Benjamin Franklin Kelley
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Franklin Kelley (April 10, 1807 – July 16, 1891) was an American
soldier who served as a brigadier general
in the Union Army
during the American Civil War
. He played a prominent role in several military campaigns in West Virginia
and Maryland
.
, a small village in New Hampshire
. At the age of 19, he went to Wheeling, Virginia
, a center of the slave trade
. He engaged in the merchandise business until 1851, when he became a freight agent for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
, a Federal volunteer three-months regiment
, and was appointed as its colonel
. His first service was at Philippi
, where he captured the Confederate
camp equipage and was himself badly wounded. He was promoted to brigadier general
of volunteers on May 17, 1861, and was victorious at Romney
and Blue's Gap
(Hanging Rocks Pass). Afterward, Kelley commanded a division
of 10,000 men in the Department of Harper's Ferry.
In 1862 he served under Maj. Gen.
John C. Frémont
, and the following year he was in command of the West Virginia department and pursued General Robert E. Lee
during the Retreat from Gettysburg
. In 1864, he checked the enemy at Folck's Mill
, New Creek
, and Moorefield, West Virginia
. He was brevetted
as a major general
of volunteers on August 5, 1864.
Kelley, along with his immediate superior Maj. Gen. George Crook
, was captured by a small raiding party of Confederate partisans
on February 21, 1865. Kelley was sent to a prison in Richmond, Virginia
, but he and Crook were released on March 20 by a special exchange. He resigned from the army on June 1, 1865.
in 1866. After serving in that role for ten years, he became the head of the Hot Springs, Arkansas
, Military Reservation in 1876. In 1883, President Chester A. Arthur
appointed him an examiner of pension
s.
, and was interred in Arlington National Cemetery
. His grave was created by sculptor W.S. Davis and completed ca. 1861. The gravestone is made of granite
(6 x 5 x 3 ft.) with a relief (2 x 2 x 6 ft.) of bronze inset on the front of the stone, just above two inscribed plaques. The relief is a bust of Kelley, who has a full goatee
, mustache, and a military uniform.
One plaque on the gravestone is inscribed:
Another plaque on the gravestone is inscribed:
It was surveyed by the Smithsonian's Save Outdoor Sculpture!
survey in 1995 and was declared as needing treatment.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soldier who served as a brigadier general
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He played a prominent role in several military campaigns in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
and Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
.
Early life
Kelley was born in New HamptonNew Hampton, New Hampshire
New Hampton is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,165 at the 2010 census. A winter sports resort area, New Hampton is home to George Duncan State Forest and to the New Hampton School, a private preparatory school established in 1821.The primary village in...
, a small village in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
. At the age of 19, he went to Wheeling, Virginia
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, a center of the slave trade
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
. He engaged in the merchandise business until 1851, when he became a freight agent for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
Civil War
Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Kelley raised the 1st Virginia Infantry1st West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment (3 Year)
The 1st West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service record:...
, a Federal volunteer three-months regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
, and was appointed as its colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
. His first service was at Philippi
Battle of Philippi Races
The Battle of Philippi—also known mockingly as "The Philippi Races"—was fought on June 3, 1861, in and around Philippi, Virginia as part of the Western Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War...
, where he captured the Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
camp equipage and was himself badly wounded. He was promoted to brigadier general
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
of volunteers on May 17, 1861, and was victorious at Romney
Romney, West Virginia during the American Civil War
The city of Romney, Virginia traded hands between the Union Army and Confederate States Army no fewer than 10 times during the American Civil War, assuming the occupying force spent at least one night in the town...
and Blue's Gap
Hanging Rocks
Hanging Rocks are perpendicular cliffs rising nearly above the South Branch Potomac River in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Hanging Rocks are located four miles north of Romney at Wappocomo on West Virginia Route 28. Hanging Rocks has also been known throughout its history...
(Hanging Rocks Pass). Afterward, Kelley commanded a division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
of 10,000 men in the Department of Harper's Ferry.
In 1862 he served under Maj. Gen.
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
John C. Frémont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
, and the following year he was in command of the West Virginia department and pursued General Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
during the Retreat from Gettysburg
Retreat from Gettysburg
The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia began its Retreat from Gettysburg on July 4, 1863. Following General Robert E. Lee's failure to defeat the Union Army at the Battle of Gettysburg , he ordered a retreat through Maryland and over the Potomac River to relative safety in Virginia. The Union...
. In 1864, he checked the enemy at Folck's Mill
Battle of Folck's Mill
The Battle of Folck's Mill, also known as the Battle of Cumberland, was a small cavalry engagement, fought August 1, 1864, in northern Maryland, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War....
, New Creek
New Creek, West Virginia
The town of New Creek is an unincorporated community in Mineral County, West Virginia. It lies near the intersection of New Creek and U.S. Route 50, and is south of Keyser. The ZIP code for New Creek is 26743....
, and Moorefield, West Virginia
Moorefield, West Virginia
Moorefield is a town in Hardy County, West Virginia, USA. Moorefield is the county seat of Hardy County. It was originally chartered in 1777 and named for Conrad Moore, who owned the land upon which the town was laid out...
. He was brevetted
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
as a major general
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
of volunteers on August 5, 1864.
Kelley, along with his immediate superior Maj. Gen. George Crook
George Crook
George R. Crook was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.-Early life:...
, was captured by a small raiding party of Confederate partisans
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
on February 21, 1865. Kelley was sent to a prison in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, but he and Crook were released on March 20 by a special exchange. He resigned from the army on June 1, 1865.
Postbellum career
After the war ended, Kelley was appointed an internal revenue collectorInternal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
in 1866. After serving in that role for ten years, he became the head of the Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is the 10th most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Garland County, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County...
, Military Reservation in 1876. In 1883, President Chester A. Arthur
Chester A. Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing...
appointed him an examiner of pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
s.
Death
Kelley died in Oakland, MarylandOakland, Maryland
Oakland is a town in the west-central part of Garrett County, Maryland, United States. With a population of 1,925 according to United States Census 2010 figures, it is the most populated community in Garrett County...
, and was interred in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
. His grave was created by sculptor W.S. Davis and completed ca. 1861. The gravestone is made of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
(6 x 5 x 3 ft.) with a relief (2 x 2 x 6 ft.) of bronze inset on the front of the stone, just above two inscribed plaques. The relief is a bust of Kelley, who has a full goatee
Goatee
Goatee refers to a style of facial hair incorporating hair on a man’s chin. The exact nature of the style has varied according to time and culture.Traditionally, goatee refers solely to a beard formed by a tuft of hair on the chin...
, mustache, and a military uniform.
One plaque on the gravestone is inscribed:
- BENJAMIN F. KELLEY
- COLONEL 1ST VIRGINIA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
- BRIGADIER AND BREVET MAJOR GENERAL
- U.S.V.
- WOUNDED AT THE BATTLE OF PHILLIPI VIRGINIA
- JUNE 3, 1861.
Another plaque on the gravestone is inscribed:
- HIS WIFE
- MARY CLARE BRUCE KELLEY
- DIED DECEMBER 24, 1910
It was surveyed by the Smithsonian's Save Outdoor Sculpture!
Save Outdoor Sculpture!
Save Outdoor Sculpture! is a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. By fostering awareness and appreciation, SOS! aims to advocate proper care of a nationwide public resource....
survey in 1995 and was declared as needing treatment.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals