Benjamin Sweet

Benjamin Jeffery Sweet (April 24, 1832 – January 1, 1874) was an American lawyer, politician, public administrator, and Union Army officer. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate and a Deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

Benjamin J. Sweet
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 19th district
In office
January 1, 1861 – January 1, 1862
Preceded bySamuel H. Thurber
Succeeded byGeorge A. Jenkins
Personal details
Born
Benjamin Jeffery Sweet

(1832-04-24)April 24, 1832
Kirkland, New York, U.S.
DiedJanuary 1, 1874(1874-01-01) (aged 41)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting placeRosehill Cemetery
Chicago, Illinois
Spouse(s)
  • Lovisa Loveland Denslow
  • (died 1878)
Children
MotherCharlotte (Newell) Sweet
FatherJames Sweet
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Union Army
Years of service1861–1863
Rank
Commands21st Reg. Wis. Vol. Infantry
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Sweet is also an important figure in the history of women's rights. The founding document he prepared for the town of Lombard, Illinois, stated that "all citizens" are entitled to vote. In 1891, Ellen A. Martin invoked that provision and voted, 29 years before women were empowered by an amendment to the Constitution to vote in the United States. His two daughters, Ada Celeste Sweet and Winifred Bonfils were also important figures in the history of the battle for women's rights.

Biography

Sweet was born Benjamin Jeffery Sweet on April 24, 1832, in New York City. He later moved to Chilton, Wisconsin.[1] Sweet died on January 1, 1874, and is buried at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.[2] He had two noteworthy daughters: Ada Celeste Sweet was a social reformer and pioneer for women serving in government office; Winifred Bonfils (born Martha Winifred Sweet) was a journalist and humanitarian.

Political career

Sweet was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate. He later served as Deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue of the United States from 1872 until his death.

Military career

Soon after the outbreak of the American Civil War, on July 16, 1861, Sweet joined the 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment of the Union Army and was given the rank of major.[3] On September 17, 1861, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.[3] On September 5, 1862, Sweet was promoted to colonel and given command of the 21st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment.[3] During the Battle of Perryville, in Kentucky, despite being sick from malaria, he led his men in combat until he was seriously wounded in his right arm. The wound ultimately left Sweet paralyzed in that arm for the rest of his life. Sweet resigned his commission on September 8, 1863.[3]

On September 25, 1863, Sweet was appointed a colonel in the Veteran Reserve Corps and assigned to the garrison at the Union Army prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate States Army soldiers at Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois.[3] Following recuperation from his injury, Sweet was given command of Camp Douglas after Brigadier General William W. Orme resigned on May 2, 1864.[3] At Camp Douglas, Sweet oversaw what some observers have called the unnecessarily harsh and cruel treatment of Confederate prisoners, but which other observers have seen as no less so than Confederate treatment of Union prisoners.

This notwithstanding, Sweet would soon be lauded for "discovering" and "thwarting" a bogus plot by spies for the Confederacy to liberate Confederate prisoners of war and attack Chicago on the eve of the 1864 United States presidential election.[4] Sweet's efforts to prevent the conspirators from achieving their objective earned him the thanks of the United States Department of War. On December 12, 1864, President Lincoln awarded Sweet the rank of brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from December 20, 1864, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the award on February 14, 1865.[5]

Sweet resigned from the army on September 19, 1865.[3] He died from a sudden illness in 1874.

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References
  1. "Sweet, Col. Benjamin (1832-1874)". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  2. "Benjamin Jeffrey Sweet". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2011-12-29.
  3. Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. p. 520.
  4. Most historians now question the seriousness of the plot and even think it may have dissipated before Sweet made his efforts to stop the conspiracy and arrest conspirators. Levy, George, To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862–1865. Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Company, revised edition 1999, original edition 1994. ISBN 978-1-56554-331-7. pp. 259, 261.
  5. Eicher, 2001, p. 759
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