{⋆★⋆} MG Huger, Benjamin

Benjamin Huger

General Huger.jpg
Born:
November 22, 1805

Birthplace: Charleston, South Carolina

Father: Francis Kinloch Huger 1773 – 1855
(Buried: Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina)​

Mother: Harriet Lucas Pinckney 1783 – 1824
(Buried: French Protestant Huguenot, Charleston, South Carolina)​

Wife: Elizabeth Celestine Pinckney 1805 – 1882
(Buried: Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland)​

Children:

Major Benjamin Huger Jr. 1831 – 1867​
(Buried: Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland)​
Colonel Francis Kinloch “Frank” Huger 1837 – 1897​
(Buried: Spring Hill Cemetery, Lynchburg, Virginia)​
Caroline Pinckney Huger Preston 1843 – 1878​
(Buried: Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Columbia, South Carolina)​
Education:
1825: Graduated from West Point Military Academy (8th​ in class)​

Occupation:
1825 – 1861: Served in United States Army rising to Brevet Colonel​
1839 – 1846: Member of United States Army Ordnance Board​
1840 – 1841: Official Military duty in Europe​
1841 – 1846: Commander of Fort Monroe Arsenal​
1846 – 1848: Chief of Ordnance on the staff of Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott during the Mexican–American War​
1856: United States Army Observer during Crimean War​
1860 – 1861: Commander of Charleston Arsenal​
1861: Resigned from United States Army on April 22nd​

Civil War Career:
1861: Lt. Colonel of Confederate Army Infantry​
1861: Brigadier General of Confederate Army Infantry​
1861 – 1865: Major General of Confederate Army Infantry​
1862: Participated in the Peninsula Campaign​
1862: Participated in the Seven Days Campaign​
1862: Inspector General of Artillery and Ordnance Northern Virginia​
1862 – 1865: Inspector of Artillery and Ordnance Trans – Mississippi​

Benjamin Huger.jpg
Occupation after War:

Farmer in North Carolina and in Fauquier County, Virginia​
Member of Aztec Club of 1847​
1852 – 1867: Vice President of Aztec Club of 1847​

Died: December 7, 1877

Place of Death: Charleston, South Carolina

Cause of Death: Paralysis

Age at time of Death: 72 years old

Burial Place: Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Longstreet screwed Huger big time. And Huger was not a Virginian.
Agree. And that goes back to Johnston's bizarre orders the night before. Longstreet's were verbal only and the orders to Huger were ambiguous. It's clear that Longstreet fouled things up by unilaterally altering his road assignment Notwithstanding the command mess on the Confederate side they still nearly succeeded because McClellan has ineptly decided to defend south of the river by placing the weakest division of his weakest corps in the front line.
 
Does anyone know a good source on Seven Pines and Huger and Longstreet's part in it? I have not found much information so far.

Thanks, John
 
I bumped into a negative comment on Huger the other day while reading R. Thomas Campbell's recent Confederate Ironclads at War. The upshot seems to be that Huger did a very poor job of coordinating with the Confederate Navy while he was in control of Norfolk, and Flag Officer Tattnall (who replaced Franklin Buchanan after the latter was wounded during the battle of Hampton Roads) essentially blamed Huger for the loss of the Virginia (ex-Merrimack), due to the failure to warn the Navy that the Confederate Army was evacuating Norfolk.
 
Never heard of him. Thanks for posting.
I wonder if he commanded any troops during these campaigns? Or was he in some staff position?
He did. Actually was in command of a division including Mahone's, Armistead's, and A. R. Wright's Brigades.
He was removed do to Lee's disappointment in his performance, as well as his age. Same thing happened for Theo Holmes and John B. Magruder.
 
He did. Actually was in command of a division including Mahone's, Armistead's, and A. R. Wright's Brigades.
He was removed do to Lee's disappointment in his performance, as well as his age. Same thing happened for Theo Holmes and John B. Magruder.
At the recommendation of Longstreet.
 
When I worked at a historic house museum on Concord, Massachusetts, I was doing research on one of the inhabitants. Apparently their son served as a tutor at Fort Monroe to the sons of Benjamin Huger
 
Back
Top