Samuel Nicoll Benjamin

Benjamin was born on January 3, 1839, in New York City. He was the son of William Massena Benjamin (1800–1862) and Sarah Jane (née Turk) Benjamin (1805–1903). His siblings included Edith Massena Benjamin, Sarah Josephine Benjamin Arnold, and Laura Gertrude Benjamin Brooks.

Benjamin graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, ranked 12th of 45 cadets in the Class of May 6, 1861.

Upon his graduation from the United States Military Academy, Benjamin was commissioned as a second lieutenant attached to Battery I, 2nd U.S. Artillery. Less than two weeks later, he was advanced in grade to the rank of first lieutenant and transferred to Battery E, 2nd U.S. under the command of Captain Josiah H. Carlisle. Lieutenant Benjamin joined his company in the defenses of Washington, D.C., at Fort Corcoran, Virginia, in July 1861 during the American Civil War.

Present with Battery E, Benjamin was engaged at the Battle of Blackburn's Ford, the First Battle of Bull Run, the Peninsular Campaign, the Northern Virginia Campaign, the Maryland Campaign, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Vicksburg Campaign, the East Tennessee Campaign, and the Overland Campaign, including both the Battle of the Wilderness and the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, where he was wounded in action.

In August 1862, Captain Carlisle began an extended sick leave of absence; Lieutenant Benjamin assumed command of Battery E, with occasional absences, until December 1863.

In 1864, Benjamin was promoted to the captaincy of Battery F, 2nd U.S. Artillery, but did not join his company until after the war. While serving as Chief of Artillery for the Union IX Corps during the Overland Campaign, he was severely wounded in action and hospitalized for four months. Upon his discharge from the hospital in September 1864, Captain Benjamin spent the duration of the war as an assistant professor of mathematics at West Point.

Following the Civil War, Benjamin remained commander of Battery F until 1869, and then Battery K, 2nd U.S. Artillery, until he was promoted to major in the Adjutant General Corps in March 1875.

Benjamin died while on active duty at Governor’s Island, New York, in May 1886.

Benjamin was married to Julia Kean Fish (1841–1908). Julia was the daughter of Governor of New York, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Secretary of State Hamilton Fish (1808–1893) and Julia Ursin Niemcewiez Kean (1816–1887).^[a] She was also the sister of Nicholas Fish II, Hamilton Fish II, and Stuyvesant Fish. Together, they were the parents of:^[3]

• Elizabeth d'Hauteville Benjamin (1871–1884), who died young.
• William Massena Benjamin (1874–1928),^[4] who married Charlotte Hoffman Prime (1881–1969),^[5] the great-granddaughter of Nathaniel Prime,^[6][7] in 1903.^[8]
• Hamilton Fish Benjamin (1877–1938),^[9] a twin who married Emily Low Bacon (1884–1960) in 1909.^[b] They divorced in 1923 and he married Ruth Wolfe (1890–1984),^[c] in 1932.^[11]
• Julian Arnold Benjamin (1877–1953), a twin.

He died on May 15, 1886, while on duty serving in the Department of the East.^[12]

• List of Medal of Honor recipients
• List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients