Albany had mourned many lost sons by the spring of 1864, but the death of Col. Lew Benedict hit especially hard.
When his body was sent home from the Louisiana battlefield where he fell, the prominent local attorney turned soldier was still dressed in his mud-caked, bloodied uniform. Just one year later, the war would come to an end, but on this day, Albany was a city in mourning, grieving the loss of one of such promise. A few days later, a hearse carried his remains to the Albany Rural Cemetery followed by, what one newspaper described as a parade of "sad hearts and weeping eyes."
In addition to a prominent law career, Benedict had served as a member of the state Legislature and an officer in the Union army. Although his official rank was colonel, the War Department had designated brevet brigadier general in recognition of his service in the field.
Benedict was born in Albany in 1817 and graduated from Albany Academy at such high academic standing that he entered the 1837 class at nearby Williams College as a sophomore.
After graduation, Benedict clerked in the law office of the influential attorney, John C. Spencer, in Canandaigua, Ontario County.
Spencer, a close friend of Benedict's father, helped Benedict to secure several different political posts.
In 1860, he was the only Union Party candidate elected in Albany County and joined the state Assembly. He took office just as the storm clouds of the Civil War were gathering.
During the legislative session in early 1861, Benedict supported legislation to send 30,000 New York troops to the field and appropriate $3 million to finance the war effort. He was challenged by an anti-war legislator during the floor debate on the measure and boldly proposed that he would do all he could to defend the Union even if it meant forcing the issue by military means. Benedict proclaimed: "Yes, sir, I do promote the cause of liberty by slaying even my brother, if, with traitorous and parricidal hand, he dares to tear down the flag of our common country."
After the surrender of Fort Sumter in April 1861, Benedict was offered several high-ranking military appointments. He declined each of them, believing that he was not qualified. After the Union defeat at Bull Run in July 1861, Benedict revealed his seriousness about the war in a letter: "The war has been regarded, hitherto, too much as a holiday affair, and many have rushed into it as they would have gone to a pic-nic. No man can fight with levity or indifference in his heart, certainly not to his utmost effectiveness."
Although still sensitive to his military deficiencies, after Bull Run, Benedict accepted a lieutenant colonel's commission in the 73rd New York Infantry.
The 73rd fought at Yorktown, Va., in the spring of 1862. After the battle, Benedict wrote to his mother: "I know it is impossible for a mother to forget her son; but I would, if I could, inspire you with the pride I feel in devoting my life to the cause of freedom and the Union ... If I survive, as I hope I will. No fortune in future life can destroy my consciousness of having periled life for right; and if I fall, through all the grief you and our dear ones will feel, will breathe the consolation that I was a soldier fighting in a just cause. Let that feeling, dear Mother, console you, as it reconciles me to this war."
The battles of spring 1862 were disastrous to the Union, and at Williamsburg, Benedict, already disabled and unable to walk because of an injury to his foot, was riding along the line and encouraging his men, when his horse was shot out from under him. Benedict attempted to scramble away but was slowed by his injury. Realizing that he was about to be captured, several of Benedict's men went to his aid and were also taken prisoner. Benedict was taken to the rear, and ultimately, shipped to Richmond, where he was interred at the notorious Libby Prison.
His health greatly compromised by imprisonment, Benedict was exchanged and released after two months. He returned to Albany for 30 days leave in August 1862.
Eager to return to the field, Benedict was commissioned by Gov. Edwin Morgan as colonel of the newly formed 162nd New York Infantry. The regiment was ordered to Washington in October 1862 and was sent to New Orleans that December. The regiment saw its first significant battle action at Port Hudson in June 1863, and Benedict was in command when his men stormed the Confederate fortifications. Benedict commanded a brigade during the attack. His regiment lost 51 who were killed, wounded or missing out of the 173 engaged in the fight.
The 1863-1864 Louisiana campaigns were marked by a series of insignificant skirmishes and battles that cost many lives but achieved little advantage for the Union army.
One of these battles was fought on April 9, 1864, at Pleasant Hill outside Shreveport. It was in this fight that Benedict was killed in action.
The Albany Knickerbocker newspaper published the news of Benedict's death on April 20, 1864. The newspaper wrote that, "No man was more loved, esteemed and respected than our departed friend. He was frank, noble, generous — attributes that attached to him many warm and devoted friends who will mourn his loss."
Benedict was buried in the Albany Rural Cemetery. His impressive grave monument — now in disrepair and all but forgotten on a gentle rise — surveys a vale that serves as the final resting place for many he knew in both peace and war. His legacy of service and loss is one of a life given for the Union and of a man driven by the inspiration to both eradicate slavery and restore the Union.
Benedict would not live to see such results in victory, but there is ample surviving evidence of his willingness to give his life for such goals.
He died in a tangled bayou in a battle that is scarcely remembered today, but his sacrifice has meaning even 150 years later. He gave his life for country and cause — for a union restored and for liberty ensured.
Bill Howard is an author and historian who lives in Delmar. His latest book, "The Civil War Memoir of William T. Levey," was published by the Northshire Press.