History of Benton: Civil War (1861 – 1865)
On January 9, 1862 Mississippi seceded from the United States. Mississippi then joined her sister southern states in forming the Confederate States of America. Late that same year on April 13, 1862 Confederate forces stationed around Charleston Harbor opened fire on Fort Sumter, the bombardment lasted only a day, but resulted in the surrendering of the fort to Confederate forces.
When news of the Confederate victory reached the tiny township of Benton, a strange fever broke out, men and boys alike rushed to enlist and join the swelling ranks. A company of riflemen was quickly raised. The company was named 'The Benton Sharpshooters' and was quickly dispatched up North to Virginia were the bulk of the fighting was expected to take place. Another company soon joined them and then another and soon every man that was fit enough to shoulder a musket was enrolled in the service of the Confederacy.
As the war ragged all across Virginia and into Maryland the people of Benton kept going about their daily lives the war was a thousand miles away. And news was slow, from time to time somebody would receive a letter from a son or uncle who was fighting. But those letters were far and few between. The war did not matter, life went on. Until the tide of the war turned against the south.
The war turned with the Confederate defeat at Shiloh also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing. Over two days the Union Army of the Tennessee under the command of Major General Ulysses S. Grant engaged in savage combat with Army of Mississippi under P.G.T Beauregard. Fighting was savage with both sides suffering terrible losses of life. The Union victory though cleared the way for a Federal thrust down the Mississippi River toward the last remaining Confederate port.
On May 30, 1862 the major railroad town of Corinth fell after a prolonged siege to Federal Forces. Then Memphis fell on June 6, 1862. It was then the people of Benton knew that the dogs of war would soon be released upon them. A massive Union army was being mustered in Memphis, their goal was to drive down the Mississippi River and capture the last remaining Confederate port on the Mississippi River, Vicksburg.
The campaign to capture Vicksburg would be a savage one. It would not be like the battles fought in far flung Virginia. Were columns of men lined up to exchange volley after well ordered volley of musketry across gentle fields and quite meadows. No, the fighting in and around Vicksburg would be savage. There would be small skirmishes and massive battles. And several untold numbers of ambushes, raids and counter raids. Before Vicksburg would fall, the surrounding towns and hamlets would be burned to the ground and raided for provisions. The dogs of war were about to be released upon Benton.
The First signs of the war came about when a Federal column descended down upon neighboring Yazoo City some thirty miles away by land or sixty miles by river. The column numbered some four hundred men. The commander of the column was a gentleman by the name of John C. Breckinridge. The attack was met by four hundred militia, mostly men who were too old for service in the regular army and another four hundred soldiers of the regular army. The two meet in a bend a few miles south of Yazoo City. The resulting battle lasted a day and a half and left two hundred Federal dead and around a hundred eighty southern dead.
News of the battle reached Benton a few days later. The loss of life shocked the small town as twenty six of the fallen had come from the tiny little village. As the battles raged, including a number of naval battles that were fought along the Yazoo River and the Big Black the town felt itself more and more threatened. Another blow came on May 17, 1863. A Federal Gunboat steamed up the Yazoo River from Vicksburg which at this point was near ruined having been totally encircled by Federal Forces. The gunboat then attacked and burned a lumber mill that had been employed by the Southern government. The mill had been erected a dozen or so years before the outbreak of the war had accumulated mounds of sawdust as tall as a man around it. The fire spread from the mill to these mounds and penetrated deep inside the heaps and started to blaze and smoke. According to local lore the heaps burned and smiled until 1867 when the area was finally cleared.
A few days later on May 19, 1863. An attacking force of three thousand Federals stormed down from the East. Fearsome fighting broke out all around Yazoo City, the defending force numbered some two thousand men. After three days of savage fighting that nearly depleted both Federal and Confederate Forces the Federal's finally broke through the thinning line and set the town to the torch. The town burned and streams of men, women and children fled.
The woman, children, young and old fled down a newly built road that connected Yazoo City to Benton. Some several hundred poorly armed, poorly clothed Confederate Soldiers followed in the rear. The Battle of Benton Road followed. And it was savage. Late summer rains turned the road to mud. Accounts of the battle differ with some historians saying the number of dead and wounded on the Federal Side reached as high as fifteen hundred confirmed dead and twelve hundred wounded. On the Confederate side the number of dead and wounded reach as high as sixteen hundred dead and fourteen hundred wounded.
One must also remember that Federal forces lingered inside Yazoo City for a few days after the fall of the city. As the commander requested reinforcements from another large Federal army stationed in nearby Jackson, the state capital that had just fallen. One must also remember that a Confederate relief force was gathering in strength at the village of Satartia the force numbered some three thousand men and was commanded by General Albert Sidney Johnston. This relief force had been ordered to reinforce the army stationed at Yazoo City, but had arrived too late to aid in the battle and instead joined in the rear guard action.
It was this fresh force along with the battle weary two to three hundred Confederates that fought the battle of Benton Road. The retreat from Yazoo to Benton took around five days, and around midnight the shattered force limped its way into Benton. The shattered force, who must have numbered at least fifteen hundred or so men, joined another thousand men that had escaped Vicksburg and another six hundred the fall of Jackson. Seeing that Benton would be the next target.
Command of this force fell to General Albert Sidney Johnston. Who ordered the men under his command to start construction of a line of earth works that would surround the town. Johnston had no plans on surrendering his command or the men whom he commanded and issued strict orders to his officers that their positions were to be held at all hazards. A few days later he went a step further adding that many men or officers attempting to surrender to the advancing Federal forces would be shot on the spot with no questions asked.
The Battle of Benton began the morning of May 28, 1863 with an attacking column of eighteen hundred Federals charging from the wooding from the woods attacked an Confederate position two miles east of town. The Confederate forces had bunked down behind an old stone wall that ran along the main road that led into Benton. The Federal goal was to break through the Confederate line here and march down the road and take the city.
The battle was short and savage. The attacking column advanced over mounds of their fallen comrades. The Confederate's hunkering down from behind the wall poured a steady stream fire into the attacking lines of blue. Despite the savage losses the Federal forces kept advancing till they came well within musket rang. At this point many of the Confederates had run out of powder and were fixing their bayonets. As they prepared to charge in one final attempt to hold off the attacking Federal forces, the Federals released a devastating volley that dropped dozens of butternut clad men. Another volley followed and another almost at point blank range.
That section of the Confederate line started to melt away within minutes. Despite the strict orders forbidding retreating or surrendering many tried to retreat and were shot in the back as they dropped their rifles and tried to escape toward the town. And those who tried to surrender were stabbed by their fellow southerns for giving up the ghost.
To add to the Bedlam another attack had been launched south of town. Again the attacking Federal forces suffered horrible loss of life as they charged entrenched Confederate positions but once more the shortage of powder and shot proved to be the undoing of the defenders as they too were forced to retreat once their limited supply of shot and powder had been used up.
Again like what had happened east of town. Federal forces fired into the ranks of fleeing Confederate forces, dropping many of them like stones. All along the line, men were pulled out and ordered to form ranks to confront the two attacking Federal columns advancing down the road.
The battle ended at nightfall with the divided Confederate holding off the two attacking Federal columns. Again both sides had suffered heavy losses. With accounts saying sixteen hundred Confederates having been killed that morning and another eight hundred wounded. The Federals had suffered around twenty one hundred killed and another nine hundred wounded.
The battle resumed the next day. With a battery of Federal cannon being brought up. The cannon blasted away at the earth works, blowing them high heavens. The horrible bombardment shattered the morale of Confederate hayseeds seeking shelter in their dugouts. The bombardment lasted six hours. But still Confederate forces refused to surround and Johnston ordered all men to hold their positions.
In the early afternoon hours of the second day. After a six hour bombardment the Federal's once more launched an attack, this time the Confederate just melted away. Having achieved their goal of shattering the Confederate forces around Benton, many of the fighting men who had been taken prisoner were released and the town was spared the wrath of the Union forces.
And so the war moved on. The Confederate forces shattered and beaten melted away into the countryside. The Union Forces held their positions and an a day later a squadron of six gunboats appeared in the Big Black. The gunboats pitched two hundred shells into the town and leveled it just as they had done Yazoo City. General Grant wanted the Sothern's to feel the pain of war.
Their bloody work done, the gunboats steamed away leaving the town a smothering pile of rubble. The war moved on, and on April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Army of the Potomac. The war had brought ruin and damnation to the southern states. And Benton along with the Yazoo Delta had been reduced to rubble. But as the first weary southern boys returned home and the remains of the Benton Sharpshooters started to trickle, the people started to settle down. In a sense they rolled up their shirt sleeves and got to work rebuilding their homes, businesses, farms, and life's.
Among them was a young man who had seen too much combat for his young life. Alex Hersey Brewer Jr. would be among those who returned to find a shattered Benton. He had been among the first to enlist and had seen a dozen or so battles. Alex Hersey Brewer Jr. along with Noel Pepper Potter, These two men would often work together in the coming months and years.
