Connoisseur Garrard
Kenner Garrard (born September 21, 1827 in Bourbon County , Kentucky , † May 15, 1879 in Cincinnati , Ohio ) was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War . He was the brother of Union Generals Jeptha and Israel Garrard and the first cousin of Union General Theophilus T. Garrard .
Before the civil war
Garrard was born in his paternal grandfather's house in Bourbon County, Kentucky, when his mother was visiting. His grandfather, James Garrard , was the second governor of Kentucky. Kenner grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and received private tuition there.
He briefly attended Harvard University in Cambridge ( Massachusetts ) and then, after accepting his post in the sophomore year, went to the Military Academy in West Point ( New York ).
Garrard graduated eighth in his class in 1851 and was awarded the rank of second lieutenant in the U.S. Army artillery . Soon after, he was transferred to the First US Dragoons .
From there he was transferred to the 2nd US Cavalry in 1855 , where he was the adjutant of Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston and Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee , both later generals in the Confederate Army . He was posted to a variety of posts in the Southwest Frontier, including the New Mexico Territory .
In the civil war
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Garrard, now a captain , was at an outpost in Texas . As a loyal Unionist, he was imprisoned by the Confederate authorities after the surrender of US troops under General David Twiggs . He was allowed to return to the Northern States.
Garrard went to Washington, DC with $ 20,000 of the federal funds he had secretly stashed in Texas and turned the money over to the US Treasury Department . In December 1861 he was appointed in command of the West Point Military Academy.
After his formal exchange on August 27, 1862, Garrard was promoted to colonel in the 146th New York Infantry in the Army of the Potomac and participated in the Battles of Fredericksburg , Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg . At Gettysburg, he took command of the 3rd Brigade from Major General George Sykes ' division after Brigadier General Stephen H. Weed fell on Little Round Top . In late July 1863 he was promoted to brigadier general while pursuing Lee's Army of Northern Virginia .
He was then promoted to major in the US 3rd Cavalry in the regular army in November 1863 while continuing to hold the rank of general in the volunteer army. In December 1864 he was appointed Chief of the Cavalry Bureau in Washington, but was released the next month at his own request, so that he took command of the 2nd Cavalry Division in the Army of the Cumberland and transferred to the Western Theater has been.
Garrard took part in Major General Sherman's Atlanta campaign as a cavalry division commander, but he could not satisfy his superiors there. Back in the infantry, he participated in the Battle of Nashville , where he did well with his division. Army Commander Major General George Thomas praised Garrard's fearless commitment to Nashville. As a result, he was awarded the rank of major general in the volunteer army and brigadier general in the regular army for his performance on the battlefield. He spent his last days of the war in Alabama , where he played a key role in the conquest of Montgomery .
After the civil war
Garrard remained after the war in the regular army as commandant of the District of Mobile , a post from which he resigned on November 9, 1866. He returned to Cincinnati, where he spent the rest of his life doing private business and studying history. During this time he was Director of the Cincinnati Music Festival for several years . He was never married. Garrard died in Cincinnati in 1879 and was then buried in Spring Grove Cemetery .
Works
- Nolan's System for Training Cavalry Horses
Web links
- Article about Connoisseur Garrard in Harper's Weekly
- Garrard's official report on Gettysburg
- Kenner Garrard in the database of Find a Grave (English)
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Garrard, connoisseur |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | General of the US Army |
DATE OF BIRTH | September 21, 1827 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Bourbon County , Kentucky |
DATE OF DEATH | May 15, 1879 |
Place of death | Cincinnati , Ohio |