Robert S. Garnett
officer in the United States Army and a Confederate States Army brigadier general
1819 CE to 1861 CE
Robert Selden Garnett (December 16, 1819 – July 13, 1861) is a career military officer, serving in the United States Army until the American Civil War, when he becomes a Confederate States Army brigadier general.
He is the first general officer killed in the Civil War.
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George B. McClellan had moved his divisions from Clarksburg south against Lieutenant Colonel John Pegram's Confederates on June 27, reaching the vicinity of Rich Mountain on July 9.
Meanwhile, Brigadier General Thomas A. Morris's Union brigade has marched from Philippi to confront Brigadier General Robert S. Garnett's command at Laurel Hill.
On July 10–11, Brigadier General William Rosecrans leads a reinforced brigade by a mountain path to seize the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike in Pegram's rear.
A sharp two-hour fight ensues in which the Confederates are split in two.
Half escape to Beverly and on over the Shawnee Trail, but ...
...Pegram and the others (including the "Sydney Boys", a regiment formed from the students of Hampden-Sydney College) surrender on July 13.
Robert Garnett, hearing of Pegram's defeat, abandons Laurel Hill.
The Federals pursue, and, during fighting at Corrick's Ford on the Cheat River on July 13, Garnett is killed; he is the first general officer to be killed in the war.
By later standards the battle is a minor skirmish, often considered a final part of the Battle of Rich Mountain.