First to Fall: Robert Selden Garnett

Robert Selden Garnett

       Robert S. Garnett was born in Essex County, Virginia in 1819. Robert graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1841 ranked 27th out of 52 cadets. Despite his lower ranking, he was placed in the artillery. Most graduates ranked outside the top ten ended up in the infantry. Garnett did eventually become an infantry officer where he served during the Mexican War. Twice he was praised for his bravery there. Robert was the first cousin of Richard Brooke Garnett who would also become a Confederate brigadier general and would lose his life at Gettysburg.

       Prior to the Civil War, Robert would see more action against the Native Americans of Puget Sound. In 1857, he married Marianne Nelson and a year later they had a son named Arthur Nelson Garnett. Both Marianne and Arthur would come down with what was then termed "bilious fever" and both died. Marianne was from New York and both were laid to rest in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Marianne was twenty-six years old. Arthur was seven months old and outlived his mother by six days.

Marianne Garnett

       When the Civil War began, Garnett was made a brigadier general and sent to western Virginia where he was given command of green troops, poorly armed, and heavily outnumbered. Before leaving Richmond, Virginia for his command, Garnett had told a friend, "They have not given me an adequate force. I can do nothing. They have sent me to my death."

       Upon arriving at his command, he attempted to extricate them from the mountains and back to the Shenandoah Valley. The Federals under McClellan were pursuing the Confederate force. Garnett personally managed his rearguard during the retreat. Rains had turned the roads into a mess. Upon reaching a place called Corrick's Ford on the Cheat River, Garnett attempted to fight another rearguard action here to delay his pursuers. He placed the 23rd Virginia Infantry on the shore under future Brigadier General William B. Taliaferro. 

       The Federals arrived and were repulsed two times by Taliaferro's regiment. Garnett was recommending a position to place skirmishers when several Federal soldier's opened fire. Garnett's aide Sam Gaines was mounted at his side and ducked the shots. Garnett scolded his assistant for dodging bullets. During the war, commanding officer's had to inspire their soldiers by standing bravely while bullets passed close by. Gaines apologized saying he felt the wind of the bullet and it caused him to flinch. Garnett quickly changed his tone and spoke compassionately to Gaines about how an officer should act in combat.

       

Corrick's Ford

       The Federals quickly closed to within fifty yards of Garnett's position. He ordered his skirmishers to fall back as a bullet struck him in the back. He fell from the saddle and Gaines attempted to pick him up and place him back on his horse. About to be captured, he climbed into the saddle and galloped away, leaving Garnett to the mercy of the Federals. He died a few moments later. Some reports stated that his body actually fell off the horse into the Cheat River. One Federal soldier reported finding Garnett just moments before he died and hearing the general say that he believed he'd been accidentally killed by friendly fire.

       General McClellan praised the gallant conduct of Garnett in this action and had his body placed on ice and sent through Confederate lines to be given to his family for a descent burial. Ironically, his body would pass back through Federal lines where he would temporarily be buried in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland. Just after the war, he was reinterred beside his wife and son in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Robert Selden Garnett was 41 years old. Had he not been killed there is little doubt that he would have attained higher rank because General Robert E. Lee had great confidence in Garnett's ability. He may have become one of Lee's best corps commander's had he lived. We will never know.

Obelisk over the grave of Garnett, his wife, and son

Poor Cantey: The Mediocre Brigade Commander

Brigadier General James Cantey

       James Cantey was born in South Carolina in 1818. He graduated from South Carolina College and became an attorney. He also served in the South Carolina state legislature. Cantey fought in the Mexican War and was wounded there. Following the war with Mexico, Cantey moved to Alabama and became a planter in Russell County. 

A photograph of Cantey during his Mexican War days

       He helped raise the 15th Alabama Infantry and became its first colonel. His brigade was sent to Virginia and placed in the brigade of the division of the ever aggressive Isaac Trimble. There he participated in Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. His best day occurred at the Battle of Cross Keys. There he repulsed the Federal attack and drove them back for a mile before being halted. 

       Cantey was then ordered to Richmond where they joined Robert E. Lee's army in defending the Confederate capital. They saw very little action in the Battle of the Seven Days. Cantey then received orders to return to Alabama. He returned to command a brigade of three Alabama regiment's and one Mississippi regiment. He also obtained a promotion to brigadier general to rank from January 8, 1863. He spent most of his time in the defenses of Mobile. He commanded a division of three brigades in August of 1863, but didn't receive a promotion to major general. During the winter of 1863-1864, his brigade was assigned to the Army of Tennessee in northern Georgia. 

       When Sherman sent Major General James McPherson to flank the Confederate army under Joseph Johnston, the brigade he encountered at Resaca belonged to James Cantey. Cantey had 4,000 defenders against McPherson's entire army of 23,000 men. McPherson became concerned that he was facing a larger force and withdrew. When it was over, Sherman told his close friend McPherson, "Well, Mac, you have missed the opportunity of your life." Had he not been such a close personal friend, Sherman would have sacked him. 

       During the battle, a Georgia soldier noted that Cantey was so nervous that he remained in a bombproof during the entire affair. The soldier called him "poor Cantey." Cantey served with his brigade when his health allowed him. Some state that he should never have attempted to serve in the war because of his feeble health. He missed most of the rest of the war, but arrived in North Carolina in time to surrender his command in 1865. 

       After the war, he returned to Alabama where he became a farmer. He died in Fort Mitchell in 1874 and rests there today in a small family cemetery. Historian Jeffry D. Wert labeled Cantey a mediocre brigade commander. 

Me and Jerry at the grave of James Cantey

Dewitt Smith Jobe: A horrible death

Private Dewitt Smith Jobe

       Dewitt Smith Jobe was born in Rutherford County, Tennessee in 1840. In 1861, when the war began, Jobe joined Company D, 20th Tennessee Infantry Regiment. His cousin was the lieutenant colonel of the regiment, Thomas Benton Smith who would rise to the rank of brigadier general and eventually meet his own sad end. He had another cousin and namesake in the 45th Tennessee Infantry Regiment named Dewitt Smith who would become famous for avenging his cousins death. 

       Dewitt Smith Jobe was wounded in his first action at the Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky and captured there. He would be exchanged in time to see action at the Battle of Murfreesboro. When Braxton Bragg began to retreat from Middle Tennessee, Dewitt Smith Jobe was chosen to serve in Coleman's Scouts along with another cousin named Samuel Davis. Davis became known as the 'Boy Hero of the Confederacy'. You can read his blog in my archives of January 7, 2011.

       

Sam Davis

       As a scout, Dewitt understood that he faced a more dangerous job than just serving as an infantry private in the Confederate Army. If he were captured he could be sentenced to be hanged. His cousin Sam Davis had been hanged in Pulaski, Tennessee in 1863 because he refused to provide information to the Federals when he was captured. 

       Dewitt Smith Jobe was operating behind Federal lines near Triune, Tennessee on August 29, 1864 and had just had breakfast with a relative. He was travelling by night and sleeping by day to avoid Federal patrols. He refused to stay at the house for fear his relatives would be punished if he was found sleeping there. He moved to a nearby cornfield to get some rest. Unknown to him, a Federal cavalryman had spotted him through a telescope and moved in with a squad of the 115th Ohio Cavalry. 

       As the 15 man patrol approached Dewitt, he tore up his dispatches, chewed and swallowed them. This seemed to anger the Federal patrol, who would later be reported as intoxicated. They demanded to know what the dispatch contained and who they were meant for. Like his cousin Sam Davis, a year earlier, Dewitt refused to betray his country. 

       The Ohio cavalrymen tied his hands behind his back and took a rein from one of their horses and strangled Dewitt in an attempt to get him to talk. Yet, he still refused. They then struck him over and over with a pistol, knocking out his front teeth. He was helpless and bleeding  but still refused to provide the Federal soldiers with information. 

       They screamed and yelled as they continued enjoying their torture of the young man. Neighbors nearby could hear the delight in their voices. They then decided if he wouldn't talk, they would gouge his eyes out. Still the brave young man refused to talk. They then decided to cut his tongue out. After cutting his tongue out, they decided to put the boy out of his misery. They tied a rope around his neck and attached it to a horse and dragged the young man to his death. 

       The members of the 115th Ohio Cavalry were never punished for their crimes. Legend states that the sergeant in charge of the patrol went mad after sobering up. Some members of the regiment were killed when the Sultana sank after the war returning them from Andersonville Prisoner of War Camp in Georgia.

       This wouldn't be the end of retribution for the horrible act. Dewitt's Jobe's cousin Dee Smith is said to have lost his mind in rage when he heard the news. He left Hood's Confederate Army and raised the black flag against Federal troops. He would take no prisoners. He would slit the throats of 14 Federal soldiers in their sleep near Murfreesboro, Tennessee in revenge and kill nearly 50 more before he was wounded and captured. The Federal's planned to hang the wounded prisoner the next day, but Dewitt Smith would die before the scheduled time. 

Grave of Dewitt Smith Jobe

       Dewitt Smith Jobe was 24 years old. The Federal soldiers who killed him later stated that he was the bravest man they'd ever met. His fiance found his body and placed a handkerchief over his face. Old Frank, a servant on the Jobe plantation placed Jobe's body in a wagon, tears streaming down his cheeks. He would be carried back to his home in Brookhill, Tennessee and buried there. 

Carved Sentinel at Jobe's Grave

Jobe's Confederate Medal of Honor

       Legend carried down from that time state that the place where these horrible things occurred to Dewitt Smith Jobe is haunted. People traveling by have reported having an eerie feeling at the place. Regardless, Dewitt Smith Jobe was one of the bravest men who ever lived.