Kenner Garrard Kenner Garrard ( September 21 , 1827 – May 15 , 1879 ) was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War . A member of one of Ohio ' s most prominent military families , he performed well at the Battle of Gettysburg , and then led a cavalry division in the army of Major General William T . Sherman during the Atlanta Campaign . He developed a reputation for personal bravery and was cited for gallantry at the Battle of Nashville as an infantry division commander . Early life and career . Garrard was born at his paternal grandfather ' s home in Bourbon County , Kentucky , while his mother was visiting there . His grandfather , James Garrard , was the second Governor of Kentucky . He was raised in Cincinnati , Ohio , and received a private education . He was the brother of fellow future Civil War generals Jeptha Garrard and Israel Garrard . A first cousin , Theophilus T . Garrard , also became a Union general . Kenner Garrard briefly attended Harvard University in Cambridge , Massachusetts , but withdrew in his sophomore year after accepting an appointment to the United States Military Academy . He graduated eighth in the Class of 1851 and was appointed a brevet second lieutenant in the 4th U . S . Artillery . He soon transferred to the 1st U . S . Dragoons . In 1855 , Garrard was transferred to the 2nd U . S . Cavalry as an adjutant to Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston and Lieutenant Colonel Robert E . Lee , both future generals in the Confederate States Army . He was stationed in a variety of posts in the Southwest frontier , including in the New Mexico Territory . Civil War . When the Civil War erupted in 1861 , Garrard , by then a captain , was on duty in an outpost in Texas . As a loyal Unionist , he was imprisoned by Confederate authorities following the surrender of U . S . troops by Maj . Gen . David E . Twiggs . He was allowed to travel back to the North . He made his way to Washington , D . C . , bringing with him $ 20 , 000 of Federal funds he had secreted from Texas , returning the money to the U . S . Treasury . In December 1861 , he was appointed as Commandant of the U . S . Military Academy in West Point , New York . After being formally exchanged on August 27 , 1862 , Garrard was appointed colonel of the 146th New York Infantry in the Army of the Potomac and took part in the battles of Fredericksburg , Chancellorsville , and Gettysburg , where he succeeded Brig . Gen . Stephen H . Weed ( who was killed on Little Round Top ) in the command of the 3rd Brigade of Maj . Gen . George Sykes ' s division . In December 1863 he was nominated for promotion to brigadier general with an effective date of July 23 , 1863 , commemorating the end of the pursuit of Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia . He was appointed as the major of the 3rd U . S . Cavalry in the regular army in November 1863 , while continuing to hold the rank of brigadier general in the volunteer army . In December 1863 , he was made Chief of the Cavalry Bureau in Washington , but was the next month , at his own request , relieved from that duty to take command of the 2nd Division of Cavalry in the Army of the Cumberland , and transferred to the Western Theater . Garrard took part in Sherman ' s Atlanta Campaign as a cavalry division commander , but failed to impress his superiors . Returning to the infantry , he participated in the Battle of Nashville , where he and his division performed well . Army commander Maj . Gen . George H . Thomas cited Garrard for gallant conduct at Nashville . As a result , he was appointed a brevet major general of volunteers and brevet brigadier general in the regular army for his battlefield performance . He also received the brevet rank of major general in the regular army as of March 13 , 1865 , as part of the mass brevet appointments at the end of the war . He ended the war in Alabama and was instrumental in the capture of Montgomery . Postbellum career . Garrard remained in the regular army after the war ended as commander of the District of Mobile , but resigned on November 9 , 1866 . He returned to Cincinnati where he worked as a real estate broker . He devoted the rest of his life to civic affairs and historical studies . He served as Director of the Cincinnati Music Festival for several years . He never married . He wrote : " Nolan ' s System for Training Cavalry Horses " ( 1862 ) New International Encyclopedia He died in Cincinnati , Ohio , at the age of fifty - one and was interred in Spring Grove Cemetery .