Henry Washington Benham (April 17, 1813 – July 1, 1884) was an American soldier and

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

who served as a general in the Union Army during 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 ...

Biography

Benham was born at

Cheshire, Connecticut Cheshire ( ), is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Cheshire was 28,733. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. The center of population of Connecticut i ...

. He graduated at the top of his class from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

in 1837. He was connected with various government works as a member of the Engineer Corps, and served in the Mexican War in 1847–48. From 1849 to 1852, he was superintending engineer of the sea wall for the protection of Great Brewster Island,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Harbor, and from 1852 to 1853 of the Washington (D.C.) Navy Yard. In 1861 he was appointed engineer of the

Department of the Ohio The Department of the Ohio was an administrative military district created by the United States War Department early in the American Civil War to administer the troops in the Northern states near the Ohio River. 1st Department 1861–1862 Gene ...

; in the same year he was promoted to be a brigadier general of volunteers and commanded a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

at New Creek. He was censured by General William S. Rosecrans for failing to follow orders given to him multiple times, allowing the Confederate army of General John B. Floyd to escape at the end of the 1861 West Virginia campaign. He also disobeyed orders and was subject to a

court martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the mili ...

after the battle of James Island on June 16, 1862, at which he was in immediate command under Major General

David Hunter David Hunter (July 21, 1802 – February 2, 1886) was an American military officer. He served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He achieved notability for his unauthorized 1862 order (immediately rescinded) emancipating slaves ...

. From 1863 to 1865, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, he was in command of the engineer brigade of the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the primary field army of the Union army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the Battle of ...

. Benham was mustered out of the volunteer service on January 15, 1866. On January 13, 1866, President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

nominated Benham for the award of the brevet grade of major general of volunteers to rank from March 13, 1865 and the U.S. Senate confirmed the award on March 12, 1866. On December 11, 1866, President Johnson nominated Benham for the award of the brevet grade of major general, U. S. Army, to rank from March 13, 1865 and the U.S. Senate confirmed the award on March 2, 1867.Eicher, 2001, p. 706 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 ...

in 1867, he was in charge of the Boston Harbor sea wall from 1866 to 1873, and of the defenses of New York Harbor from 1877 to 1882. He was an expert in the construction of

pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, is a bridge that uses float (nautical), floats or shallow-draft (hull), draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the support ...

Notes

References

: * Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. .

External links

Civil War Interactive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benham, Henry Washington 1813 births 1884 deaths People from Cheshire, Connecticut Burials at the Congressional Cemetery People of Connecticut in the American Civil War United States Army colonels Union army generals United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Connecticut American military personnel of the Mexican–American War

Biography

See also

Notes

References

External links