Near the Emmitsburg Road, wrote William Swallow, “the brave General Garnett, of Virginia, rode along his line covered with blood, with his head bowed almost to his horse’s neck. In a moment the General and his horse fell to the ground riddled with bullets in all parts of their bodies.” 9

Whatever the exact cause of Garnett’s death--whether he fell due to canister or to a bullet in the head--his body was never identified. If he was seemingly visible to nearly everyone at the time of death then his corpse disappeared immediately afterwards. Pickett staff officer Walter Harrison later claimed to know “about the spot where Garnett fell.” Union General Henry Hunt later told Harrison that he made a “diligent search in person, for Garnett’s body, the day after the battle, but could not identify it. He remained unrecognizable by any one, among the many dead, and was doubtless buried in the trenches near the spot where he fell.” 10 Private Clay recalled that the general “wore a uniform coat, almost new, with a general’s stars and wreath on the collar, and top boots, with trousers inside, and spurs. It is therefore inexplicable that his remains were not identified.” 11 But if Garnett had been killed by a head wound, stripped of his uniform by scavengers, and then had his corpse subjected to the elements for even as little as twenty-four hours, then there should be no real mystery as to why his body was not recognized amongst the heaps of dead. All that remained was his inscribed sword that reappeared in a Baltimore shop years later. 12