Benjamin Jeffery Sweet (April 24, 1832 – January 1, 1874) was an American lawyer, politician, public administrator, and Union Army officer. He was a member of the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

and a Deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Sweet is also an important figure in the history of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

. The founding document he prepared for the town of

Lombard, Illinois Lombard is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. The population was 44,476 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Lombard was originally named "Babcock's Grove", after the Babcock brothers ...

, stated that "all citizens" are entitled to vote. In 1891, Ellen A. Martin invoked that provision and voted, 29 years before women were empowered by an amendment to the Constitution to vote in the United States. His two daughters,

Ada Celeste Sweet Ada Celeste Sweet (23 February 1853 – 17 September 1928) was an American reformer and humanitarian originally from the U.S. state of Wisconsin, but subsequently from Illinois. POTUS, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed her United States agent f ...

and

Winifred Bonfils Winifred Sweet Black Bonfils (October 14, 1863, Chilton, Wisconsin – May 25, 1936, San Francisco, California) was an American reporter and columnist, under the pen name Annie Laurie, a reference to her mother's favorite lullaby. She also wrote ...

were also important figures in the history of the battle for women's rights.

Biography

Sweet was born Benjamin Jeffery Sweet on April 24, 1832, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He later moved to

Chilton, Wisconsin Chilton is a city in and county seat of Calumet County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 3,720 as of 2024. The city is partially within the Town of Chilton. History The first residents of Chilton were African-American form ...

. Sweet died on January 1, 1874. He had two noteworthy daughters:

was a social reformer and pioneer for women serving in government office;

(born Martha Winifred Sweet) was a journalist and humanitarian.

Political career

Sweet was elected to the

. He later served as Deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue of the United States from 1872 until his death.

Military career

Soon after the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, on July 16, 1861, Sweet joined the

6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Throughout the war, it was part of the brigade that came to be known as the Iron Brigade in the Army of the Pot ...

of the Union Army and was given the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

.Eicher, John H., and

David J. Eicher David John Eicher (born August 7, 1961) is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of ''Astronomy'' magazine since 2002. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 23 books on science and American ...

, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . p. 520. On September 17, 1861, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. On September 5, 1862, Sweet was promoted to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and given command of the 21st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment. During the

Battle of Perryville The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, was fought on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, as the culmination of the Confederate Heartland Offensive (Kentucky Campaign) during the Ame ...

, in Kentucky, despite being sick from

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

, he led his men in combat until he was seriously wounded in his right arm. The wound ultimately left Sweet paralyzed in that arm for the rest of his life. Sweet resigned his commission on September 8, 1863. On September 25, 1863, Sweet was appointed a colonel in the

Veteran Reserve Corps The Veteran Reserve Corps (originally the Invalid Corps) was a military reserve organization created within the Union Army during the American Civil War to allow partially disabled or otherwise infirm soldiers (or former soldiers) to perform li ...

and assigned to the garrison at the Union Army

prisoner-of-war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

camp for

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

soldiers at Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois. Following recuperation from his injury, Sweet was given command of Camp Douglas after Brigadier General William W. Orme resigned on May 2, 1864. At Camp Douglas, Sweet oversaw what some observers have called the unnecessarily harsh and cruel treatment of Confederate prisoners, but which other observers have seen as no less so than Confederate treatment of Union prisoners. This notwithstanding, Sweet would soon be lauded for "discovering" and "thwarting" a bogus plot by spies for the Confederacy to liberate Confederate

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

and attack Chicago on the eve of the

1864 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 1864, near the end of the American Civil War. Incumbent President Abraham Lincoln of the National Union Party (United States), National Uni ...

. Sweet's efforts to prevent the conspirators from achieving their objective earned him the thanks of the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...

. On December 12, 1864, President Lincoln awarded Sweet the rank of brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from December 20, 1864, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the award on February 14, 1865.Eicher, 2001, p. 759 Sweet resigned from the army on September 19, 1865. He died from a sudden illness in 1874.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet, Benjamin Politicians from New York City People from Chilton, Wisconsin Wisconsin state senators People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War Union army colonels 1832 births 1874 deaths 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature