Thursday, June 20, 2013

June 16, 1862---A scapegoat?



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Benham possessed was in desperately short supply among Union generals in 1862, and the Lincoln administration rescinded the revocation rather than cashier an effective, if difficult, officer.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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