Lewis Benedict

Lewis Benedict (September 2, 1817 – April 9, 1864) was a politician in New York State and later fought in the American Civil War. He served as a Union colonel and was awarded the rank of brevet brigadier general after his death in the Battle of Pleasant Hill.

Lewis Benedict
Lewis Benedict
Born(1817-09-02)September 2, 1817
DiedApril 9, 1864(1864-04-09) (aged 46)
Pleasant Hill, Sabine Parish, Louisiana
AllegianceUnited States United States of America
Union
Service/branchUnited States United States Army
Union Army
Years of service1861-1864
Rank Colonel
Brevet Brigadier General (posthumous)
Commands held162nd New York Volunteer Infantry
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Career

Before the American Civil War, Benedict was an Albany city attorney and a New York State Assemblyman. He graduated from Williams College in 1837.[1]

Benedict served during the Civil War as colonel of the 162nd New York Volunteer Infantry. It was recruited under the auspices of the Metropolitan Police at New York City and was part of the Metropolitan Brigade.[2] He was captured at Williamsburg, Virginia, and spent months in various Confederate prisons.

Benedict fought the Siege of Port Hudson in 1863, and was killed in action in April 1864 at the Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana. On March 13, 1865, he was posthumously brevetted brigadier general, U.S. Volunteers for "gallant conduct at Port Hudson, Louisiana".

References
  1. Perry, Arthur (1904). Williamstown and Williams College: A History. p. 502.
  2. "162nd NY Infantry Regiment during the Civil War". NY Military Museum and Veterans Research Center.
Bibliography
  • Howard, William F. "Col. Lewis Benedict: The Forgotten Hero of Pleasant Hill". The Kepi. April–May 1985.
  • Joiner, Gary D. Through the Howling Wilderness: The 1864 Red River Campaign and Union Failure in the West. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2006. ISBN 1572335440
  • Mayeux, Steven M. Earthen Walls, Iron Men: Fort DeRussy, Louisiana, and the Defense of Red River. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2007. ISBN 9781572335769
  • A Memorial of Brevet Brigadier General Lewis Benedict, colonel of 162nd regiment N.Y.V., who fell in battle at Pleasant Hill, La., April 9, 1864. Albany, N.Y.:1866. Available online at: www.archive.org/details/memorialofbrevet00bene
  • New York Infantry. 162d Regiment, 1862–1865. An historical sketch of the 162d Regiment N.Y. Vol. Infantry : (3d Metropolital Guard), 19th Army Corps, 1862-1865. Albany, NY: Weed, Parsons and Co, 1867. OCLC 3243200
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