The Civil War News & Views Open Discussion Forum - Archive

Lt. Charles B. Gatewood

He is probably the most important factor in the capture of the Apache Geronimo and his band.

"Lieutenant Charles B. Gatewood of the 6th Cavalry, is perhaps the most expert scout, trailer, and mountain man of his years on the frontier. Twelve years ago this officer was a young country lad in Virginia mountains. He heard stories told at his father's hearth of the great (Civil) War, until his heart was full of a nameless longing to see world, and to be a soldier as his ancestors had been. But how should he do this? A good genius guided his steps, and he was gazetted to West Point. He was a boy then, and rather an ungainly one at that, for he had the long figure of his mountain race, not yet filled out to manhood's growth. After four years of training at our military school you would not have known him. Tall, perfectly straight, with a steely gray eye that looked at you in frank honesty, you felt that he would be a friend upon whom you could lean in time of need as against a rock, or an enemy that would never forget or condone an intentional wrong. Though he has been in the service as a commissioned officer only eight years, he has made a reputation in this brief period of time a man thrice his service might be proud to own. He is the commander of a battalion of five companies of Apache scouts - the hardest service a soldier can have."

The Movie "Geronimo: An American Ledgend" 1993, covers his days tracking the Apaches.

He was the son of John Gatewood Jr., a printer in the town of Woodstock, Va. with the Shenandoah Herald newspaper in 1845. He represented Shenandoah County in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1857 and 1858. He was a Captain in Company C "The Page Greys" of the 33rd Virginia Infantry when the Civil War broke out and served with Robert E. Lee. He resigned on the 23rd of August in 1862 to serve in the legislature.

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/charlesb.htm

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David Upton