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A families sacrifice in Georgia lost to history

While doing the Confederate biographies at the Camp Chase Cemetery some interesting stories have emerged. More research needs to be done at the UT in Austin, Texas concerning the Dr. Stout papers to find some more answers. Only one of the brothers has a Confederate tombstone and his has been incorrectly marked and is at the Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery. I would urge the SCV and UDC camps in both Dalton and Atlanta to look further into this story and if possible have "In Memory of Stones" placed for the other four brothers. Please excuse the basic WBTS information as the biography is also intended for the general public and all Camp Chase biographies will be posted online in a few months.

""Private John BENEFIELD - Inscription on tombstone #719 reads “J. Bennifield Beauregard’s Batt’y LA. C.S.A.” He was taken prisoner as a result of the battle of Nashville, Tennessee 1864. Some of us may be familiar with the movie “Saving Private Ryan” and in the movie the Bixby letter from Abraham Lincoln was mentioned. Wikipedia has a good story about the letter titled “Bixby Letter” Although Mrs. Bixby did not lose five of her sons during the war President Lincoln had the impression she did and so the letter was written. This biography is more than just a Confederate soldier but rather about five members of a household who lost their lives during the war. While the compiler does not know the greatest number of members in a household who died during the war, five should be near the top of the list. This soldier was born and raised in Georgia and had nothing to do with the State of Louisiana. The compiler can only assume how the mistake was made. General P. G. T. Beauregard rose to national prominence at Charleston Harbor where he commanded the artillery against the Fort Sumter which was the immediate cause for the war on April 12, 1861. Major Robert Anderson who commanded Fort Sumter had been one of Beauregard’s instructors at West Point. Beauregard’s name was synonymous with engineering and artillery and the State of Louisiana where he had been born. Private John Benefield was with Captain Beauregard’s Company of the South Carolina Light Artillery otherwise known as Ferguson’s Company of Light Artillery. This unit had nothing to do with the State of Louisiana. Federal POW records referred to his unit as “Beauregard’s Battery” which technically never existed as a Confederate unit. Camp Chase like other places during the war was very busy and sometimes Union clerks took short-cuts in describing a Confederate unit and it’s also plausible Private Benefield may have listed his Confederate unit as Beauregard’s Battery and the Union Provost Marshal failed to inquire into further detail about the unit. Federal authorities incorrectly identified him with the State of Louisiana because of the name of Beauregard, in the compilers opinion. To further complicate matters Captain Rene T. Beauregard was the son of Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard and the captain of Captain Beauregard’s Company of South Carolina Light Artillery. Sources for the previous information was obtained from www.ancestry.com under Confederate research sources Volume 1 B. page 150. “Beauregard, R. T., 1st Lieutenant. Captain Ferguson’s Company South Carolina Mounted Artillery En. – Roll for April 4th to July 1st 1862. Present. Roll dated December 31st, 1863. (Last roll of Company on file) Absent on detached service. Prisoner of war records show R. T. Beauregard, Major and Aide-De-Camp Headquarters paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina, May 1st 1865.” Although the surname of Benefield was spelled several different ways the compiler is going by the way the name was spelled on post war tombstones of the household members of the 1860 census and because the father had received settlements for some of his son’s deaths in 1864 and spelled the surname as Benefield. The “1860 United States census listed the following in the household of John and Frances, surname spelled as Benefield living in Heard County, Georgia with the nearest Post Office as State Line. The head of the household John Benefield was listed as age 56 and born about 1804 and listed his birth place as North Carolina and listed his occupation as a farmer. The wife was listed as Frances R. Benefield, age 47 born about 1813 and born in Georgia.” Henry Benefield age 30 born about 1830 was listed as a student and born in Georgia. John Benefield (our subject) age 21, born about 1839 was listed as a student and born in Georgia. James B. Benefield age 18, born about 1842, was listed as a student and born in Georgia. Joseph J. Benefield age 16, born about 1844, was listed as a student and born in Georgia. George W. Benefield age 15, born about 1845, was listed as a student and born in Georgia. Robert Benefield age 13, born about 1847 had no listing for occupation and was born in Georgia. Hardy Benefield age 12, born about 1848 had no listing for occupation and was born in Georgia. Charles Benefield age 10, born about 1850, had no listing for occupation and was born in Georgia. Williams Benefield age 8, born about 1852, had no listing for occupation and was born in Georgia. Needham Benefield age 6, born about 1854, had no listing for occupation and was born in Georgia. According to www.familysearch.org “John Benefield and Fanny R. Wellborn were married on October 18, 1827 citing Morgan County, Georgia, United States, FHL microfilm 158906.” It should also be noted that according to the “1850 United States census the surname was spelled as Bennifield and were living in Heard County, Georgia.” The compiler will now list the photographs of the tombstones with the surname spelled as Benefield for the above household members and where they can be viewed. John Benefield the head of the household can be viewed at Find-A-Grave memorial #29293223 and is buried in Randolph County, Alabama, and his dates of birth and death were mentioned on his tombstone as 1804 – 1868. This agrees with the 1860 United States census as his birth year. Frances R. Benefield the wife can be viewed at Find-A-Grave #29293247 and her name on the tombstone is recorded as Fanny Benefield and her dates of birth and death were mentioned on her tombstone as 1812 – 1888. This agrees with the 1860 United States census as her birth year within one year. She and her husband are buried at the same cemetery in Randolph County, Alabama. John Benefield is listed in the Georgia 1864 census as living in Heard County, Georgia. Sometime after the 1864 census and prior to his death in 1868 he moved what was left of his family to Randolph County, Alabama. The Chattahoochee River separates Randolph County, Alabama with Heard County, Georgia. Due to the length of this biography the compiler will list the last family household member. Needham Benefield’s tombstone can be viewed at Find-A-Grave memorial #29293238 and listed his dates of birth and death were mentioned on his tombstone as 1854 – 1933 which corresponds with the birth year on the 1860 census and he is also buried in Randolph County, Alabama. It appears that John and Frances (Fanny) Benefield had managed to keep their sons out of war for as long as possible. How the sons managed to evade the 1st Confederate Conscription Act in April of 1862 and the 2nd Confederate Conscription Act implemented in July of 1863 is not known. As the compiler has mentioned Captain Beauregard’s Company of Light Artillery was a South Carolina unit. On December 5, 1863 all five of the members of the John and Frances household that were of military age all enlisted in Captain Beauregard’s Company South Carolina Light Artillery aka Ferguson’s Company of Light Artillery at Atlanta, Georgia for the duration of the war. They were: Henry; George; James B.; Joseph J. and our subject John and it should be noted the spelling on their Confederate Compiled Military Service Records reported their surname as spelled Bennefield. The first to die was “George Benefield on December 28, 1863 in camp at Dalton, Georgia.” Confederate Compiled Military Service Records reported “John Benefield was his father.” Another to die early was “James B. Benefield who died at an Atlanta, Georgia Confederate hospital” and it was noted on his Confederate Compiled Military Service Records he had been “sick and in the hospital since December 29, 1863” and it was noted that “John Benefield was his father.” Another to die early was “Henry Benefield who died on January 9, 1864 at the Medical College Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia” and it also noted he had been “sick and in the hospital since December 29, 1863.” The compiler assumes both Henry and James B. were taken to the same hospital. Confederate Compiled Military Service Records did not report his father’s name but rather listed the “attorney handling the claim as William A. Walton” Further research has determined he was an attorney from Georgia. Another to die was Joseph J. Benefield who “died at a Confederate Hospital in Dalton, Georgia” and again the father was listed as “John Benefield.” It would appear that about after a month after enlisting four members of the household of John and Frances (Fanny) Benefield had died of some unknown disease. The last household member left in Captain Beauregard’s Company of South Carolina Light Artillery was our subject John Benefield who also enlisted on December 5, 1863 in Atlanta, Georgia. Federal POW records reported “John Bennifield of Beauregard’s Battery captured near Franklin, Tennessee on December 17, 1864” as a result of the battle of Nashville, Tennessee. The battle of Nashville, Tennessee fought on December 15th and 16th 1864 was a decisive Union victory and left the Confederate Army of Tennessee in disarray. Using the Confederate Order of Battle at Nashville it listed “Ferguson’s South Carolina Battery was part of the Corps of Artillery within Cobb’s Battalion.” The National Park Service said the following about Beauregard’s Company of the South Carolina Light Artillery also known as Feguson’s Company, South Carolina Light Artillery. “However, most of the men and all of its guns were captured at Nashville. Captains R.T. Beauregard and T.B. Ferguson were in command.” Federal POW records reported John Bennifield taken to Nashville, Tennessee and then forwarded Louisville, Kentucky and finally transferred to Camp Chase where he arrived on January 4, 1865. Although on his Federal POW records his death was reported on December 7, 1864 at Camp Chase other Federal records indicated he died on January 7, 1865 and this would be more in tune with the time of his death for two reasons. The first is obvious he could not have been taken prisoner after the battle of Nashville, Tennessee on December 17, 1864 and die on December 7, 1864. The second is numerically the death of John Benefield would have been correct insofar as the order of tombstones and death dates. Federal POW records reported his death due to pneumonia. In the compilers opinion his name should have been John Benefield and his correct unit either should be Feguson’s Company of South Carolina Light Artillery or Beauregard’s Company of South Carolina Light Artillery. None of John Benefield’s other household members who died have a Confederate tombstone and his, as we now know is incorrect. Five of the members of the household were all dead, all forgotten about. According to the 1850 and 1860 United States slave schedules John Benefield owned no slaves.""

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A families sacrifice in Georgia lost to history
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