US Army Infantry School - Doughboy Yearbook (Fort Benning, GA)

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.19- . -e f 1 4 x Y N GENERAL HENRY L. BENNING DISTINGUISHED Confederate General Henry Lewis Benning, after whom Fort Benning was named, was born in Muscogee County, Georgia, near the city of Columbus, on April 2nd, 1814. At the age of 17 he entered the University of Georgia and graduated in law as the first mem- ber of a class which contained many men of note and distinction. He was admitted to the bar at Columbus and in 1837 was appointed Solici- , tor-General of the Chattahoochee Circuit, a sig- nal honor for a young man of his age. In 1838 he was married to Miss Mary Howard, daughter of Colonel Seaborn jones of Columbus. Shortly afterwards he resigned his position as Solicitor-General and resumed the practice of law in partnership with Colonel jones. He was made a justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia in 1853 and so served until 1859, becoming noted throughout the South. In 1860 he was elected to the Convention of Georgia, went as a corn- missioner to the Virginia Convention in 1861, and following the outbreak of the Civil War entered the Confederate Service as Colonel of the l7tb Georgia Regiment in August 1861. After commanding Toomb's Brigade of the Army of Virginia for several months, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. Thereafter he frequently commanded Hood's Division of the First Corps. For his coolness and gallantry he won the soubriquet of 'Old Rockf He participated in the Battles of Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fred- ericksburg, Chickamauga, Wilderness, Thoroughfare Gap, Malvern-Hill, Lookout Valley, Fort Louden, Knoxville, Petersburg, Farmsville, and many minor engagements. He was slightly wounded at Chickamauga, and later was severely Wounded in the shoulder during the second day of the Battleibf the Wilderness. This wound troubled him during the remainder of his life. Following the close of the War, General Benning returned to Columbus and resumed the practice of law, continuing in this vocation until death called him after a brief illness on july 10th, 1875. He died an honored citizen, dis-

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lc. ' arf 1' in t . ve 'f 'xv , -Q 6' , K U UGHBQY5 The Infantry School offers great possibilities in case of a national emergency. It is the opinion that here would be located the great training center of Infantrymen and that instructors would be provided for Schools in the various corps areas. Fully 800 trained men could be graduated from Benning every ninety days: here might also be stationed the school for the 4th Corps Area. From four to five divisions could be trained here and dis- patched to any given point within a minimum of time should the need ariseg here would be the center of experimentation, development, technique and tactics of all Infantry weapons. The Infantry School wou'd become the center of wartime activities even as it is now leading the way in peacetime training. The Infantry School is dedicated to the Infantry and exists by and for the Infantry. The spirit underlying the institution is the same as that back of the Infantrymen, which spirit, to quote the words of an eminent and gallant soldier, himself a Doughboy. In response to America's call, wrote into the history of the World War an immortal record on the battlefields of France, winning at a cost of 89 percent of all American dead the greatest victory which has ever crowned the achievements of American arms. Which will continue by its willing and fearless acceptance of hardship and sacrifice to preserve all that is manly and noble in the military profession, and to insure to America the integrity of her splendid institutions whatever the source from which they may be threatened . Y I 9 I L! l 15, .I 0 v w if lg i t 0 e, 2 ,, It 4. - 5 -' 'Yr' 6 0 ' Q . . I ,- o s v, Q .. I qi 3 9 X JA! 4,,i in ' I X X I 4' v ,ff g Q i i g 1 -g ,gl 1-uv 1' -- - 11'-5 ' ' W 3? . ., , . W3 IES? r'l w'

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I A .V-qv ix -s wa if r , W .1 , 7,-1-,-Let, A,,,-1-2--U 1 X A r 5 xv In .g f, X 1 v I A: 1924 nou uqoyjgk tinguished jurist and statesman, a brave soldier and loyal patriot. Many of his descendants live in Columbus and Muscogee County today, In naming the great Infantry School for this gallant soldier, the War Department paid a well deserved tribute to a noted Southerner as well as a military leader who saw all of his service with the Infantry. G3 uf ,fi ,f ,3- ,, K-1' .1f at , ,, N I i , ,l l 'x lid jf' If , is Y , 3 in . cf, , ' ff , ,f 1 . , 1 ,- . 1-, : 5 I Q1 1 .f 7 l iii-519, fa.: U ll' ' : . N ,.,. ... .- - -T-.A U9 -'- X A5 1' 7 11, ff ff! f mf, , h ' 'fr ' ' 'n.A vzlfnl -X X mai., L ' w.in G I U ' tl if 'foul 'Brow P-f . 1 X X 1 'X I 5 xx .. ? if 1 'll ,Ms ,, 1 K H 4 A , ff 'fm J xl , x. X 4 1 W f N I 'Q-A N fl X l xx i P' lil -I ' wfmw sift f x X 5 if f X ' L IQ' L If 1 t K ki , - ff my N- ' v , ff i it f qxxx 1. fig! X , f W 44' X X 4- ' f ., X I 6 x. f ,Vx Q ... f 1 ' lf ....