JUNE 16, 1862:
The
Battle of Secessionville (The First Battle of James Island).
In the Union’s
only attempt to take Charleston, South Carolina by land Union troops are
repulsed when General Henry Washington Benham U.S.A. led 9,000 troops onto
James Island. Henry W. Benham had a checkered career as a commander. He had helped
to clear western Virginia of Confederates in the summer of 1861 but was later ordered
arrested by General William Rosecrans for "unofficer-like neglect of
duty" because he was headstrong and openly critical of his superiors.
Eventually, he was simply reassigned to the Department of the South.
Tasked to take Charleston, Benham decided to attack the
strong fortifications on James Island that formed part of Charleston’s
defensive ring. But the Rebel fortifications were nearly impenetrable. The
approach to the fort was across a strip of firm ground bracketed by marshes,
which narrowed the ground that the Confederate artillery needed to cover.
Benham staged three attacks against the fort and the Federals lost nearly 800
men.
After the battle, Benham was arrested (again) for failing to
follow orders. His superiors claimed they had ordered no assault on the
fortifications. Whether they had was unclear. Some of Benham’s subordinates
backed Benham while others did not.
In retrospect, given his orders to take the city, it's very unclear what Benham was supposed to do if it was not to attack the fort as part of his offensive.
The Judge Advocate General's Office finally recommended
revocation of Benham's commission, but the aggressiveness Benham possessed was
in desperately short supply among Union generals in 1862, and the Lincoln
administration rescinded the revocation rather than cashier an effective, if
difficult, officer.
Benham was (again) reassigned, this time to serve under
Ulysses S. Grant for the Vicksburg campaign.
Later in the war, Benham commanded
the Army of the Potomac's engineering brigade during Grant's Virginia campaign
against Robert E. Lee in 1864.
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