By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
After the Battle of Kernstown, Va., Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson ordered the court-martial of Brig. Gen. Richard Brooke Garnett for cowardice and "unauthorized retreat." Garnett was deeply hurt by the injustice of the accusation. Nevertheless, Garnett wept at Stonewall's funeral and served as one of his pallbearers.
"General Garnett's black war horse came galloping toward us with a huge gash in his right shoulder, evidently struck by a piece of shell. The horse in its mad flight jumped over Captain Campbell and me," James Clay reported.
Clay wrote, "General Garnett wore a uniform coat, almost new, with a general's star and wreath on the collar, and top boots, with trousers inside, and spurs. It is, therefore, inexplicable that his remains were not identified."
