Site Visit Saturday: Fox’s Gap and Brig. Gen. Samuel Garland, Jr.

    Do lawyers make good generals?  Some of them have. Others, not so much. There were a slew of lawyers who became Confederate generals, such as Lawrence Branch, John B. Gordon, Theodore W. Brevard, Jr., Daniel W. Adams, and Alpheus Baker, just to name a few. Included in the bunch was Samuel Garland, Jr.

   Born in Lynchburg, Virginia on December 16, 1830, Samuel Garland, Jr., was the great-grandnephew of United States President James Madison. His father was an attorney (who died when Samuel was ten years old). Samuel was educated in a private school in Nelson County, then at Randolph Macon College, and finally, the Virginia Military Academy, where he graduated in 1849, third in his class. He went on to study law at the University of Virginia, and after John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry organized a militia company. When the war came, that company became a part of the 11^th Virginia Infantry, and Garland was commissioned the regiment’s colonel. Garland and his regiment fought at the battle of Manassas in July 1861, as a part of Brig. Gen. James Longstreet’s brigade. Following the battle of Seven Pines, in which Garland was wounded in the elbow, he was promoted to brigadier general. He commanded a North Carolina brigade composed of the 5^th, 12^th, 13^th, 20^th, and 23^rd Regiments.

 

Garland Marker, Fox's Gap

   With the reorganization of the Army of Northern Virginia following the Seven Days campaign, Garland found his brigade in D.H. Hill’s Division, Jackson’s wing. During the Maryland Campaign, while the rest of Jackson’s command invested Harper’s Ferry, D.H. Hill’s command was sent to guard the gaps across South Mountain, protecting the rear of Jackson’s forces capturing the town. At the beginning of the fight, Garland was ordered to take his brigade and defend the National Pike. D.H. Hill wrote after the battle that “The firing had aroused that prompt and gallant soldier, General Garland, and his men were under arms when I reached the pike. I explained the situation briefly to him, directed him to sweep through the woods, reach the road, and hold it at all hazards, as the safety of Lee's large train depended upon its being held. He went off in high spirits and I never saw him again. I never knew a truer, better, braver man. Had he lived, his talents, pluck, energy, and purity of character must have put him in the front rank of his profession, whether in civil or military life.”  During the fighting at Fox’s Gap, Garland was struck in the back by a bullet that passed through his body. His last words were “I am killed. Send for the Senior colonel.”

   Following his death, Garland was interred at the Presbyterian Cemetery in Lynchburg, next to the graves of his wife and son who had passed in June and July 1861 of influenza.

   In September 1993, the Sons of Confederate Veterans erected a commemorative marker near the spot of Samuel Garland’s death. I last visited the site in May 2011.

Tar Heels buried with Stonewall Jackson.

A few weeks ago, on my return from the living history in Maryland, we stopped by Lexington and spent a few moments with Stonewall Jackson. We also stumbled over to the Confederate monument in the cemetery, and found the names of several Tar Heels chiseled on it. That got me to thinking - who were these men and how did they wind up so far from the front lines of the War? (Yes, the war visited Lexington in June 1864.)

So, who were these men?

On one side is the name of J. C. McKinney, Co. B, 34th N. C. John C. McKinney was from Cleveland County and was 39 years old when he mustered in as a private in February 1863. Four months later (June 17-19, 1863), he died of typhoid at a hospital in Lexington.

Below McKinney was G H B Huggins, Co.I, 2nd N. C. There are no Hugginses in Company I, but I did find a Henry B. Huggins in Company G. Huggins enlisted in Northampton County on July 18, 1861. He was wounded sometime around July 1, 1861, by the "explosion of a bomb shell at Camp Wyatt." Huggins was detailed as a nurse in Lexington on February 15, 1863, and died there of "typhoid pneumonia" on June 16, 1863.

On another side of the monument were the names W. G. Gilbert and A. T. Gilliam, both listed as having served in the 23rd North Carolina. There was a Willis Gilbert in Company D. His records state he was born in Caldwell County and enlisted at the age of 28 in September 1862. He died at or near Lexington around February 6, 1863, of "chr[onic] gastritis."

A. T. Gilliam is proving a challenge. There are no A. T. Gilliams in Company A, 23rd North Carolina Infantry. I tried looking on Soldiers and Sailors for A. Gilliam, and T. Gilliam, but I could not identify this soldier. I also looked at the compiled service records for the 23rd NC, but I did not really see anything there that matched. It could be that the inscription is totally wrong, or maybe this poor lad died of some disease after he enlisted but before he was mustered into the regiment.

I did a little online searching , but I did not find a whole lot about a war-time hospital. The Stonewall Jackson house was used as a hospital, but it is unclear if this happened during the war. Maybe someone has that answer as well.

I wonder how many other Tar Heels are tucked away in places, seemingly forgotten. 

Ramblings

Well, yet another busy day. I’ll spend much of the day in Watauga County. I’m being interviewed for a documentary on Shull’s Mill, and I’m sure the war will come up. Then, this evening, I’ll be speaking with the folks over in Cove Creek about a North Carolina Civil War Trail Marker.

I’ve added some blogs to my roll recently. Make sure you check out The Maryland Campaign – Tom has a letter from a member of the 23rd North Carolina Troops.

Three events I want you to know about.

There will be a discussion about Caldwell County and the War in Lenoir next Monday night (April 12). This event is at the library and is free and open to everyone.

Second, Harold Holzer will be speaking at Appalachian State University on Tuesday, April 13. The event will be at the Broyhill and starts at 8:00 pm.

And,

Next Saturday, April 17, there will be a tour of Civil War Burnsville in downtown Burnsville. We will meet on the square in front of the library at 1:00 pm.

old books

I have come to the conclusion that writing a regimental history is one of the hardest things to do. I’ve written one regimental history (37th NCT), and I’m working on a second (58th NCT). When one writes about a battle (which I’ve also done), one is able to be the master of that battle. A person can collect every scrap of information, can visit the battlefield, can tramp over every inch of ground. One is able (usually) to visualize what took place. When one writes about a regiment, one needs to be able to master not only that regiment, but all of the battles in which it fought. For the 37th NCT, that was over 30 plus engagements. No wonder it took six years of just writing! Yes, I visited all but one of those battlefields. (I did not visit Ox Hill. I have yet to visit Ox Hill). Have I visited every battlefield the 58th fought on? Not yet, but I’m working on it.
Maybe that is why we have so few modern (say, since 1961) regimental histories. To do a good job requires a great deal of time and effort.

Curiosity got the better of me this morning. What was the first attempt at writing about a regiment from North Carolina after the war?

It appears that Charles L. Jones wrote Historical Sketch: the following Historical Sketch of his company, regiment, and brigade, in 1874. This is a history of Company G, 55th North Carolina Troops. Jones was an officer in that company.

I have never seen a copy of Jones’s work. According to WorldCat, the book is 55 pages long, and originally appeared in an issue of D. H. Hill’s Our Living and Our Dead. While there may be a copy in an issue of Our Living and Our Dead, there are only three independent copies in other institutions: two in California and one in Missouri.

Jones’s book was followed in 1876 with W. H. Hall’s Historical Sketches of the Pee Dee Guards (Co. D, 23rd N. C. Regiment), and in 1883 with John A. Sloan’s Reminiscences of the Guilford Grays, Co. B, 27th N. C. Regiment.

The last two I have, albeit the re-releases done in 1989 and 1978.