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Benjamin H. Grierson
Benjamin H. Grierson

Benjamin Henry Grierson (July 8, 1826, – August 31, 1911) was a music teacher and then a career officer in the United States Army. He was a cavalry general in the volunteer Union Army during the American Civil War and later led troops in the American Old West. He is most noted for a daring 1863 expedition through Confederate-held territory that severed enemy communication lines between Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Confederate commanders in the Eastern Theater.

Contents

Early life and career

Grierson was born in the borough of Alleghany, a part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the youngest of five siblings. He became afraid of horses when at age eight he was kicked and nearly killed by a horse. In 1851, he became a music teacher and band leader in Jacksonville, Illinois.

He married Alice Kirk of Youngstown, Ohio, on September 24, 1854. The couple had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood.

Civil War

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Grierson enlisted as a volunteer aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. Benjamin M. Prentiss. Promoted to major on October 24, 1861, he joined the 6th Illinois Cavalry and was promoted to colonel of that regiment on April 12, 1862. His regiment was engaged in a number of small skirmishes and raids on railroads and facilities in Tennessee and Mississippi that spring and summer. In November, he became a brigade commander in the Cavalry Division of the Army of the Tennessee. In December, he participated in the pursuit of Confederate Earl Van Dorn after his Holly Springs raid against the supply lines of General Ulysses S. Grant.

In the spring of 1863, he led Grierson's Raid, a major diversionary thrust deep into the Confederacy, ordered by Grant as part of his Vicksburg Campaign.[1] Grierson departed from La Grange, Tennessee, on April 17, in command of 1,700 men of the 6th and 7th Illinois and the 2nd Iowa Cavalry regiments. Over 17 days, his command marched 800 miles, repeatedly engaged the Confederates, disabled two railroads, captured many prisoners and horses, and destroyed vast amounts of property, finally ending in Baton Rouge on May 2.[2] More importantly, he diverted the attention of the Confederate defenders of Vicksburg away from General Grant's main thrust. He was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers in June.

In 1864 Grierson was assigned to the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Mississippi. The following year, he took part in the campaign against Mobile. On March 2, 1867, Grierson received a brevet promotion to the rank of major general in the United States Army for his famous raid.

Postbellum service in the West

Grierson decided to remain in the Regular Army after the war and received the rank of colonel. His lack of West Point credentials made him suspect to many fellow officers. He organized the 10th U.S. Cavalry, one of two mounted regiments composed of black enlisted men and white officers, called the Buffalo Soldiers. This assignment also made him unpopular with other officers, including his superior, General Philip Henry Sheridan, because of his support for and trust in his troops. His sympathy and courtesy to Native American tribes also led to questions about his judgment.

"The only White officer who supports the unit is Regimental Commanding Officer Colonel Benjamin Grierson. Ostracized by other officers for his enthusiastic command of the African-American troops, Grierson believes in the abilities, dedication, and record of performance of the Buffalo Soldiers and declines offers to lead at any other post. General Pike offers to relieve Grierson 'of this self-imposed exile and have him commanding a real cavalry regiment within a month,' but Grierson refuses" — Turner Network Television's documentary, "Buffalo Soldiers".

Postbellum command history

  • 1867–69: Commanded Fort Riley, then later Fort Gibson.
  • 1868–69: Headed the District of the Indian Territory.
  • 1869–72: Selected the site for Fort Sill, Oklahoma, supervised construction of the post, and acted as commander. He angered residents of the Texas frontier with his support of the peace policy on the Kiowa-Comanche Reservation. Saved the life of visiting General William Tecumseh Sherman, during a confrontation with Lone Wolf, principal chief of the Kiowa, over responsibility for an attack on a wagon train near Salt Creek Prairie, Texas.
  • 1873–74: Superintendent of the Mounted Recruiting Service at St. Louis.
  • 1875–78: Commander at Fort Concho, Texas.
  • 1878–80: Commander of the District of the Pecos. In 1880 he helped defeat Victorio to end the Indian threat to West Texas.
  • 1882–82: Moved his headquarters to Fort Davis, Texas.
  • 1883–83: Commanded the Department of Texas in September and October.
  • 1885–86: Transferred to Arizona, commanded Whipple Barracks and later Fort Grant.
  • 1886–88: Commanded the District of New Mexico. There he dealt sympathetically and effectively with problems on the Jicarilla and Navajo reservations.
  • 1888–90: Commanded the Department of Arizona.
  • April 5, 1890: Promoted to brigadier general.
  • July 8, 1890: Retired

His wife, Alice, died August 14, 1888; Grierson later married Lillian Atwood King, a widow, on July 28, 1897. During his life, he had homes in Jacksonville, Illinois, Fort Concho, and a summer home at Omena, Michigan. In 1907 he suffered a debilitating stroke; he died on August 31, 1911, in Omena, LeeLanau County, Michigan, and is buried in Jacksonville East Cemetery in Jacksonville, a town in Morgan County, Illinois.

Grierson in media

Colonel Grierson is a prominent figure in Turner Network Television's documentary, "Buffalo Soldiers".

The part of Colonel Marlowe, played by John Wayne in the movie The Horse Soldiers, is loosely based on Grierson.

Notes

  1. ^ *Dee Brown . Grierson's Raid: A Cavalry Adventure of the Civil War, reprint. ISBN 978-0890290613. 
  2. ^ "Harper's Weekly" (June 6, 1863). Retrieved on October 07, 2007.

See also

United States Army portal
American Civil War portal

References

  • Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
  • Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.

External links

Persondata
NAME Grierson, Benjamin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Union Army General
DATE OF BIRTH July 8, 1826
PLACE OF BIRTH Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH August 31, 1911
PLACE OF DEATH Omena, Michigan
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