Robert S . Garnett Robert Selden Garnett ( December 16 , 1819 – July 13 , 1861 ) was a career military officer , serving in the United States Army until the American Civil War , when he became a Confederate States Army brigadier general . He was the first general officer killed in the Civil War . Early life and career . Garnett was born at the family plantation in Essex County , Virginia . Along with his cousin , Richard B . Garnett , Robert attended the United States Military Academy in West Point , New York , graduating 27th in a class of 52 . Seven classmates , including his cousin , would die in combat in the Civil War . He was assigned as a second lieutenant in the 4th U . S . Artillery in July 1841 . He spent a year on the Northern Frontier during the Canada Border Disturbances , serving in Buffalo and Fort Ontario in New York before being assigned garrison duty at Fort Monroe in his native Virginia . In 1843 Garnett became an assistant tactics instructor at West Point before becoming an army recruiter and then an Aide - de - camp to General John E . Wool . Garnett served in the Mexican - American War under Zachary Taylor and received two brevets for distinguished service , one at the Battle of Monterrey and the other for " Gallant and Meritorious Conduct " in the Battle of Buena Vista . In 1848 , Garnett transferred to the 7th U . S . Infantry and served in the Seminole Wars in Florida before heading to the Presidio of Monterey , California . After a brief stint on a review board in Washington , D . C . , he served on the frontier in Texas , being promoted to captain . He returned to West Point as Commandant of Cadets before being transferred to garrison duty in Virginia . Being named a captain in the 1st U . S . Cavalry , he once again served on the frontier . The much traveled Garnett was promoted to major of the 9th U . S . Infantry and went west to the Washington Territory , where he served in the 1856 Yakima Expedition and the 1858 fighting against the Puget Sound Indians . He designed and supervised the construction of Fort Simcoe . He requested and was granted an extended leave of absence later that year when his wife and young son died from disease and he returned east to bury their remains . Still in mourning , he was traveling in Europe when the Confederate States of America were formed . Civil War . When Virginia seceded from the United States , Garnett resigned his commission in April 1861 and became Adjutant General of the Virginia troops , serving under Robert E . Lee . In June , he was assigned as brigadier general of the Provisional Army . At the start of the Civil War , Union forces had rapidly crossed the Ohio River to seize a portion of northwestern Virginia ( now a part of West Virginia ) , winning a key victory at the Battle of Philippi . On June 15 , Lee assigned Garnett to reorganize the Confederate forces in the area . He deployed his forces at strategic points along the Staunton - Parkersburg Turnpike , hoping to defend the vital supply route from the Federal troops . A series of small battles occurred , with the Confederates being forced to withdraw under pressure from Maj . Gen . George B . McClellan ' s Union forces . After a defeat at Battle of Rich Mountain , Garnett withdrew from his Laurel Hill entrenchments under cover of darkness , hoping to escape to northern Virginia with his 4 , 500 men . However , he received what later proved to be false information that his escape route to Beverly was blocked by Union troops . He instead marched to the northeast , following ridges and valleys in a more circuitous route . Pursued for several days by as many as 20 , 000 Federals , Garnett paused at several stream crossings to slow his adversaries . While directing his rear guard in a delaying action at Corrick ' s Ford , Garnett was shot and killed during a Union volley . A friend in the Union army recovered his body after Garnett ' s remaining men had fled . A participant in the battle related his coming upon the body of Gen . Garnett as he was dying and expressed the belief that he had been killed mistakenly by his own men . In memoriam . In recognition of Garnett ' s service during the Mexican - American War , a Federal honor guard conveyed his body under a flag of truce to his relatives , who buried Garnett in Baltimore , Maryland . He was later re - interred next to his wife in Green - Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn , New York , one of two Confederate generals buried there . His grave monument , which he had erected for his wife and child , does not have his name on it . One face mentions his wife , one face his son , and one face has the words " To My Wife and Child . " The fourth face is blank . In California , the General Robert S . Garnett Chapter 2570 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was named in his memory and honor . They funded a monument to Garnett , who had designed California ' s State Seal during his brief service at the Presidio in Monterey in 1849 .