Chapter 3

“He placed his pistol to his own body,
shot himself through the heart.”

The Great Controversy:
Did Elon Farnsworth Shoot Himself?

For years many years, Col. William C. Oates, the commander of the 15th Alabama Infantry of Evander Law’s Brigade, steadfastly insisted Elon Farnsworth shot himself rather than surrender. “I received a full discharge of canister from Riley’s guns right [through] my ranks & over our heads,” reported the Alabama colonel on March 29, 1876. Oates continued:

This caused me to halt, which Farnsworth saw, he reined in his hosse (sic) & with his pistol in hand ordered Lt. [John B.] Adrian who was in command of the skirmish line to surrender; thereupon, Adrian & his line or those near enough fired upon him killing his horse and wounding Farnsworth in several places. He fell. Adrian advanced towards him (his few men never halted) and said “Now you surrender.” Gen. Farnsworth replied, “I’ll be damned if I do,” & placing his pistol to his own head fired & shot his brains out.¹

Col. William C. Oates of
the 15th Alabama Infantry,
Evander Law’s Brigade

National Archives

Oates repeatedly confirmed that he did not witness this event, but instead relied on Lieutenant Adrian’s account. Nevertheless, Oates maintained for many years after the war that this was how Farnsworth had met his death.2

As time passed, however, Oates backpedaled from his definitive belief that Farnsworth had committed suicide. On September 22, 1888, he sent a letter to Col. John B. Bachelder, the official historian of the Battle of Gettysburg. “Adrian said Farnsworth sat upright on the ground with pistol still in hand as Adrian advanced and in turn demanded of Farnsworth to surrender and that the latter refused to do it and shot himself,” wrote Oates, who went on to write:

I have the impression and always have had, although it may be erroneous that Adrian said Farnsworth shot himself through the head. I did not examine the head, the body and the ground about where it lay being quite bloody. I noticed two or three bullet holes in different parts of the body from which the blood was issuing…. Lieut. Adrian was subsequently killed in battle, and I do not remember the names of the men who were with him on the occasion, hence there is no way at this time of finding a living witness to the occurrence.

Adrian was a faithful young officer and regarded as perfectly reliable and I believe he told the truth, but I could not testify that he said Farnsworth shot himself in the head. I can however and do testify that he said F. shot himself and I do know that a few minutes after when I saw the body he was quite dead.3

Oates’ account was repeated in a number of publications. Its appearance created a great deal of controversy over the issue of who could claim credit for mortally wounding Farnsworth, and whether he shot himself rather than surrender.4 Given the fact that Oates insisted he had found letters from the bachelor’s wife, his account is somewhat suspect.

Let’s examine the evidence on these points, most of which covers both contentious issues. One private who was involved in the fighting and wrote about Farnsworth’s final moments was Theophilus F. Botsford of Company D, 47th Alabama Infantry. “Our regiment had a considerable fight with Kilpatrick’s Cavalry, our regiment’s losses were none, but taken a good many prisoners,” Botsford wrote. “The Yankee brigadier general committing suicide rather than to be taken a prisoner.”5 As set forth in the previous chapter, Private Botsford fled to avoid being run down by troopers from the 1st Vermont, and so was nowhere near the spot where Farnsworth fell. Therefore, Botsford could not have seen Farnsworth meet his end from wherever he was at that time. His assertion that Farnsworth died by his own hand was based on hearsay.

Texans also wrote on these contentious points. According to George T. Todd of the 1st Texas Infantry, “Gen. Farnsworth (believed by us to be Kilpatrick himself) fell in the left front of our regiment, and one of the First Texans ran forward and got his epaulettes and spurs. He also reported that he shot himself on account of the agony he was in.” Another member of the 1st Texas, W. T. White, recorded in a 1922 article for Confederate Veteran that “The general and staff rushed on our boys and demanded their surrender, when one of the boys, by the name of Taylor, and belonging to Company L, of our regiment, shot the general from his horse. As he hit the ground, Taylor said, “Now,— —, I reckon you will surrender,” whereupon Farnsworth drew his pistol and shot himself.”6

The same issue of Confederate Veteran also continued an account by J. O. Bradfield of the 1st Texas:

They came through at the edge of the timber just below the rock fence, General Farnsworth halting at the fence to see his men pass. In passing they cut off Captain Parks and two of his pickets from the regiment. They dodged behind a pile of rocks, but as General Farnsworth turned to go on with his men, he saw them, and, drawing his pistol, ordered them to surrender. Instead of obeying him, one of Parks’ men fired, and remarked, “It is your time to surrender now.” Farnsworth was shot through the stomach and fell from his horse, but still held to his pistol. He raised to a sitting position and, turning to the man who shot him, said, “I’ll be damned if I ever surrender to a rebel!” Then he placed the gun to his head and shot his own brains out. Thus died as gallant a man as ever wore the blue. I was in plain view of the whole scene.7

These two accounts by members of the 1st Texas are consistent in their recounting of the story.

Another Texan who claimed to have seen Farnsworth commit suicide was Pvt. A. C. Sims of Company F, also of the 1st Texas:

If there had been any honor in killing a Federal general, doubtless that honor belongs to the First Texas regiment. It happened this way: Gen. Farnsworth came dashing up to Corporal A. F. Taylor and demanded his surrender, but Taylor replied with a ball from his Enfield, which took effect in his abdomen just below his belt. The general, looking down, saw his wound, turned his pistol on himself, and shot himself four times and fell from his horse, and if those who came to bury the dead were not personally acquainted with him, they never knew they were burying a general.8

Sims, however, did not see the climax of the charge or Farnsworth’s fall, so like Botsford his account is based upon what others told or wrote to him. Further, the allegation that Farnsworth shot himself four times is simply not credible.

Yet another account by a Texan, this one unidentified, appeared in the National Tribune:

In his retreat, Gen. Farnsworth came up to where myself and a number of my comrades were concealed in a clump of bushes, when he called out for us to surrender. One member of my company (I have forgotten his name) discharged his gun at the General, shooting him through the hips and unhorsing him. As he fell the soldier called out to Farnsworth, “Now you surrender,” when General F. replied, “I will not do it,” and drew his pistol and deliberately shot himself through the head, firing three shots, the two first of which went through his hat, the third taking effect and killing him instantly.9

It seems unlikely that a seriously wounded Farnsworth, surrounded by hostile Confederate infantry, could have lived long enough or could have been strong enough to attempt to shoot himself in the head three different times before finally succeeding in the effort. This account simply lacks credibility.

Captain George Hillyer, a member of the 9th Georgia Infantry, G. T. Anderson’s Brigade, related the following account on the final moments of Elon Farnsworth:

I saw [Sgt. Leslie] Craig coming from the direction of those woods. He walked straight up to me and said: “Captain, those men are Vermont Cavalry, and their commander was General Farnsworth, and he has been killed. I saw him killed. His horse had been shot down and he was on the ground still fighting and firing his pistol. We commanded his surrender, and when we were very close to him he said he would die before he would surrender, and turned his pistol and shot himself.” I had learned before from other persons that it was Vermonters we were fighting, but I did not know the name of the commander until Craig told me. Now he told me this certainly within fifteen or twenty minutes from the moment of Farnsworth’s death. I think it likely, however, and I have so heard, that General F. had received several wounds before he shot himself, but Craig did not know it.10

It is highly unlikely that Captain Hillyer’s Georgians were involved in this aspect of the repulse of Farnsworth’s Charge, just as it is equally unlikely that any of these soldiers witnessed the actual event of Farnsworth’s wounding.

Major Alfred H. Belo, an officer of the 4th Alabama Infantry of Law’s Brigade, put a slightly different spin on the story:

The Fourth and Fifteenth Alabama were ordered to face about and charge down the lower slopes of Big Round Top to repel [Farnsworth’s] cavalry, which we did without difficulty in a few minutes. A volley was fired which killed General Farnsworth’s horse and brought him down mortally wounded, and as a squad of Alabamians approached him he pulled a pistol and fired it into his own bosom, killing himself instantly. It is known that Kilpatrick spoke to him offensively, saying that if he [Farnsworth] did not wish to lead it he would lead it himself or find some officer who would, whereupon Farnsworth, with an indignant remark, dashed away at the head of his cavalry, and it has been suggested that the sting of Kilpatrick’s remarks may have prompted that final act of suicide. But, as he had five desperate wounds in the breast, it is probably that the agony he suffered from them made him seek immediate death as a relief.11

Another member of the 4th Alabama, Robert T. Coles, left the following account:

I heard that evening that two or three versions of how General Farnsworth met his untimely death, and I have been told others since. Lieutenant Adrian of the 44th Alabama, at the time General Farnsworth with his few followers appeared to some of the 4th Alabama to be surrendering, had advanced sufficiently close for General Farnsworth to draw his pistol and order him to surrender. Adrian replied with a volley from his carbine and the rifles of those nearby, unhorsing Farnsworth and two or three of his troopers. The latter, with his pistol still in his hand showed no disposition to surrender. Adrian walked up to him and remarked, “Now you can surrender, sir.” Preferring death to captivity, with an oath that he would not surrender, he turned the pistol on his own body and fired, expiring almost instantly. Lieutenant Adrian was one of the best known and most popular of the company officers in the brigade, and was afterwards promoted to a captaincy for his gallantry. This is his version of the affair as he related it to us, and I believe it to be the correct one.12

Brigadier General Henry Benning, an infantry brigade commander who also did not see the climax of the charge, reported that “Some of the men engaged… told me that in going over the field for spoils they approached a fallen horse with his rider by his side but not dead. They ordered him to surrender. He replied wait a little, or something to that effect, and put his hand to his pistol, drew it and blew his brains out. This was General Farnsworth.”13 Like almost all the other accounts, Benning’s is based on hearsay and is thus unreliable.

Colonel John L. Black, commander of the 1st South Carolina Cavalry, left this account of Farnsworth’s death:

Gen’l. Farnsworth had perhaps spotted a small body of mounted men, 150 about I had moved several times in course of the day on Henry’s right, & concluded to make a dash at them and to dash in for a kind of feeling reconnaissance. He came down the road at a gallop and ran square upon Henry’s Battery before he saw it, who saluted him with a sweeping discharge of grape & canister which literally annihilated the head of his column. A second discharge did its work & the Alabama Regiments springing to their feet, pound in a murderous volley… Farnsworth, as papers on his person showed him to be named, had his bowels shot out. After the firing ceased, a Confederate ordered him to surrender. He had a pistol, “No, Dam you” & turning the pistol up, blew out his own brains.14

Given the fact that Black was at least one mile away from the spot where Farnsworth fell, his account is simply not credible. There is no way that Confederate colonel could have seen Farnsworth fall from his distant position along the Emmitsburg Road. Black also misidentified the Southern batteries that were involved in Farnsworth’s Charge, so his account cannot be given much credence.

Colonel John L. Black, the 1st South Carolina Cavalry.

National Archives

Dr. Ptolemy O. Edson, regimental surgeon, 1st Vermont Cavalry.
Edson found Elon Farnsworth’s body on July 4, 1863.

Francis Guber

Captain William Bachman, the commander of one of the batteries contesting the charge, raised a dissenting voice. In 1910, William M. Graham, who led one of the Federal batteries on South Cavalry Field (and by then a retired brigadier general in the Regular Army), wrote:

The following is the account of Farnsworth’s death as seen by a Confederate officer and by him related to me in the winter of 1876-77 at Columbia, South Carolina:

I was introduced to Captain Bachman, who commanded the “Hampton Legion Battery,” with which I was engaged (Battery K, First United States Artillery), at Gettysburg on July 3d. Naturally our conversation drifted to the war, and he remarked: “One of the most gallant incidents of the war witnessed by me was a cavalry charge at the Battle of Gettysburg, on July 3d, made by a General Farnsworth of the Yankee army. He led his brigade, riding well ahead of his men, in a charge against my battery and the infantry supports; we were so filled with admiration of his bravery that we were reluctant to kill him, and so called out to him to ‘surrender’, as his position was hopeless. He replied by emptying his revolver and then hurling it at us and drawing his saber, when we shot him through the body killing him. His men were nearly all killed, wounded, or captured, very few escaping to their own lines.15

Bachman’s recollection, as related by Graham, appears to be the only surviving Confederate account that does not claim Farnsworth committed suicide, and it is the only one that has him dying outright from his combat wounds.

The Southern accounts were met with immediate, snorting indignity from the Federals who participated in the charge. Dr. Ptolemy O. Edson, the regimental surgeon of the 1st Vermont Cavalry, left the following account shortly after the battle:

Early in the afternoon of July 5, 1863, Surgeon Lucius P. Woods, Fifth New York Cavalry, and myself, then Ass’t. Surgeon First Vermont Cavalry, found the body of General Farnsworth upon the wooded spur that connects Little Round Top and Round Top at Gettysburg, and carried it to the hospital of the Third Division of the Cavalry Corps. When found, the body was stripped to flannel shirt and drawers and stockings. There were five bullet wounds upon the body— four in the chest and abdomen, and one high up in the thigh. He had no wound or injury of any sort to the head or face.16

In view of these facts it seems impossible that General Farnsworth had any need to shoot himself, though Colonel Oates, who claims to have seen the event itself, was undoubtedly there and declared Farnsworth’s death a suicide. The young Union cavalry general certainly did not blow his brains out, nor did anyone perform the deed for him. A medical professional like Dr. Edson would know a head wound when he saw one. Edson’s account is credible.

As one might expect, many other members of Farnsworth’s brigade rallied around the honor of their fallen commander. Frank Doyle of Company M, 1st Vermont, indignantly retorted:

There are those, I am sure, who know in what manner the General met his death, and I wish for the honor of his family, and those who followed him, that they will come to the front and refute and forever stop this talk of a man killing himself when his body was riddled by bullets, each bullet hole rendering it unnecessary for himto commit suicide…. General Farnsworth was not the man to commit suicide. In the first place, he had neither scratch nor sign of wound on the head. Surg. Edson of the 1st Vt. Cav. and Surg. Woods, of the 5th N.Y. Cav., found the body and brought it in. They say there were no wounds on the head whatsoever. There were, however, four or five bullet holes through his chest and abdomen. Now, with all these wounds through the body, each one fatal, it seems impossible that he could have killed himself. Then, had he shot himself through the head and killed himself, how come all those bullet holes through the body.17

Almost to a man the Vermonters disputed the allegations that Farnsworth had dishonored himself by committing suicide. Captain Henry Parsons stated, “[Farnsworth] fell with his saber raised, and was found with five wounds in his body, three of them mortal, and with no wound in his head.” Lieutenant Eli C. Holden contended that Farnsworth “died by bullets of the enemy.”

Writing in 1887, Major Wells emphatically declared, “The report that Gen Farnsworth shot himself is untrue. His body was brought from the field by P. O’Meara Edson, Ass’t. Surgeon of our regiment. He has often told me that the Gen was several times wounded, any one of which would have proved fatal.”18

Some of the West Virginians and members of the 18th Pennsylvania also rallied around their fallen commander. Captain John Steltzer of Company L of the 1st West Virginia noted, “We had charged about 400 yards when we came in contact with Hood’s Division of rebel troops, whose fire killed Gen. Farnsworth.” Major Charles E. Capehart of the 1st West Virginia recorded, “The charge was led by Gen. Farnesworth (sic), who fell pierced with five bullets.” And Capt. Henry C. Potter of the 18th Pennsylvania wrote, “In the meantime, Farnsworth was out on the meadow, leading a straggly charging mass of cavalry. He fell at the head of the line near Devil’s Den.”

New York Times correspondent E. A. Paul traveled regularly with Judson Kilpatrick’s headquarters. The reporter wrote at some length about General Farnsworth’s charge and subsequent death a couple of weeks after the battle. He wrote:

Major Charles E. Capehart assumed command of the 1st West Virginia Cavalry
after Brig. Gen. Elon Farnsworth fell. Library of Congress

The list of missing gradually lessened, and hope led us to look anxiously for the return of Gen. Farnsworth; and when, with the morning’s dawn, no tiding from him were heard, then hope said he was wounded—a prisoner— he has been left seriously, perhaps dangerously wounded at some house by the roadside. Vain hope. Messengers were sent in every direction to search for the missing spirit. It did not seem possible that he could be dead; and yet, so it was. He fell just after crossing the second fence, his bowels pierced by five bullets. There some of the Vermont boys left behind at the hospital, found his body two days after the fight and saw it decently interred.19

Paul did not personally witness Farnsworth’s fall, and he relied upon hearsay in constructing his account of the brave general’s fall. Despite being inherently unreliable, this account has served as one of the primary underpinnings for a revisionist account of these events, but it just does not reflect reliability.

It is unlikely that the truth about Elon Farnsworth’s death will ever be known with certainty. There are solid arguments supporting both sides of the debate. Admittedly, the sheer volume of Confederate accounts contending that Farnsworth shot himself is quite impressive. So, too, is their consistent retelling of the fateful story of the charge and his fall—even though there is disagreement about whether Farnsworth was initially shot down by men of the 15th Alabama or infantry belonging to the 1st Texas.

On the other hand, the testimony of Drs. Edson and Woods is also compelling. Their steadfast insistence that there were no wounds to either Farnsworth’s head or face indicates that the accounts that had him shooting himself in the head are untrue. As men of science, these men had little reason to lie. In addition, members of his command, who knew him well, steadfastly insisted that their leader never would have shot himself, regardless of the suffering of his many wounds.

One explanation for the confusion may be that Farnsworth was mistaken for Capt. Oliver T. Cushman, who rode with Farnsworth and fell at his side with a terrible wound to the face. It is altogether possible that the Confederates saw Cushman fall wounded and confused him for Elon Farnsworth, which would certainly account for the numerous reports that Farnsworth shot himself in the head. The infliction of a bad facial wound could easily be confused with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head during the heat of combat.

Captain Cushman was also wearing the mysterious “white duck” jacket with gold braid when he fell, something many Confederates believed Farnsworth also wore into battle that fateful day. After suffering the horrible wound to his face about the same time Farnsworth fell, Cushman fought it out with his pistols until he fainted from the loss of blood. Captain Parsons observed, “[Cushman] was a notably handsome officer, and it was clear that he was mistaken throughout the fight for General Farnsworth.” For example, Robert T. Coles of the 4th Alabama left an account that indicated that Farnsworth had worn “a long light-colored Havelock which we had mistaken for a white flag.”20

Clearly, at least one member of the 4th Alabama believed that Cushman was Farnsworth that day.

Whether or not Union Brig. Gen. Elon Farnsworth actually shot himself, was killed outright, or was mortally wounded, remains open to some debate. However, there are many good reasons to believe and conclude that the young general did not take his own life. Farnsworth did not want to make that charge; in fact, he recognized its folly and said as much to his commanding officer. Farnsworth led the charge because Judson Kilpatrick ordered him to do so, and apparently challenged his manhood and his honor to boot. As Farnsworth’s contemporary Capt. James H. Kidd of the 6th Michigan Cavalry properly observed years after the close of the war, “[Farnsworth] was too brave a man and too conscientious to do anything else than obey orders to the letter. His courage had been put to the proof in more than a score of battles.”21

1 William C. Oates to John B. Bachelder, March 29, 1876, Bachelder Papers.

2 Oates wrote the following in an 1868 letter to Longstreet’s chief of artillery, Brig. Gen. Edward Porter Alexander: “His horse was killed and he fell, very badly wounded through the leg and thigh and one shoulder and in the abdomen. The lieutenant advanced towards him as he sat on the ground still grasping his pistol and again required him to surrender, to which he replied, ‘I’ll be damned if I do,’ and placing the pistol to his own head, fired and shot his brains out.” Oates to Alexander, August 25, 1868. Oates was at least consistent in his recounting of Adrian’s story. For example, while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in September 1888, Oates reaffirmed this version of the story in a letter to Colonel Bachelder. See letter of September 16, 1888, Bachelder Papers. Oates also related this account nearly verbatim in his 1905 memoirs. Oates, The War Between the Union and the Confederacy, 236.

3 Oates to Bachelder, September 22, 1888, Bachelder Papers.

4 For instance, this account is repeated almost verbatim in a 1924 article by John B. Purifoy that appeared in Confederate Veteran, vol. 32, p. 308.

5 Burton and Botsford, Historical Sketches of the 47th Alabama, 17.

6 George T. Todd, “Recollections of Gettysburg,” Confederate Veteran, 8 (1900), 240; White, “The First Texas Regiment at Gettysburg,” 185, 197.

7 Bradfield, “At Gettysburg,” 236.

8 Recollections of A. C. Sims, USAHEC.

9 EHF, “Did Gen. Farnsworth Kill Himself?” National Tribune, September 10, 1891.

10 Hillyer recollections.

11 A. H. Belo, “The Battle of Gettysburg,” Confederate Veteran, 8 (1900), 168.

12 Stocker, R. T. Coles’ History, 112. One of several problems with Coles’ account is that he claims Lieutenant Adrian was armed with a cavalry carbine. Adrian was an infantry officer, and would not have been armed with a cavalryman’s weapon.

13 Benning, “Notes,” 178.

14 McSwain, Crumbling Defenses, 43.

15 Rodenbough, “Cavalry Battles and Charges,” 4:233-234.

16 Benedict, Vermont in the Civil War, 2:602-603.

17 Doyle, “Did Not Commit Suicide.”

18 Parsons, “Gettysburg: The Campaign was a Chapter of Accidents”; Holden, “The Death of Farnsworth”; Wells to Woodruff, January 2, 1887.

19 John Seltzer, “The Death of General Farnsworth,” National Tribune, July 14, 1887; Maj. Charles E. Capehart to John B. Bachelder, undated letter, Bachelder Papers; Potter Memoir; New York Times, July 21, 1863.

20 Parsons, “Farnsworth’s Charge and Death,” 396; Stocker, R. T. Coles’ History, 112.

21 Kidd, Personal Recollections, 162.