Benjamin Huger (22 November 1805-7 December 1877) was a Major-General of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
Biography[]
Benjamin Huger was born in Charleston, South Carolina to a father of French Huguenot descent (the family name was pronounced "yoo-gee") and the daughter of General Thomas Pinckney. His paternal grandfather, also named Benjamin Huger, had entertained the Marquis de Lafayette on his arrival in America during the American Revolutionary War, and he was been killed during the Siege of Charleston in 1780. In 1821, he entered West Point, becoming a Lieutenant in 1825. Huger commanded Winfield Scott's siege train during the Mexican-American War, fighting at Veracruz in 1847. He was promoted to colonel for his role in the Battle of Chapultepec, and he would remain in the US Army until after the surrender of Fort Sumter at the start of the American Civil War in 1861. Huger decided to join the Confederate States Army after the battle, and he fought against Ambrose Burnside's Union army in North Carolina in early 1862. Burnside took Roanoke and forced Huger to retreat to Norfolk, which Huger evacuated on 1 May 1862. Huger was transferred to Virginia after this defeat, fighting at Fair Oaks and in the Seven Days Battles. On 12 July 1862, Huger was relieved of command for poor leadership skills, and he became a farmer in North Carolina. Huger died in 1877 at the age of 72.
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