CSA Bio: Benjamin H. Helm

[Battleline]

Brig. Gen. Benjamin H. Helm (b. 1831, d. 1863) He might have been the only Confederate general to be mourned in the White House. Benjamin Hardin Helm was married to Emily Todd, the half-sister of the U.S. first lady, Mary Todd Lincoln. Helm was fatally wounded during an assault at Chickamauga Sept. 20, 1863 and died during the overnight hours. After his death, Mrs. Helm received a pass through the lines to visit her sister in Washington, D.C., which caused a considerable ruckus in the Northern press. Born in Bardstown, Kentucky, June 2, 1831. Helm graduated from the U.S. Military Academy with the Class of 1851, (9th of 42). After going through tours in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and Fort Lincoln, Texas, Lt. Helm resigned his commission to take up law study. In 1856, he married Emily Todd. From 1855-56, he served in the Kentucky legislature and was commonwealth attorney (3rd District) from 1856-1858. Before the war, Helm became part of Abraham Lincoln’s circle of friends. When the Civil War came, Helm was offered a major’s commission in the U.S. Army by Lincoln. He would have been a paymaster. Helm turned down the offer to recruit the First Kentucky Cavalry for Confederate service. He received a colonel’s commission Oct. 19, 1861, and immediately occupied Bowling Green, Kentucky. He was sent south with Gen. Buckner. Helm received his promotion to brigadier general in the Provisional Confederate Army to rank from March 14, 1862. Posted in Alabama, Helm had an important role for the Battle of Shiloh. Keeping tabs on the forces of Gen. Buell, Helm sent information Buell was still pressing for Decatur, Alabama, instead of going to reinforce Gen. Grant at Shiloh. Buell’s men did reinforce Grant and helped swing the battle on the second day, making the overall result a Federal victory. Confederate Gen. Beauregard said he had ignored the message, in effect exonerating Helm. After Shiloh, Helm was sent to Vicksburg, Mississippi. He led troops on Gen. Breckinridge’s successful expedition to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but was injured in a fall from his horse, which kept him out of the fight. With the Army of Tennessee wintering near Tullahoma, Tennessee, after the Battle of Murfreesboro (Stones River), Helm took over the Orphan Brigade formerly under Gen. R.W. Hanson, who had been killed in the recent fighting, and Col. Robert Trabue, who died of illness in camp. Under Breckinridge, Helm led his brigade in action in Tennessee and with Gen. Joseph Johnston around Jackson, Mississippi. With Confederate forces massing for battle in northern Georgia, the Orphan Brigade was back with the Army of Tennessee. On the first day, it fought with Gen. D.H. Hill on the far left. The brigade was on the far left on the first day of the battle, Oct. 19, and shifted to the far left for the second day of the attack. Assaulting breastworks on the second day, Helm fell mortally wounded. Helm was buried in Atlanta. Mrs. Helm visited her half-sister in Washington, D.C., where she defused criticism by taking an oath of loyalty to the Union and was granted amnesty Dec. 14, 1863. The remains of Gen. Helm were moved to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, 21 years after his death.

[shenandoah]

Hello Battleline. I would like to work on Robert S. Garnett if you haven't all ready done or want to work on Garnett.

Are there other G's out there that need to be done?

[Battleline]

shenandoah,
Go ahead and work on Garnett. I haven't made it that far yet. We should be getting close to finishing the CSA side of bios, a major milestone in the project.
Thanks,
Battleline

[shenandoah]

Batteline, thanks.  I will start on Robert Selden Garnett.  He wasn't in the war very long dying in July 1861.  Shouldn't be too hard but I am a slow writer and Spring is almost here. 
 
shenandoah

[Gil R.]

Copied, thanks.

[Battleline]

Another one in "Let Us Die Like Brave Men: Behind the Dying Words of Confederate Warriors" by Daniel W. Barefoot. It doesn't need to be included in the bio, but here's some more interesting information.
As the Orphan Brigade attacked and moved within 30 yards of the Federal lines, Helm was riding on his horse encouraging his men when he was hit in the chest by a shot reportedly fired by a sharpshooter of the 15th Kentucky (Union) Regiment. The wound was mortal. He lingered for several hours and asked who had won the battle. When told the Confederates had prevailed, his last words were "Victory! Victory! Victory!"
His monument can be reached by walking trail west of Alexander's Bridge Road (not far from Battleline Road, I'm not making that up!) in the Chickamauga Military Park, just south of Chattanooga. On the day I visited, it was raining too hard (and getting to be later in the day) to hike out to the Helm marker. I saw several deer in the woods near that site and on Snodgrass Hill, the last place we visited before heading back to town.
Battleline

[Gil R.]

I'll try to work in his last words when I edit it. Sounds like a good idea for a book.