Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Robert Selden Garnett (December 16, 1819 July 13, 1861) was a career military officer, serving in the United States Army until the American Civil War, when he became a Confederate States Army brigadier general. He was the first general officer killed in the Civil War. Garnett was born at the family plantation in Essex County, Virginia. Along with his cousin, Richard B. Garnett, Robert attended the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, graduating 27th in a class of 52. Seven classmates, including his cousin, would die in combat in the Civil War. He was assigned as a second lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Artillery in July 1841. He spent a year on the Northern Frontier during the Canada Border Disturbances, serving in Buffalo and Fort Ontario in New York before being assigned garrison duty at Fort Monroe in his native Virginia. In 1843 Garnettbecame an assistant tactics instructor at West Point before becoming an army recruiter and then an Aide-de-camp to General John E. Wool.