At the Battle of Chattanooga, Grant formulated a plan to make Sherman the hero. While Thomas held the center, Sherman was to attack the north flank of the Confederate battle line on Missionary Ridge. First, Sherman advanced and took the wrong hill. He then attacked Missionary Ridge, Cleburne's division to be exact and his troops stalled, unable to push Cleburne from his position. 

William Tecumseh Sherman

       Grant ordered Thomas to make a demonstration in the center. Thomas sent his troops forward and without orders they charged up Missionary Ridge and broke the Confederate center. Far from elated at the victory, Grant turned to Thomas and asked, "Who gave that order?"

       Thomas replied that he didn't know of anyone giving them the order to charge the heights. Grant then said to Thomas, "Well, it will be investigated."

       Try as he might during the war, Grant could hardly make Sherman the hero. It would be after the war and after Thomas' death that Sherman and Grant would change history by attacking his reputation and spreading false statements about the man. 

       During the Atlanta Campaign it was George Thomas who continued to insist on flanking the entrenched Confederate army. John A. Logan was at Sherman's headquarters when the army faced the Confederate army at Kennesaw Mountain. The position was the strongest faced during the campaign. Logan noted that Sherman was reading a newspaper about Grant's high casualties during the Overland Campaign. He complained that Grant's army was gaining all the attention while Sherman's army was being overlooked. He decided that the only way to get attention back on his army was by doing some fighting. Sherman then ordered a frontal assault on Johnston's strongly entrenched army. 

       Both Thomas and McPherson objected to the plan. Sherman said the assault must be made to prove to the country that his army would fight as well as Grant's. The result was over 3000 Federal casualties. After the war, Sherman attempted to shift the blame for the battle on George Thomas, saying he had been the one who suggested an assault there. 

       Sherman praised himself for his March to the Sea Campaign when in fact he had left Thomas to deal with the Confederate army while he faced nothing but old men and young boys. 

James B. Fry

       After the war, James B. Fry wrote an article in which he quoted Sherman as saying Grant was lucky and not quite the great general that most people believe him to be. Sherman denied that he had ever said this and attempted to ruin Fry's career. Fry then produced a letter signed by Sherman where he had said that exact thing. Sherman had embarrassed himself having to admit that he had indeed made the statement. His memoirs are full of untruths in his attempt to glorify himself, much as Grant's is also. 

       I strongly recommend this book. It is very interesting to read and you will learn a lot about the two famous Union hero's of the war. You'll also learn about George Henry Thomas, probably the best commander the north had during the war. 

The Black Knight

      Turner Ashby

       Turner Ashby was born in Virginia in 1828. His father, Turner Ashby, Sr., served as a colonel in the War of 1812 and died while he was very young. His grandfather was a captain in the Revolutionary War. Turner Ashby was privately tutored and after finishing, he purchased a farm near his mother's home. He named the home Wolf's Crag.

Wolf's Crag

       Turner Ashby was known for his chivalry, horseman ship, and as an avid outdoorsman. He was a natural leader and when the war began, he took command of a cavalry unit. The man was described as about five feet, eight inches, weighing about one hundred-sixty pounds and had a dark complexion from all the time he'd spent outdoors. He earned the nickname 'Black Knight of the Confederacy' because of his jet black hair and dark eyes. Always riding either a solid black horse or a solid white horse, he was a fearless leader. His command would follow him anywhere, but he was without formal military training and had lots of trouble because of his lack of discipline.

       Ashby was soon assigned to Stonewall Jackson's command in the Shenandoah Valley. Jackson gave him the job of patrolling the Potomac River north of the valley. In an engagement there, his brother Richard Ashby would be killed. Turner was told that Richard was bayoneted to death while attempting to surrender. No one for certain exactly what happened there, but regardless, Turner believed the story. From that point forward, he hated Northern troops and fought with a vengeance. 

Ashby in the militia uniform of Virginia before the war

       Ashby was soon promoted to colonel and given command of the 7th Virginia Cavalry Regiment. Many were pushing for Ashby to be promoted to brigadier general, but Jackson was against the idea. Jackson didn't think Ashby was capable of higher command because of the lack of discipline in his command and no proper military training. A brave fighter, Ashby never learned how to properly drill his men. Despite what Jackson suggested, Ashby was promoted to brigadier general in May of 1862. He would hold that rank for just ten days.

       Although Ashby was brave to a fault, there were times when he failed Jackson. Cavalry being the eyes of an army, it was Ashby's job to give Federal positions and troop strengths. At Kernstown, he greatly underestimated the size of the Union army. Jackson attacked the position and was defeated. Near Winchester, Virginia, after Jackson's infantry had defeated Nathaniel Banks force, Ashby's soldiers were too busy plundering captured wagons and allowed the retreating enemy to escape. Had Ashby's men been trained properly and disciplined, most of Banks force would have been captured.

       On June 6, 1862, General Ashby was fighting a rearguard action near Harrisonburg, Virginia. His force was being attacked by both Federal cavalry and infantry. His men easily repulsed the first attack. When the second attack began, Ashby's horse was killed. Rising from the ground, Ashby charged the enemy force, yelling, "Forward, my brave men!"

Monument marking the place where Ashby was killed

       Those were his last words. A bullet had hit him in the heart. He was killed instantly. It has been suggested that he could have been hit by friendly fire leading his men forward, but this seems highly unlikely. Turner Ashby's body was carried to the Kemper Home in Port Republic, photographed and then laid out in one of the rooms. Jackson soon arrived to view his remains.

Frank Kemper Home

       Despite the differences between Jackson and his cavalryman, the Confederate commander retired to his tent when he learned of his Ashby’s death. He later wrote, “As a partisan officer I never knew his superior; his daring was proverbial; his powers of endurance almost incredible; his tone of character heroic, and his sagacity almost intuitive in divining the purposes and movements of the enemy.”

Room where Jackson viewed Ashby's body

       Ashby rests today in the Stonewall Cemetery, Winchester, Virginia next to the body of his brother Richard. Turner Ashby was thirty-three years old. 

Ashby photographed in death

Grave of both Turner and Richard Ashby

Who is Richard Brooke Garnett

Long believed to be a photo of Richard Brooke Garnett

       Richard Brooke Garnett came from a famous Virginia family. His cousin Robert Selden Garnett was the first Confederate general to die in the Civil War. Like his cousin Robert, Richard attended West Point and was serving in the United States Army when the war began. When Virginia seceded from the Union, he immediately resigned his commission and entered Confederate service.

       He is now known as a hero because of his bravery at Gettysburg, but that wasn’t always the case. Being a Virginian, he rose to take command of the famed “Stonewall Brigade” and his career took a turn for the worse after the Battle of Kernstown. Jackson had received bad intelligence and attacked a Federal force twice the size of his own. Garnett’s brigade found itself being overwhelmed and running low on ammunition. In order to save his men, he ordered a retreat. 

       General Jackson was so infuriated by the action that he had Garnett arrested, accusing him of cowardice in the face of the enemy and neglect of duty. The entire episode is a black mark on the career of Stonewall Jackson. Garnett had undoubtedly done the right thing, but Jackson had accomplished his goal. None of his subordinates would ever retreat again without orders. (Ironically, Garnett didn’t hold a grudge against Jackson. He believed the entire incident was a huge misunderstanding and after Jackson was killed at Chancellorsville he served as a pallbearer in his funeral.)

       General Robert E. Lee released Garnett from arrest and placed him in command of George Pickett’s brigade of Virginians. All  General Garnett wanted was a chance to redeem his honor. In command of his new brigade, he saw minor action at Antietam, was held in reserve at Fredericksburg and missed Chancellorsville entirely. 

       Needless to say, Richard Garnett wasn’t a happy man when he arrived at Gettysburg. He had been kicked by a horse a few days earlier and was unable to walk. He was running a high fever, wearing a coat in the hot July sun because of chills. Lee ordered all officers to walk during “Pickett’s Charge” because of the target a man on horseback would make. Garnett couldn’t walk and refused to miss the battle for fear he would be called a coward again. 

       Richard Garnett would ride his large black horse “Red Eye” to just in front of the clump of trees. Garnett never pulled his sword, but cheered his men forward with the black felt hat he wore. At some point    he was hit by canister fire, some say in the waist. His blood covered horse was seen galloping toward the rear. 

Death site of Richard Garnett

       Richard Brooke Garnett was never seen again. Years later, his sword was found in a Baltimore pawn shop by Confederate General George Hume Steuart.

Garnett's sword

       The mystery of General Garnett only began with the finding of his sword. There is a picture long thought to be that of Richard Brooke Garnett, but many believe that picture is of his cousin Robert Selden Garnett who was killed at Corrick’s Ford. According to a family member Garnett was the opposite of his cousin, having blonde hair, blue eyes and no beard. This family member wrote this description in 1908 and many historians believe he never met Richard Garnett. Interestingly, the family of Richard Garnett identified the original photograph as that of the general at the time of the war. Why would they identify the original photograph as Richard if the photograph is indeed Robert. 

Robert Selden Garnett

       To further complicate the matter, many believe that a photograph labeled as Confederate Major General Franklin Gardner is actually a picture of Richard Garnett. The matter became even more complicated a couple of years ago when a photograph surfaced with Richard Garnett’s name on the back. It shows a blonde haired gentleman that looks nothing like Robert Selden Garnett. Another historian believes this photograph is actually Confederate congressman Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett of Virginia. 

Confederate General Franklin Gardner

Photograph labeled Franklin Gardner that many believe is that of Richard Garnett

Mystery Photograph with Richard Garnett's name on the back

       Prior to the Civil War, Garnett had a son by an Oglala Souix woman. They named the boy William “Billy” Garnett and there are several photographs of him in existence. Many historians try to take this photograph and compare them to the three photographs claimed by many to be Richard in order to figure out which is the famed general. 

Billy Garnett

       Garnett’s body was never found following the grand charge and many believe he was probably reinterred with the Confederate dead of Gettysburg in Hollywood Cemetery. The question still remains, which of these three are Richard Brooke Garnett or is it possible he never had a photograph taken that survived. We may never know. 

Monument in Hollywood Cemetery for Richard Brooke Garnett

A Sad Tragic End

Philip St. George Cocke

       Philip St. George Cocke was born in 1809 in Virginia. His father had served as an officer in the War of 1812 and secured Philip with an appointment at the United States Military Academy. He graduated from West Point in 1828, ranking sixth out of forty-five cadets. He would serve in the artillery for six years before resigning to return to Virginia where he would become a planter. He would devote the rest of his life to the management of his plantation in Powhatan County, Virginia and other plantations he owned in Mississippi. 

       The same year he resigned, he married Sallie Elizabeth Courtney Bowdoin. Cocke became very interested in agriculture and believed in trying new techniques with his crops. As a result, he wrote numerous articles about planting and eventually rose to become president of the Virginia Agricultural Society. He also served on the board of visitors at the Virginia Military Institute. 

       When Virginia seceded, Cocke was made brigadier general in the Virginia militia and ordered to protect the area just south of the Potomac River. He reported to Robert E. Lee that he had just three hundred men to protect Alexandria, Virginia with against what he thought were over 10,000 enemy troops. Lee implored Cocke to not abandon the town even if it meant fighting against overwhelming numbers. Despite Lee’s pleas, Cocke abandoned the town without a fight. 

Cocke around the time the war began

       Despite this failure in the eyes of Lee, Cocke had studied the terrain around Manassas and it seems he was the first to conceive of that place as the ideal place to make a defensive stand. When Cocke’s troops were merged into the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, he was made a colonel in that army. Cocke was dejected and may have considered resigning, but General Lee must have convinced the man he was needed. 

       Beauregard took command of the army at Manassas and placed Cocke in command of a brigade. The man saw minor action at Blackburn’s Ford and was praised for leading his brigade into combat during the Battle of Manassas, although his was a minor engagement. After the battle, President Davis promoted Cocke to brigadier general in the Confederate army. 

       At this point, General Cocke’s life began to spiral downward. He seemed to have been suffering from what would later be called a nervous breakdown. When Eppa Hunton’s regiment was assigned to Cocke’s brigade, he was invited to eat dinner with the man. While he and Cocke rode back to the general’s tent, he suddenly blurted out, “My God, my God, my country!”

       This shocked Hunton and he was of the opinion from that moment forward that Cocke’s mind was a little off. The man had been in the field for eight months with huge responsibilities resting on him. Responsibilities that he didn’t seem capable of coping with. A few weeks later he returned home and as one Confederate noted, he was “shattered in body and mind.” 

Belmead Plantation

       He perceived imaginary slights from General Beauregard on his conduct at the Battle of Manassas. (In fact Beauregard had nothing but praise for Cocke’s performance there.) The man was mentally exhausted having placed too much pressure on himself and his actions. On December 26, 1861, he shot himself in the head at “Belmead” mansion, Powhatan, Virginia and was buried on the grounds there. In 1904, he would be reinterred in  Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia which is known at “the Arlington of the Confederacy.”

       Eppa Hunton may have summed it up best when he had the following to say about General Philip Cocke, “he was a brave man, a good man, an earnest patriot, but he was not a military man.” 

Cocke's grave in Hollywood Cemetery