His Body Was Never Found

Confederate General Richard Brooke Garnett was killed while taking part in Pickett’s Charge on July 3^rd 1863.

Richard Brooke Garnett was born at Rose Hill the family’s estate in Essex County, Virginia November 21^st 1817, the son of William Henry and Anna Maria (Brooke) Garnett.  He attended the United State Military Academy at West Point with his cousin Robert Selden Garnett.  They graduated in 1841 ranking 29^th and 27^th out of 52 in the class.  Garnett received a commission to Second Lieutenant and served with the 6^th United State Infantry, seeing action in Florida, Fort Laramie, and with the Utah Expedition.  During the Mexican American war Garnett served as a staff officer in New Orleans.  He was serving in California with the rank of Captain when the Civil War began.  He resigned his commission May 17^th 1861.

Returning to Virginia Garnett offered his service to the Confederacy, first as a Major in the Artillery, and then as a Lieutenant Colonel in Cobb’s Legion.  On November 14^th 1861 he was promoted to Brigadier General and placed in command of the First Brigade of the Army of the Valley District.   It was in this position that Garnett ran afoul of Confederate General Thomas J "Stonewall" Jackson.  During the Battle of Kernstown finding his men outnumbered and running low on ammunition Garnett ordered a retreat.  Jackson accused him of disobeying orders and had him arrested for “neglect of duty” and removed from command.  Garnett’s court martial trail started in August 1862, but was suspended when the campaign including the Second Battle of Manassas started.  General Robert E Lee ordered that Garnett be released from arrest and he assigned Garnett a command in Lieutenant General James Longstreet’s Corps. He showed his abilities at the Battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg.

During the Gettysburg Campaign Garnett’s brigade was assigned to Confederate General George Pickett’s division and so did not get to the battlefield until late afternoon on July 2^nd 1863.  Garnett arrived on the battlefield with a fever and an injury from where his horse had kicked him in the leg.  When the form of what we now know as Pickett’s charge began to take place Garnett and his Brigade were to be in the front center, just to the left of Brigadier General James L Kemper men.  As Garnett was unable to walk he led his men on horseback.  He got to about 20 yard of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge before he was killed on July 3^rd 1863.  Garnett’s courier Private Robert H Irvine of the 19^th Virginia saw him fall.  Garnett’s body was never found and was most likely buried with his men in a mass grave in front of Cemetery Ridge.  His body is thought to have been removed to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia after the war with the other Confederate dead.

A Proud Secessionist

Confederate Colonel Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb was killed during the Battle of Fredericksburg December 13^th 1862.

Thomas Reade Roots Cobb was born in Jefferson County, Georgia April 10^th 1823, the son of John A and Sarah [Rootes] Cobb.  He graduated from Franklin College in 1841 and was admitted to the bar in 1842.  Cobb reported for the Supreme Court of Georgia from 1849 through 1857.  He was a fervent secessionist and served as a delegate to the Georgia Secession Convention.  He was also one of the founders of the University Of Georgia School Of Law.

When the Civil War started Cobb served in the Confederate Congress, where he was the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, and helped with the drafting of the Confederate constitution.  In 1861 he organized Cobb’s Legion.  Cobb was commissioned the Legion’s Colonel August 28^th 1861.  They saw heavy action in the Battles of Seven Days, Second Manassas, and Antietam, which prompted Cobb’s promotion to Brigadier General in November 1862.  He still hadn't received a confirmation of the promotion when he was mortally wounded.

Cobb was carried inside the Stephens house near the Sunken Road on Marye’s Heights during the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13^th 1862 after an artillery shell exploded near his position.  A piece of the shrapnel damaged the femoral artery in Cobb’s thigh and he bleed to death.  He is buried in the Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens, Georgia.

Another web site with more information about  Thomas R. R. Cobb (1823-1862)  worth taking a look at.