1. Benjamin Prentiss commanded a division at the Battle of Shiloh, which suffered heavy casualties while defending what became known as the Hornet's Nest from continued Confederate assaults, and he eventually surrendered his division.
23 Facts About Benjamin Prentiss
1. 2.
Benjamin Prentiss was criticized by some for his conduct in that battle.
3.
Benjamin Prentiss spent much of his remaining life practicing as a lawyer and as a politician in the Republican Party.
4.
Benjamin Prentiss was a direct descendant of Valentine Prentice, who immigrated from England in 1631.
5.
Benjamin Prentiss had been a volunteer captain in the Mexican War but Grant had been a regular army captain, thus the latter outranked the former.
6.
Two or three days after my arrival at Cape Girardeau, word came that General Benjamin Prentiss was approaching that place.
7.
Benjamin Prentiss had halted his troops at Jackson for the night, and had come on himself to Cape Girardeau, leaving orders for his command to follow him in the morning.
8.
Benjamin Prentiss had been a brigadier, in command at Cairo, while I was mustering officer at Springfield without any rank.
9.
General Benjamin Prentiss failed to get orders to his troops to remain at Jackson, and the next morning early they were reported as approaching Cape Girardeau.
10.
Benjamin Prentiss obeyed the order, but bade his command adieu when he got them to Jackson, and went to St Louis and reported himself.
11.
Benjamin Prentiss was as much at home in Arkansas as he was in Missouri and would keep out of the way of a superior force.
12.
General Benjamin Prentiss made a great mistake on the above occasion, one that he would not have committed later in the war.
13.
Benjamin Prentiss would have been next to myself in rank in the district of south-east Missouri, by virtue of his services in the Mexican war.
14.
Benjamin Prentiss was initially outraged with Peabody for sending out a patrol without his authorization, but soon realized he was facing an on oncoming attack by an entire Confederate army and rushed to prepare his men for defense.
15.
Benjamin Prentiss's division was the first one attacked at the Battle of Shiloh and suffered greatly during the opening hours of that battle.
16.
Benjamin Prentiss took full command of the position after Wallace was fatally wounded and eventually surrendered the Hornet's Nest along with 2,200 other Union soldiers.
17.
However, Grant said in his memoirs "Benjamin Prentiss' command was gone as a division, many of its members having been killed, wounded or captured; but it had rendered valiant services before its final dispersal, and had contributed a good share to the defense of Shiloh".
18.
Benjamin Prentiss was sent to Arkansas and won the Battle of Helena on July 4,1863.
19.
Historian Ezra J Warner speculated that Prentiss felt that he was being shelved after having proved his abilities at Shiloh and Helena.
20.
Benjamin Prentiss was later appointed as postmaster of Bethany, Missouri, by President Benjamin Harrison and was re-appointed by President William McKinley.
21.
Benjamin Prentiss was a leader in the Republican Party of Missouri.
22.
Benjamin Prentiss died on February 8,1901, in Bethany at age 81.
23.
Benjamin Prentiss is buried there in Miriam Cemetery, Harrison County, Missouri.