Esteemed member DZouave5@aol.com contributes:

In a message dated 97-02-23 20:39:16 EST, you write:

<< Several months ago I read a book (another one from the library, so I don't have it handy to check...) that contained an essay that asserted that the portrait of a dark-haired, dark-bearded officer frequently identified as Brig Gen Richard Brooke Garnett of Pickett's Division is not Dick Garnett at all, but his brother (I believe the essay was in James MacPherson's anthology on the third day at Gettysburg). The essayist (can't remember who...) asserted that contemporary correspondence by the Garnett family, maintained by their ancestors, indicates that the Richard Brooke Garnett who died in the PPT Charge was in fact a light-haired, and I believe clean shaven, individual. I can't remember the brother's name, but the assertion was that there are no surviving images of Richard Brooke Garnett, and that for all this time historians have been using a portrait of his brother to illustrate works on G'burg, etc.

I believe this was the article Bob Krick wrote for the Gettysburg essays that Gary Gallagher edited. And he makes very valid points. I spoke with a member of the Garnett family some years ago who asserted the same thing. The question is about the "bearded officer" -- see the Time-Life Gettysburg volume for the one known photo of him (from which engravings were later made) versus the officer with "side whiskers"

(see the "First Blood" Time Life volume), Or of course Warner's "Generals in Gray", or the more recent "Confederate General" series. The full-bearded officer is traditionally assumed to be Richard Brooke Garnett, the man who died at Gettysburg, and the side-whiskered gent to be his cousin, Robert Selden Garnett -- who was the first General killed in the Civil War (at Corrick's Ford, in what is now West Virginia). I personally have come to believe that both of these photos are of Robert Selden Garnett -- in one he has side-whiskers, in the other a full beard. There is a painting of Zachary Taylor & staff in the Mexican War that includes Robert Garnett -- and he indeed has the side-whiskers and looks like the "traditional" portrait of that officer. If you examine the two photos -- of the cousins -- side by side, you will note a similarity of features -- eyes, ears, hairline, etc -- that I think makes for the case that both these images are of Robert, not Richard Garnett. So there may well be no confirmed photo of Richard B. Garnett, who died in the assault on Cemetery Ridge.

Hope this is not too confusing -- but it is a subject that intrigues me, and I am glad someone brought it up!

Brian Pohanka

<< Esteemed member Patty Lindsay and Lee Fuell Brian,

Esteemed member DZouave5@aol.com contributes:

I believe this was the article Bob Krick wrote for the Gettysburg essays that Gary Gallagher edited. And he makes very valid points.

Yep, I believe you're right about Gallagher vs MacPherson being the editor - that's what I get for writing a post based on months-old memory! To the extent that family lore can be trusted when it comes to the appearance of a person who has been dead for over 130 years, if the "real" Richard B. Garnett was fair-haired and blue-eyed, then he could not be the dark (brown) eyed fellow in the photos. Of course it is possible that these recollections are wrong, and that the cousins bore a strong resemblance to one another. But I do tend to think that the fellow with the "muttonchops" who is definitely Robert S. Garnett, and the fellow with the beard (traditionally, though not always labeled as Richard) may well be the same individual, the latter view with a full beard. Both men were rather tragic figures. You well know, I'm sure, that Richard Garnett's almost suicidal bravery on July 3, 1863 was likely, in part, due to the imputation on his courage dating to Kernstown in '62

(as well as the fact that he had been lamed by a kick from his horse and thus had to go into the charge mounted). In Robert's case, always a strict and reserved officer (he had been despised by the Cadets at West Point when he served as Commandant of Cadets there) -- he had lost his wife and young child to disease while stationed at Fort Simcoe in the Northwest prior to the war, and become even more retiring. His stand at Corrick's Ford with a mere handful of rearguard troops almost invited death -- and he was the first general to fall in the Civil War. Richard Garnett's last resting place can, of course, only be guessed at (possibly with the unknown Confederate dead removed to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond) while Robert was interred in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY, where his wife's family had a plot.

Best wishes,

Brian Pohanka

Esteemed member deicher@astronomy.com (Dave Eicher) contributes:

Esteemed member "Janet L. Bucklew" I have a little information about Gen. Garnett. I have ( or rather my son has) a small booklet on the Battle of Corricks Ford. There is only one likeness of Garnett and that appears to be a painting/drawing which is held by the Library of Congress. he is shown as having a closecut mustache, beard and goatee. Very neat. The booklet is only 24 pages long, but it appears to have been researched fairly well.<<