1st New Jersey Brigade - Killed at Chantilly, VA

Item CDV-11535

Description

Philip Kearny Jr. (June 1, 1815 – September 1, 1862) was a United States Army officer, notable for his leadership in the Mexican–American War and American Civil War. He served in French Emperor Napoleon III's Imperial Guard at the Battle of Solferino.
 
The first U.S. citizen to be awarded the French Légion d'Honneur, he was killed in action in the 1862 Battle of Chantilly.
 
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, was appointed a brigadier general, commanding the First New Jersey Brigade, which he trained. The Army had been reluctant to restore his commission due to his disability, but the shocking Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run made them realize the importance of seasoned combat officers. His brigade, even after he left to command a division, performed spectacularly, especially at the Battle of Glendale.
 
By the end of August 1862, General Kearny led his division at the disastrous Second Battle of Bull Run, which saw the Union Army routed and nearly destroyed by Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The Union army retreated toward Washington and fought with the pursuing Confederate corps under Stonewall Jackson on September 1, 1862, at the Battle of Chantilly. In a violent storm with lightning and pouring rain, Kearny decided to investigate a gap in the Union line. Responding to warnings of a subordinate, he said, "The Rebel bullet that can kill me has not yet been molded." Encountering Confederate troops, Kearny ignored a demand to surrender and, while he tried to escape on horseback, a "half dozen muskets fired" and he was shot with a Minié ball that entered his hip and came out his shoulder, killing him instantly. Confederate Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill, upon hearing the gunfire, ran up to the body of the illustrious soldier with a lantern and exclaimed, "You've killed Phil Kearny! He deserved a better fate than to die in the mud."
 
Kearny's body was borne to the rear after the Confederates realized that a general officer had been killed. Confederate soldiers quickly proceeded to strip Kearny's body of his coat, boots, pocket watch, papers, and other items of value. However, after it was realized who the deceased was, Robert E. Lee ordered all of his belongings returned over the objections of poorly clad soldiers who protested that a dead man no longer needed a warm coat and boots. Kearny's papers were given to Lee for examination, but they merely consisted of personal letters to his wife and contained no useful military documents; Lee quickly burned them. General Lee sent his body back to the Union forces with a condolence note.
 
At the time of Kearny's death, there were rumors in Washington that President Abraham Lincoln was contemplating replacing George B. McClellan with "Kearny the Magnificent".
 
Source:  Wikipedia