Vannerson and Jones bm. During the Gettysburg Campaign, Garnett's brigade continued in the division of George Pickett and, due to the order of march, did not reach the battlefield from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, until late on the afternoon of July 2, 1863, missing the first two days of the Battle of Gettysburg. Pickett's division was assigned by Gen. Lee to lead a great assault on the Union's center on Cemetery Ridge on July 3. Garnett's brigade was in the front rank of Pickett's division, on the left, next to Brig. Gen. James L. Kemper's brigade. Garnett was in no shape to lead an infantry charge; he was suffering from fever and an injured leg when his horse kicked him and he could not walk. But Garnett yearned to settle the record of his military dishonor from Kernstown, which the aborted court-martial could not. Despite protestations from other officers, Garnett insisted on leading his soldiers into battle on horseback, becoming a conspicuous target for Union riflemen.[citation needed]Prior to starting out toward the Union defenses on Cemetery Hill, Garnett conversed with Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead, another of Pickett's brigade commanders, about the proposed charge. Garnett reportedly said: "This is a desperate thing to attempt" to which Armistead added his prediction that "the slaughter will be terrible."[3]Garnett got within 20 yards of the "Angle" on Cemetery Ridge before he was killed, a bullet striking him in the head as he waved his hat to urge his men forward.[4][5] His courier, Private Robert H. Irvine of the 19th Virginia, witnessed his death. Irvine's horse was hit and fell on Garnett, so the private pulled Garnett's body from underneath the animal and retrieved the general's watch, which he gave to the brigade adjutant. There are conflicting stories about whether Garnett's horse, a bay gelding named Red Eye, returned to the Confederate lines.[6] Although Garnett was wearing a new uniform,[7] somehow his body was never identified and he was buried by Union soldiers in a mass grave. Robert K. Krick presumes that his remains were later transferred to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.[8] Garnett and Armistead were both killed; Kemper was gravely wounded.[9]
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