nel of the 162d New York volunteers, accompanied Banks's expedition to Louisiana in September, 1862. He was brevetted brigadier-general for gallantry in the assault on Port Hudson, 14 June, 1863. In the Red river campaign of 1864 he participated in the various engagements, and was mortally wounded while in command of a brigade at the battle of Pleasant Hill. His death was made the subject of a poem by Alfred B. Street. See "Memorial of Brevet Brigadier-General Lewis Benedict, Colonel of the 162d N. Y. V. I." (Albany, 1864, printed privately).
BENET, Stephen Vincent, soldier, b. in St.
Augustine, Fla., 22 Jan., 1827. He studied at Hallowell's school in Alexandria, Va., then at the University of Georgia, and at the U. S. military
academy, where he was graduated in 1849, standing third in his class. He was appointed to the ordnance corps, and served at the Watervliet arsenal, at Washington, at Frankford arsenal, again at Washington, and then at the St. Louis arsenal. In 1859 he became assistant professor of geography,
history, and ethics at West Point, and from 1861
till 1864 was instructor of ordnance and the science of gunnery, after which, until 1869, he was in command of Frankford arsenal. In 1869 he was
made assistant to the chief of ordnance, and in
1874, on the death of the chief of the department,
he succeeded to the place, with the rank of brigadier-general. He translated Jomini's "Political and Military History of the Campaign of Waterloo" (New York, 1853), and he is the author of a treatise on "Military Law and the Practice of Courts-Martial" (1862), and "Electro-Ballistic Machines and the ScJuiltze Chronoseope" (1866).
BENEZET, Anthony, philanthropist, b. in St.
Quentin. France, 81 Jan., 1714; d. in Philadelphia,
Pa., 3 May, 1784. He was descended from wealthy
French parents, who fled hastily from France to
Holland in 1685, after the revocation of the edict
of Nantes, and thence to England in 1715. In
London his relatives became Quakers, and in 1731
they settled in Philadelphia. He apprenticed himself to a cooper, but in 1743 became instructor
in the Friends' English school, and continued to
teach until near the end of his life. He devoted
much attention to the abolition of the slave-trade,
and advocated the emancipation and education of
the colored population, opening for that purpose
an evening school. During the revolutionary war
and the occupation of Philadelphia by the British
army, he was active in alleviating the sufferings of
the prisoners. He published tracts, which were
gratuitously distributed throughout the country,
the most important being "A Caution to Great
Britain and her Colonies, in a Short Representation of the Calamitous State of the Enslaved Negroes in the British Dominion" (Philadelphia,
1766); "Some Historical Account of Guinea, with
an Inquiry into the Rise and Progress of the Slave-Trade " (1771) ; "Observations on the Indian Natives of this Continent" (1784); "A Short Ac-
count of the Society of Friends" (1780); and "Dissertation on the Christian Religion" (1782). See "Memoir of Anthony Benezet," by Roberts Vaux (New York, 1817).
BENHAM, Henry Washington, soldier, b. in
Connecticut, 8 April, 1813; d. in New York, 1
June, 1884. He was graduated at West Point
in 1837, assigned to the corps of engineers, and
for a year assistant in charge of improvements
in Savannah river. In July, 1838, he was promoted first lieutenant, and from 1839 till 1844
was superintending engineer of the repairs of
Fort Marion and of the sea-wall at St. Augustine,
Fla. During the three years succeeding he was
engaged upon government works in Pennsylvania. Maryland, and elsewhere. He was with the
army in Mexico in 1847-'8, and brevetted captain for gallant and meritorious services in the
battle of Buena Vista, 23 Feb., 1847. After the
Mexican war he was engaged for a time on engineering duty in New York harbor, and promoted
to the rank of captain in May, 1848. He was also
in charge of several other works of importance at
Boston, Washington, and Buffalo, from 1848 to
1853. In the latter year he was assistant in
charge of the coast survey office at Washington,
and sent to Europe on duty connected therewith.
During the following seven years he was occupied
in professional work for the government at Boston, Newport, and Sandy Hook, and on the Potomac aqueduct. At the beginning of the civil war
in 1861, Capt. Benham entered upon active service; was on Gen. Morris's staff as engineer of
the department of the Ohio ; was brevetted colonel for gallantry at the battle of Carrick's Ford,
Va., 13 July, 1861; in August was made brigadier-general of volunteers, and was engaged in the
Virginia campaigns, including the actions at New
Creek (16 Aug.) and Carnifex Ferry (10 Sept.). In
1862 he was present at the capture of Fort Pulaski (10-11 April) and James Island (16 June). Later in the year he superintended fortifications in
Boston and Portsmouth harbors, and was in command of the northern district of the department of the south. He proved very efficient in throwing
pontoon-bridges across the Rappahannock, the Potomac, and the James rivers, and was in command of the pontoon department at Washington
in 1864. In the mean time he had, through the regular stages of promotion, attained the full rank of lieutenant-colonel of engineers, and in March,
1865, was brevetted brigadier-general and major-general U. S. army, and major-general U. S. volunteers, for gallant services during the rebellion and
in the campaign that terminated with the surrender of Lee's army. In 1868 (7 March) he was promoted colonel of engineers, and during that year
was engaged in government works on the coast of New England, and from October, 1869, till July, 1877, was similarly occupied in the works on Long
Island Head. Sulasequent to this he was in charge of the defences of New York. He was placed on the retired list, 30 June, 1882. He invented the
picket-shovel used by troops in the field, and was an expert in pontoon-bridges, in the management of which he devised important improvements.
BENITO, Fray Marcos (bay-nee'-to), Spanish missionary, b. in Valencia, Spain, in the 17th century. He was a Dominican monk, and went as a missionary to the Spanish-American countries. His best known works are the "Arte de la Lengua Mije." and "Devocionario en Dialecto Mije."
BENJAMIN, George, Canadian statesman, b. in England in 1799; d. in Belleville, Ontario, 6 July, 1864. He resided for a time in Liverpool, was engaged in commercial pursuits, and travelled extensively. In his early manhood he went to New Orleans, and in 1830 removed to Canada, and settled in Belleville, where he remained until his death. For a number of years he conducted the Belleville "Intelligencer." He became warden of Hastings on the introduction of municipal institutions by Lord Sydenham, and so continued for many years, and was also for several years registrar of the county. In 1856 he was elected member for North Hastings, and represented that constituency in that and the succeeding parliament, until he retired in 1861. He was elected grand master of
