Speeches of Benjamin Harrison, Twenty-third President of the United StatesHarrison, Benjamin
History
Speeches of Benjamin Harrison, Twenty-third President of the United States
Harrison, Benjamin
Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901; Speeches, addresses, etc., American; United States -- Politics and government
Benjamin Harrison, twenty-third President of the United States, was born
Tuesday, August 20, 1833, at North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio. He is
the second son of the late John Scott and Elizabeth Irwin Harrison.
His father--the third son of President William Henry Harrison and Anna
Symmes--was born at Vincennes, Indiana, was twice elected to Congress as
a Democrat, from the Cincinnati district, and died in 1878.
General William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United
States, was the third son of a famous signer of the Declaration of
Independence--Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, and his wife Elizabeth
Bassett. This Benjamin Harrison, "the signer," was one of the first
seven delegates from Virginia to the Continental Congress. He reported
the resolution for independence, was Speaker of the House of Burgesses,
and was thrice elected Governor of Virginia, dying in 1791; he was the
eldest son of Benjamin and Anna Carter Harrison, both of whom were
descended from ancestors distinguished for their high character and
their services to the colony of Virginia.
Ben Harrison's boyhood was passed upon his father's farm in Ohio. At the
age of 14, with his elder brother Irwin, he attended Farmer's College at
Cincinnati, preparatory to entering Miami University at Oxford, Ohio,
from which institution he graduated in 1852.
He studied law in the office of Judge Belamy Storer at Cincinnati, and
in March, 1854--with his bride, Miss Caroline W. Scott, to whom he
was wedded October 20, 1853--he located at Indianapolis and began the
practice of the law.
In 1860 he was elected reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court of
Indiana, as a Republican, receiving 9,688 majority.
In July, 1862, he was commissioned by Gov. Oliver P. Morton as second
lieutenant, and raised Company A of the Seventieth Indiana Volunteer
Infantry, was commissioned captain, and on the organization of the
regiment was commissioned colonel. In August his regiment entered the
field and became a part of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division of the
20th Army Corps, Gen. W. T. Ward, of Kentucky, brigade commander. At
the battle of Resaca, Sunday, May 15, 1864, the Seventieth Regiment led
the brigade in a gallant charge, and its colonel signally distinguished
himself, being among the first to scale the bloody parapet. He actively
participated in the engagements at Cassville, New Hope Church, Gilgal
Church, Kulps Hill, and Kenesaw. Following that great captain in the
Atlanta campaign, initiatory to his famous march to the sea, Colonel
Harrison at the battle of Peach Tree Creek, July 20, 1864, in the crisis
of the fight, without awaiting orders, seized an important position and
successfully resisted, at great loss, the terrific assaults of a large
detachment of Hood's army. For this brilliant achievement, upon the
recommendation of Major-General Joe Hooker, he was brevetted in March,
1865, by President Lincoln, a brigadier-general, to date from January
23, 1865.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account