George Grenville Benedict

George Grenville Benedict was born on December 10, 1826, in Burlington, Vermont. He grew up in a family closely connected with education, public affairs, and the intellectual life of the state. Benedict attended the University of Vermont and graduated in 1847. Long before his military service, he had already begun developing the interests in writing, journalism, history, and public service that would later define much of his civilian career. After completing his education, Benedict spent time teaching before returning to Burlington. He became closely associated with the Burlington Free Press, eventually serving as an editor and publisher. He also became involved with the Vermont and Boston Telegraph Company. By the outbreak of the American Civil War, Benedict was therefore an established professional and community figure rather than a young man just beginning his adult life. Despite his civilian responsibilities, Benedict entered military service in 1862. On August 23 of that year he enlisted as a Private in Company C of the 12th Vermont Volunteer Infantry. The regiment formed part of the group of nine-month Vermont regiments raised during the war and became associated with the Second Vermont Brigade. Benedict’s entry into the Army as an enlisted soldier is an important part of his military record. He did not begin the war as a commissioned officer. His abilities soon brought advancement, however, and on January 23, 1863, he was promoted to Second Lieutenant. He subsequently served as an aide-de-camp on the staff of Brigadier General George J. Stannard, commander of the Second Vermont Brigade. The Vermont brigade spent much of its early service in the defenses of Washington and northern Virginia. Benedict experienced field operations before Gettysburg, including service during the period of Confederate cavalry activity in Virginia. His staff duties required him to carry orders, maintain communications between commanders and units, and move across areas exposed to enemy fire. By the summer of 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee had moved north into Pennsylvania. Union forces followed, and the two armies converged at Gettysburg. The Vermont troops were brought onto the battlefield during what became the largest and most consequential battle of the Civil War. Benedict served at Gettysburg as a Second Lieutenant and aide-de-camp on General Stannard’s staff. The Second Vermont Brigade occupied an important position on the Union line near Cemetery Ridge. On July 3, 1863, the battlefield became the scene of an enormous Confederate artillery bombardment followed by the infantry assault remembered as Pickett’s Charge. As an aide-de-camp, Benedict’s responsibilities placed him in exceptional danger. Unlike a soldier who could remain within the relative cohesion of a company or regiment, a staff officer carrying orders often had to cross open or exposed ground between different positions. During the Confederate attack, Benedict was required to deliver orders while artillery and small-arms fire swept the battlefield. His Medal of Honor action occurred during this critical phase of the Battle of Gettysburg. Benedict passed through intense Confederate grape and canister fire while carrying orders. He also helped re-form Union troops whose lines had become crowded and disordered during the fighting. These actions were significant because battlefield communication and formation were essential during the crisis on Cemetery Ridge. Orders had to reach commanders at the correct moment, and soldiers had to be kept organized while Confederate forces advanced toward the Union position. Benedict exposed himself repeatedly to enemy fire in order to perform those duties. The Vermont brigade played an important role in the defeat of Pickett’s Charge. As Confederate formations approached and portions of the attacking force became vulnerable, Vermont troops changed front and delivered devastating fire against the Confederate flank. Benedict was serving directly with the brigade command during this decisive phase of the battle. The action of July 3 became the defining military episode of Benedict’s career. His official Medal of Honor citation later emphasized two specific achievements: passing through extremely dangerous grape and canister fire while delivering orders and re-forming the crowded Union lines. The Gettysburg Campaign also came near the end of the original service period of the 12th Vermont Infantry. The regiment had been raised for nine months, and its term was already reaching completion when the battle occurred. Nevertheless, the Vermont soldiers remained with the Army through the emergency and participated in the defense of the Union position. Benedict was mustered out with the 12th Vermont Infantry on July 14, 1863, shortly after Gettysburg. His documented Medal of Honor action therefore occurred only days before the conclusion of his regiment’s Federal service. Later accounts of Benedict’s military career also record additional staff responsibilities and associate him with the rank of Major, which represents the highest U.S. Army rank used in his final service profile. This must be distinguished from his Medal of Honor rank. At Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, Benedict was a Second Lieutenant; Major represents his later highest recorded Army rank. After the war, Benedict also held a Vermont militia appointment. In 1866 he became an aide-de-camp on the staff of Vermont Governor Paul Dillingham with the rank of Colonel. That Colonel title belonged to his postwar state militia service and should not be confused with his highest Federal U.S. Army rank. Benedict returned fully to civilian life and resumed the career that eventually made him one of Vermont’s notable journalists and Civil War historians. His experience as both a soldier and newspaper editor placed him in a particularly valuable position to record the military history of his state. During his service with the 12th Vermont, Benedict had written letters describing Army life and military operations. Those writings later became important historical material. In 1895 he published Army Life in Virginia, which preserved his letters and personal experiences from the regiment’s service in 1862 and 1863. His most substantial historical achievement was Vermont in the Civil War, a detailed two-volume study of the service of Vermont soldiers and sailors during the conflict. Benedict conducted extensive research into units, campaigns, officers, casualties, and operations, creating a work that became one of the major historical records of Vermont’s participation in the Civil War. His expertise led to his appointment as Vermont’s military historian. Benedict also wrote extensively about Gettysburg and the specific role played there by Vermont troops. His perspective was unusual because he combined firsthand battlefield experience with decades of later historical research. Benedict also continued an active public career. He remained connected with the Burlington Free Press, served in public and civic positions in Vermont, and maintained a long relationship with the University of Vermont. His work crossed journalism, education, politics, historical scholarship, and veterans’ affairs. Nearly twenty-nine years passed between Benedict’s heroic action at Gettysburg and the formal recognition of his conduct. On June 27, 1892, the United States awarded him the Medal of Honor for his actions of July 3, 1863. The Medal of Honor itself had been established during the Civil War. Congress authorized the Army Medal of Honor in 1862, creating what became the nation’s highest military decoration. Many Civil War recipients were recognized during the conflict, but others, including Benedict, received their medals years or even decades later after their cases were reviewed. Because Benedict’s Medal of Honor was issued in 1892, his decoration falls within the Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army period used for the database. His award therefore predates the Army ribbon change of 1896 and the later 1904 redesign. No additional clasp, star, bar, or other device has been verified for Benedict’s Medal of Honor. His award represents one Medal of Honor for his conduct at Gettysburg. The Army Civil War Campaign Medal is not included in Benedict’s final verified medal record. Although his Civil War service is unquestionably documented, the later creation of a campaign medal does not by itself prove recipient-specific entitlement or issuance. Without direct evidence that Benedict personally received that later campaign medal, it remains excluded from his published ribbon rack. His final verified medal record therefore consists of one decoration: Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army — 1892 — with no device or clasp. George Grenville Benedict remained closely connected with Vermont for the rest of his life. His later years were devoted not only to journalism and public affairs but also to preserving the history of the soldiers with whom he had served. Through his books, articles, and historical work, he helped ensure that Vermont’s Civil War experience would remain documented for later generations. Benedict died on April 8, 1907, in Burlington, Vermont, at the age of eighty. He was buried in Greenmount Cemetery in Burlington. His legacy is unusually broad. He was an enlisted soldier who became an officer, an aide-de-camp who carried orders through the artillery fire at Gettysburg, a Medal of Honor recipient, a journalist, a public servant, and one of Vermont’s most important early Civil War historians. At the center of that legacy remains July 3, 1863. As a Second Lieutenant serving with the Vermont brigade at Gettysburg, George Grenville Benedict crossed ground swept by grape and canister to deliver critical orders and helped restore order to crowded Union lines during one of the decisive moments of the battle. Almost three decades later, the Medal of Honor formally recognized the courage he had demonstrated on Cemetery Ridge.