H. Benning

Confederate (CSA)

Colonel

Henry Lewis Benning

"Old Rock"

(1814 - 1875)

Home State: Georgia

Education: Franklin College (now University of Georgia), Class of 1834

Command Billet: Brigade Commander

Branch of Service: Infantry

Unit: Toombs' Brigade

see his Battle Report

Before Sharpsburg

He was a lawyer, judge, and politician. In August 1861 he was commissioned Colonel of the 17th Georgia Infantry, which he led at Seven Days and Second Manassas.

On the Campaign

On 17 September 1862 at Sharpsburg he commanded Toombs' Brigade as senior Colonel, while Brig. Gen. Toombs commanded a group of three brigades of Jones' division in the defense of the lower - Rohrbach's, later Burnside's - bridge over the Antietam.

The rest of the War

He continued in command of the Brigade at Fredericksburg, and in March 1863 was appointed Brigadier General in his own right. He commanded his brigade in Hood's Division at Gettysburg, Chickamauga, and Knoxville, and led the brigade, then in Field's Division, in the Wilderness (wounded), at Petersburg, and to Appomattox.

After the War

He continued in his law practice in Columbus, GA.

References & notes

The US Army's Fort Benning is named for him.

Birth

4/2/1814; Columbia County, GA

Death

07/09/1875; Columbus, GA; burial in Linwood Cemetery, Columbus, GA