During and after the battles around Richmond, Lee evaluated his subordinates and found many lacking. Several were transferred; others left the army. But Garland’s reputation was growing. He was considered outstanding in an army that was well known for the quality of its brigade commanders.

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After Union General George McClellan retreated down the peninsula to Fort Monroe, Lee determined to carry the war north, away from the Confederate capital. During the Second Battle of Manassas, Garland’s brigade was positioned in Fredericksburg to shield Richmond from Federal troops. Following Maj. Gen. John Pope’s defeat at Second Manassas, Hill’s division marched hard to join Lee’s army for the crossing of the Potomac into Maryland.

Lee determined to split the army into several parts. Several divisions were dispatched under Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson to capture Harpers Ferry with its 11,000 garrison troops and abundant supplies. Hill’s division was sent to the small town of Boonesboro, near South Mountain. The mountain served as a shield between the widely scattered Confederate army and the Union army advancing from Washington. Hill was ordered to coordinate the defense of the passes on South Mountain in concert with Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry. There were two major openings in South Mountain, Turner’s Gap and Fox’s Gap. Turner’s Gap presented a good defensive position, but Fox’s Gap was wide and could be flanked by several avenues of approach. Hill assigned one brigade to Turner’s Gap and sent Garland’s brigade to hold Fox’s Gap.

Garland formed a line in Fox’s Gap astride the old Sharpsburg Road with his brigade of about 1,200 men. Barely had he established his position when he was attacked by two brigades of the IX Union Corps under Brig. Gen. Jacob D. Cox. On the left, the newly arrived 13th North Carolina became involved in a heavy firefight with Union troops. As the North Carolina regiment began to waver under pressure, Garland rode up to the action. Colonel Thomas Ruffin of the 13th shouted, “General, why are you here?” Garland replied, “I may as well be here as yourself.” Ruffin answered, “No, it is my duty, but you should lead your brigade from a safer position.” At that moment Ruffin was hit in the hip, and as he went down Garland also fell, hit in the center of the back by a bullet that passed through his body and exited two inches above his right breast. Captain Don Halsey, his aide, rushed forward. Garland’s last words to him were, “I am killed. Send for the senior colonel.”

Garland’s remains were escorted home to Lynchburg by his cousin and aide-de-camp Lieutenant Maurice Garland. By order of the City Council, his body was to lie in state in the Lynchburg Courthouse for a period of 24 hours. On Friday, September 19, 1862, Garland’s funeral was conducted at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, with interment following at Lynchburg’s Presbyterian Cemetery. Garland was buried in the Meem family plot alongside his wife and young son. By resolution of the Lynchburg City Council, all business establishments were closed, all churches were ordered to toll their bells, and all soldiers then in the city were detailed to march in the procession. Almost the entire population of the city attended the ceremony for the much admired citizen who, in the words of The Lynchburg Virginian, “hated war, but excelled at it.” *

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