I94340: Judah Philip BENJAMIN C.S.A.Hon. (1811

Notes

Obviously a brillant man and close friend of President Jefferson Davis and a true friend of the South. It is documented that he continued his service and assisted the Southern People after 1865 during the Reconstruction and Occupation period from England.

At 14, Benjamin entered Yale College, but he left at 17 before graduating and moved to New Orleans, where he studied law. He was admitted to the bar there in 1834.

Benjamin was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1852 and 1858. He resigned his seat in 1861 just before the states seceded from the Union.

His good friend Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, then appointed him as attorney general of the new Confederate States of America.

Benjamin, who once owned 140 slaves but sold them in 1850 when he sold his plantation, Next to his plantation near New Orleans, Louisiana lived two powerful rich black slave owners with many slaves that were later taken over by the Union Army and used for their purpose. In the famous Proclamation of Lincoln freeing slaves these slaves were part of the union held slaves who were excluded.

He was the first Jew to hold a cabinet-level office in an American government. There were Jewish Confederate brigades in the Confederate Army and Gen. Lee issued a proclamation they were excused on Jewish Holidays. The last jew to die in the war was Lt. Moses at Ft. Blakely, Mobile, Alabama who was gunned down after he surrended by the USCT, colored troops.

When serving Benjamin was critized by some and it was said to have weakened the Confederacy by transferring its money to personal bank accounts in Europe.

Davis made Benjamin his secretary of war, but that post was short-lived. Lacking men and materials to match the Union troops, Davis decided in 1862 to let Roanoke Island fall without mounting a defense so the North wouldn't know the weakness of Southern forces. Showing his loyalty to Davis, Benjamin took the blame and resigned.

Davis then appointed Benjamin as secretary of state. Near the end of the war, Benjamin convinced Gen. Robert E. Lee and other Confederate military leaders that the South's best chance for winning was to free slaves who would volunteer to fight for the Confederacy.

When Benjamin spoke of his idea to a crowd of 10,000 in Richmond in 1864, the plan was rejected, but later Jefferson Davis issued a proclamation doing just that. Some freed slaves formed units in Richnmond, but were to late to enter the war.

Fleeing In Defeat

When President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, Davis and Benjamin were suspected of plotting the killing. When the South was defeated, Benjamin feared he would be charged with Lincoln's murder, so he planned to flee.

With Davis and other high- ranking officials, Benjamin left the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va and temporarily set up the capital in Danville, Virginia. If the War was lost in virginia, they planned to head toward Texas to re-establish the Confederate government. In Texas there was a sizable Southern command still willing to fight. In East Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana Gen Taylor's command untouched by the Union Army awaited his arrival, they were the last to surrender after Davis's capture.

Seeking safe exile from the Unionists, they headed toward Pensacola, where English ships waited to take them to Cuba.

But as they moved through the Carolinas into Georgia, they realized Union troops were in close pursuit. The Confederate leaders abandoned their wagons to finish the trip on horseback.

The heavyset Benjamin wasn't a horseman and realized he would slow the others down. He volunteered to go alone, but a Confederate major (who?) agreed to stay with him.

Benjamin made a harrowing trip through Florida to Safety.

Benjamin left Davis' side in early May 1865, three weeks after Lee surrendered his army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. A week later, Davis' party was captured by Union troops 100 miles north of the Florida- Georgia border.

The pursuit of Benjamin continued, Benjamin managed to elude capture as he traveled by surrey through Florida. His trunks were monogrammed with brass tacks with his initials, JPB. He adopted the disguise of a French land buyer named Jean Pierre Bonfals and said the Confederate major (who?) accompanying him was his interpreter.

The disguise fooled Union troops for days. But as Benjamin moved farther south in Florida, he was found out and abandoned the ruse, along with his surrey.

Benjamin and the major traveled on foot until they reached Brooksville. Hungry and tired, they took refuge at the farmhouse of a Confederate sympathizer who offered food and clothing.

The pair stayed in Brooksville for a day or two while the farmer made arrangements for them to ship out of the Aripeka area. That plan was abandoned when they found Union troops waiting offshore to search all vessels.

The two walked through what is now east Pasco County, Florida staying a day or so in the area of today's Blanton before continuing south...

Most likely, they would have taken Toadchudka Road, which joined Brooksville and Tampa. It followed part of today's Happy Hill, Prospect and Handcart roads and was less traveled than the Fort King Military Road.

Benjamin and the major traveled to Gamble Mansion at Ellenton, near Bradenton. There they separated, but Benjamin stayed several weeks at the mansion, now a historic site. He then left by schooner from near Sarasota, where he was picked up by Capt. Tony Tresca, a Confederate supporter from St. Petersburg.

Benjamin went to Havana and was on his way to Nassau in the Bahamas when the ship wrecked. He arrived there with just the shirt on his back, in a rowboat with two Bahamians.

From there he went to London, where he practiced law and was named to the queen's council. It was from this position that Benjamin was able to assist the Southern People during reconstruction. A lifelong friend of the Southern people , his passing was mourned.. He died in Paris in 1884.

Benjamin is buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. His headstone originally was engraved with the name ``Philippe Benjamin.'' In 1938, the Daughters of the Confederacy replaced the marker with a stone with his American name. An honor he justly deserved.

"In March 1865, Judah P. Benjamin, Confederate Secretary Of State, promised freedom for blacks who served from the State of Virginia. Authority for this was finally received from the State of Virginia and on April 1st 1865, $100 bounties were offered to black soldiers. Benjamin exclaimed, “Let us say to every Negro who wants to go into the ranks, go and fight, and you are free…Fight for your masters and you shall have your freedom.” Confederate Officers were ordered to treat them humanely and protect them from "injustice and oppression"."

My Southern Family

Hon. Judah Philip BENJAMIN C.S.A.

1811 - 1884

ID Number: I94340

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Mary BUCKNER

ABT 1745 - ____

ID Number: I32869

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Mollie CASON

ABT 1860 - ____

ID Number: I10982

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Turner CLARKE Jr.

27 Dec 1758 - ____

ID Number: I23586

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John CLAY

BEF 1686 - ____

ID Number: I84169

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Ariana HUNTER

ABT 1780 - 26 Dec 1811

ID Number: I46361

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DOROTHY KEMPE

ABT 1580 - ____

ID Number: I103439

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Lucy MERIWETHER

30 Sep 1775 - 1850

ID Number: I71565

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Elizabeth PEYTON

ABT 1761 - 25 Jul 1816

ID Number: I99707

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