Benjamin F. Potts

{{short description|American politician}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Benjamin Franklin Potts | office1 = [[Governor of the Montana Territory]] | president1 = [[Ulysses S. Grant]] [[James A. Garfield]] [[Chester A. Arthur]] | term_start1 = July 13, 1870 | term_end1 = January 14, 1883 | predecessor1 = [[Wiley Scribner]] {{Small|(acting)}} | successor1 = [[John Schuyler Crosby]] | office2 = [[Ohio State Senator]] | constituency2 = 21st district | predecessor2 = Henry S. Martin | successor2 = A.C. Wales | term_start2 = 1868 | term_end2 = 1870 | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1836|1|29}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1887|6|17|1836|1|29}} | image = Benjamin F Potts.jpg | birth_place = [[Fox Township, Carroll County, Ohio]] | death_place = [[Helena, Montana]] | resting_place = Forestvale Cemetery, Helena, Montana | allegiance = United States [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] | branch = [[United States Army]] [[Union Army]] | service_years = 1861–1866 | rank = [[File:Union Army brigadier general rank insignia.svg|35px]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]] [[File:Union Army major general rank insignia.svg|35px]] [[Brevet (military)|Brevet]] [[Major general (United States)|Major General]] | unit = [[Army of the Tennessee]] | commands = [[32nd Ohio Infantry]] | battles = [[American Civil War]] *[[Battle of Cheat Mountain]] *[[Battle of Greenbrier River]] *[[Battle of McDowell]] *[[Battle of Cross Keys]] *[[Battle of Port Republic]] *[[Battle of Jackson, Mississippi|Battle of Jackson]] *[[Siege of Vicksburg]] *[[Atlanta campaign]] *[[Carolinas Campaign]] | signature = Signature of Benjamin Franklin Potts.png }} '''Benjamin Franklin Potts''' (January 29, 1836 – June 17, 1887) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier from the state of [[Ohio]] who served as a [[General officer|general]] in the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War]], as well as a [[reconstruction era]] [[governor of the Montana Territory]] from 1870 to 1883. He commanded a [[brigade]] of [[infantry]] in the [[Western Theater of the American Civil War|Western Theater]] in some of the war's most important campaigns and repeatedly received commendations for gallantry and tactical judgement in combat.<ref name=Eicher437>Eicher, p. 437.</ref><ref name=Reid898>Reid, pp. 898–99.</ref>

==Early life and career== Benjamin Potts was born on a farm in [[Fox Township, Carroll County, Ohio]],<ref name=car-har>{{Cite book |title=History of Carroll and Harrison Counties |last1=Eckley |first1=H.J. |last2=Perry |first2=W.T. |year=1921 |publisher=The Lewis Publishing Co|pages=130, 150, 181|url=https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/576876-redirection}}</ref> to James and Jane (Mapel) Potts. He attended the common schools. When he was seventeen, he began working as a clerk in a dry goods store in nearby [[Wattsville, Ohio|Wattsville]]. He attended [[Westminster College (Pennsylvania)|Westminster College]] in 1854–55, until he ran out of funding and returned to Ohio. He taught school and [[read law]] starting in September 1857 under [[Ephraim R. Eckley]], later a [[U.S. Congressman]]. An active supporter of President [[James Buchanan]], Potts was interested in local and national politics and joined the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]].<ref name=Reid898/>

In May 1859, he passed his bar exam in [[Canton, Ohio]], and established a successful practice in [[Carrollton, Ohio|Carrollton]]. He was a member of the Ohio delegation to the [[1860 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Charleston, South Carolina]], and supported the candidacy of [[Stephen A. Douglas]].<ref name=Reid898/>

==Civil War== With the outbreak of the Civil War, Potts was elected as a [[captain (United States O-3)|captain]] of the [[32nd Ohio Infantry]] and mustered into the service on August 29, 1861. He served with the regiment in [[West Virginia in the American Civil War|western Virginia]] and was present at [[Battle of Cheat Mountain|Cheat Mountain]] and [[Battle of Greenbrier River|Greenbrier River]]. He was engaged in scouting with his company during a portion of the winter of 1861–1862; and in the spring of 1862 he accompanied the regiment in the advance under [[Major general (United States)|Maj. Gen.]] [[Robert H. Milroy]]. Subsequently, he was engaged in the [[Battle of McDowell]]. He accompanied General [[John C. Frémont]] in his campaign up the [[Shenandoah Valley]] in pursuit of [[Stonewall Jackson]], and was present at [[Battle of Cross Keys|Cross Keys]] and [[Battle of Port Republic|Port Republic]].<ref name=Eicher437/><ref name=Reid898/>

In July 1862, he was temporarily detached from his infantry company and assigned command of an [[artillery battery]] in [[Winchester, Virginia]]. During the [[Maryland Campaign]], he and his men fell back to the presumed safety of [[Harpers Ferry, West Virginia|Harpers Ferry]], where they were part of the largest surrender of the U.S. Army until [[World War II]], following the [[Battle of Harpers Ferry]]. Potts was paroled and sent to [[Camp Douglas (Chicago)|Camp Douglas]] until exchanged.<ref name=Reid898/>

In December 1862, Potts was promoted to [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] and commander of the demoralized and badly depleted 32nd Ohio. He reorganized the regiment, added substantially to its ranks, and refitted it for field duty. On Christmas Day, he was elevated to the [[Colonel (United States)|colonelcy]] and then led the regiment in numerous campaigns of the [[Army of the Tennessee]] in the Western Theater, including the [[Siege of Vicksburg]] and the [[Atlanta campaign]]. At [[Battle of Port Gibson|Port Gibson]] he was complimented for gallantry by brigade commander Brig. Gen. [[John Dunlap Stevenson|John D. Stevenson]]; and at [[Battle of Raymond|Raymond]], [[Battle of Jackson, Mississippi|Jackson]], and [[Battle of Champion Hill|Champion Hill]], he received the thanks of Maj. Gen. [[John A. Logan]]. During the fight at Champion Hill, Colonel Potts charged with his regiment and captured an eight-gun [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] battery and half of an [[Alabama]] infantry brigade that was guarding it.<ref name=Reid898/>

In August Potts was assigned to the command of the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, [[XVII Corps (Union Army)|XVII Corps]], and he accompanied an expedition to [[Monroe, Louisiana]]. In November, Maj. Gen. [[James B. McPherson]] placed Potts in command of the 2nd Brigade. During Maj. Gen. [[William T. Sherman]]'s [[Meridian, Mississippi|Meridian expedition]], Potts led the advance of the XVII Corps across Baker's Creek, routed the Rebels under [[William Wirt Adams]], and drove them into Jackson. Later, Potts commanded the forces that destroyed the railroad from Meridian.<ref name=Eicher437/><ref name=Reid898/>

In 1864, Potts was assigned command of the 1st Brigade, 4th Division of the XVII Corps, and was distinguished during the [[Atlanta campaign]], especially in the [[Battle of Atlanta]]. Division commander [[Giles A. Smith]] wrote, "Colonel Potts did more, on the 22d of July, 1864, to save the good name of the Army of the Tennessee, than any other one man." That fall, he participated in the successful operations against [[Savannah, Georgia]].<ref>Reid, p. 900.</ref>

In January 1865, Potts was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers. He led his brigade during the [[Carolinas Campaign]] and in the [[Grand Review of the Armies]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref>Potts' Brigade consisted of the 14th/15th Illinois (battalion), 53rd Illinois, 23rd Indiana, 53rd Indiana, and his old 32nd Ohio.</ref> In May following the end of hostilities. Potts received the [[brevet rank]] of [[Major general (United States)|major general]] in the omnibus promotions at the end of the Civil War.<ref name=Eicher437/>

==Reconstruction era career== Potts mustered out of the army in January 1866 and returned to [[Carroll County, Ohio]], where he resumed his legal and political careers. He changed political parties and joined the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]]. A moderate, he was elected to the [[Ohio State Senate]] in 1867. Three years later, he accepted an appointment from a fellow Ohio politician and former general, President [[Ulysses S. Grant]], as the governor of the [[Montana Territory]], but only after first refusing it because the adoption of the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] in the Ohio Legislature depended upon his vote, which would be lost if he vacated his seat.<ref>{{cite book|title=[[Historical Collections of Ohio]] |last=Howe |author-link=Henry Howe|first=Henry |year=1889 |publisher=The State of Ohio |page=360 |chapter=Carroll County |volume=1 |isbn=9781404753761 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXIOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA360}}</ref> Potts served until 1883. As governor, he was heavily involved in Indian affairs, as well as working to get several new frontier towns chartered, including [[Missoula, Montana|Missoula]].<ref>[http://www.mcps.k12.mt.us/lowell/missoulahistory%20text.html History of Missoula, Montana] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014020928/http://www.mcps.k12.mt.us/lowell/missoulahistory%20text.html |date=October 14, 2008 }} Retrieved 2008-10-17.</ref> The bipartisan political stability Potts brought to Montana played an important role in the gradual lessening of [[vigilante]] activities and lawlessness in the territory.<ref>Allen, Frederick, [https://web.archive.org/web/20011123123936/http://visitmt.com/history/Montana_the_Magazine_of_Western_History/montanavigilantes2.htm Montana Vigilantes and the Origins of the 3-7-77], Montana Big Sky Country website. Retrieved 2008-10-17.</ref> He later served in the territorial legislature.

Benjamin F. Potts died in 1887 in [[Helena, Montana]], where he was buried initially in the Benton Avenue Cemetery. His remains were later moved to Forestvale Cemetery.<ref>[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/potterton-powe.html#RFH0QDOO0 The Political Graveyard] Retrieved 2009-10-17.</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|Biography|American Civil War}} *[[List of American Civil War generals (Union)]] *[[List of Ohio's American Civil War generals]] *[[Ohio in the American Civil War]]

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== * Bissland, James, ''Blood, Tears, and Glory: How Ohioans Won the Civil War'', Wilmington, Ohio: Orange Frazer Press, 2007, {{ISBN|1-933197-05-6}}. * Eicher, John H., and [[David J. Eicher|Eicher, David J.]], ''Civil War High Commands'', Palo Alto, California: Stanford University Press, 2001, {{ISBN|0-8047-3641-3}}. * Heidler, David S., and Heidler, Jeanne T., eds., ''Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History'', W. W. Norton & Company, 2000, {{ISBN|0-393-04758-X}}. *[[Whitelaw Reid|Reid, Whitelaw]], ''[[Ohio in the War]]: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers.'' 2 vol. Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach, & Baldwin, 1868. * U.S. War Department, [http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/records/list.cfm ''The War of the Rebellion''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913062844/http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/records/list.cfm |date=September 13, 2009 }}: ''a Compilation of the [[Official Records of the American Civil War|Official Records]] of the Union and Confederate Armies'', U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.

==External links== {{commons category}} *{{cite web|url=http://www.generalsandbrevets.com/ngp/potts.htm |title=Benjamin Potts photo gallery at generalsandbrevets.com |access-date=2008-10-17 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208215607/http://www.generalsandbrevets.com/ngp/potts.htm |archive-date=2008-02-08 }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070817003315/http://www.nps.gov/archive/vick/oh/oh32inf.htm Monument to the 32nd OVI and Col. Potts at the Vicksburg National Military Park] *{{Find a Grave|7129686|accessdate=2009-03-24}} *{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Potts, Benjamin Franklin|year=1900 |short=x}} {{s-start}} {{s-par|us-oh-sen}} {{s-bef | before=Henry S. Martin}} {{s-ttl |title=Senator from 21st District ([[Carroll County, Ohio|Carroll]] and [[Stark County, Ohio|Stark]] Counties) | years=1868–1870}} {{s-aft | after=A. C. Wales}} {{end}} {{Governors of Montana}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potts, Benjamin F.}} [[Category:Union army generals]] [[Category:People of Ohio in the American Civil War]] [[Category:American Civil War prisoners of war]] [[Category:People from Carroll County, Ohio]] [[Category:Ohio lawyers]] [[Category:Ohio Democrats]] [[Category:Ohio state senators]] [[Category:Montana Republicans]] [[Category:Governors of Montana Territory]] [[Category:1836 births]] [[Category:1887 deaths]] [[Category:Ohio Republicans]] [[Category:American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law]] [[Category:People from Carrollton, Ohio]] [[Category:19th-century American lawyers]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly]]