The President's Brother-In-Law

Confederate Brigadier General Benjamin Hardin Helm was killed during the Battle of Chickamauga  September 21^st 1863; he was the brother-in-law of President Abraham Lincoln.

Benjamin Hardin Helm was born June 2^nd 1831 in Bardstown, Kentucky, the son of John L and Lucinda (Barbour) Hardin.  In 1846 he enrolled in the Kentucky Military Institute at the age of 15, just three month later he left for the United State Military Academy at West Point.  Helm graduated 9^th out of a class of 42 in 1851.  He served at the cavalry school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and at Fort Lincoln, Texas before being discharge do to being diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis.  Helm went on to study the law at the Universities of Louisville and Harvard; graduating in 1853 he began practicing law with his father in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.  He was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives and served as Hardin County State’s Attorney.  In 1856 Helm married Mary Todd Lincoln’s half-sister Emilie.

In 1861 with Kentucky remaining neutral President Abraham Lincoln offered Helm the job of Union Army Paymaster.  Helm turned the job down and raised the Confederate 1^st Kentucky Cavalry.  He was commissioned their Colonel October 19^th 1861, and they marched south under Confederate Brigadier General Simon Bolivar Buckner.  On March 14^th 1862 Helm received the assignment to raise the 3^rd Kentucky Brigade and was promoted to Brigadier General.  They saw action at the Battle of Shiloh, guarding the flanks.  In January 1863 Helm was placed in command of the First Kentucky Brigade, known as the “Orphan Brigade” and was assigned to the Confederate Army of Tennessee.  With the Orphan Brigade Helm saw action at the Battles of Chickamauga and Vicksburg.

The Orphan Brigade was a part of Confederate fight against Union Major General William Rosecrans’ offensive during the Battle of Chattanooga on September 20^th 1863.  Striking near the center of the Union line and moving against heavy fire the men under Helm made it to within 40 yards of the Union line.  In less than an hour the Orphan Brigade lost a third of its men.  Helm, on horseback was shot in the chest by a member of the Union 15^th Kentucky Infantry.  Helm fell from his saddle and was carried to the rear, where it was determined his wound was mortal.  He died September 21^st 1862.  Confederate General John Cabell Breckinridge wrote to Helm’s wife, saying "Your husband commanded them [the men of the Orphan brigade] like a thorough soldier. He loved them, they loved him, and he died at their head, a patriot and a hero."

One Battle As General

Roger Weightman Hanson the commander of the Orphan Brigade was wounded at the Battle of Murfreesboro and died January 4th 1863.

Roger Weightman Hanson was born in Clark County Kentucky August 27th 1827, the son of Samuel and Matilda [Calloway] Hanson. When he was 18 Hanson was elected Lieutenant of a volunteer company serving in the Mexican American War, where he received a citation for bravery at the Battle of Cerro Gordo. After returning from the war he study law in Lexington Kentucky, before traveling to California. Hanson returned to Kentucky and married in 1853 to Virginia Peters.

Hanson established a law practice in Lexington, and entered politics. When the Civil War started Kentucky stayed in the Union. Hanson raised a regiment of Confederate troops in Lexington and was named their Colonel. Hanson’s 2nd Kentucky Infantry were taken prisoner when Fort Donelson fell. After being exchanged he was promoted to Brigadier General and placed in command of his old unit along with the 4th, 6th, and 19th Kentucky Infantries, the 41st Alabama and Cobb’s Battery. The Battle of Murfreesboro was his first as a general. Hanson was wounded on January 2nd 1863, struck above the knee by an artillery shell. He died two days latter at the age of 35 on January 4th 1863. He is buried in Lexington Cemetery in Lexington Kentucky.