View source for Benjamin G. Humphreys

{{Short description|American politician}}
{{About|the governor of Mississippi (1808-1882)|his son, the U.S. politician (1865-1923)|Benjamin G. Humphreys II}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name                =Benjamin Humphreys
|image               =Benjamin Grubb Humphreys, 1808-1882 LCCN2002711350 (cropped).jpg
|office1             =26th [[Governor of Mississippi]]
|term_start1         =October 16, 1865
|term_end1           =June 15, 1868
|predecessor1        =[[William L. Sharkey]]
|successor1          =[[Adelbert Ames]]
|office2             =Member of the [[Mississippi Senate]]
|term2               =1839–1844
|birth_date= {{birth date|1808|8|26}}
|birth_place= [[Claiborne County, Mississippi|Claiborne County]], [[Mississippi Territory]], U.S.
|death_date= {{death date and age|1882|12|20|1808|8|26}}
|death_place= [[Jackson, Mississippi]], U.S.
|party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|allegiance= {{flagicon|USA}} United States<br/>{{flagicon|CSA}} [[Confederate States of America]]
|branch= {{army|CSA}}
|serviceyears= 1861–65
|rank= [[File:Confederate States of America General-collar.svg|35px]] [[Brigadier General (CSA)|Brigadier General]]
|commands= [[21st Mississippi Infantry Regiment]]<br>Humphreys' Brigade
|battles= [[American Civil War]]
*[[Battle of Antietam]]
*[[Battle of Gettysburg]]
*[[Overland Campaign]]
*[[Battle of Berryville]]
*[[Siege of Petersburg]]
*[[Appomattox Campaign]]
|signature = Signature of Benjamin Grubb Humphreys.png
}}
'''Benjamin Grubb Humphreys''' (August 26, 1808{{spaced ndash}}December 20, 1882) was an American politician from [[Mississippi]]. He was a general in the [[Confederate States Army]] during the [[American Civil War]] and served as [[List of Governors of Mississippi|Governor of Mississippi]] from 1865 to 1868, during [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]].

==Early life==
Humphreys was born in [[Claiborne County, Mississippi|Claiborne County]] in the [[Mississippi Territory|Territory of Mississippi]], on the Bayou Pierre. He was educated in [[New Jersey]] and enrolled at [[United States Military Academy]] in the same class as [[Robert E. Lee]] and [[Joseph E. Johnston]]. However, he was expelled in 1826 when he participated in a "Christmas frolic" that ended up turning into the [[Eggnog Riot]].

Upon his return to Mississippi, he was elected to the state senate representing his native county, serving from 1839 to 1844. In 1846, he moved to [[Sunflower County, Mississippi]], and founded [[Itta Bena, Mississippi|Itta Bena]]. He developed a cotton plantation there.

==Civil War==
During the American Civil War, Humphreys raised a company and was commissioned a [[Captain (Confederate Army)|captain]] in the Confederate States Army in 1861. Part of the [[21st Mississippi Infantry Regiment]], he was elected to the rank of colonel the same year and brigaded with other regiments under the command of Brig. Gen. [[William Barksdale]] in the [[Eastern Theater of the American Civil War|Eastern Theater]]. At the [[Battle of Gettysburg]] in 1863, Humphreys's regiment was part of the force that attacked U.S. Army positions at the Peach Orchard, driving the U.S. soldiers back toward [[Cemetery Ridge]]. Humphreys took command of the brigade after the death of Barksdale. He was subsequently promoted to brigadier general,<ref>Pfanz, p. 457.</ref> and remained in command until he was wounded in the battle of Berryville, Virginia, on September 3, 1864. Humphreys returned home to Mississippi to heal but could not return to active duty before the war ended.

==Political career==
Confederate surrender in 1865 was followed by [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] of state governments. Secessionist officials and military officers were forbidden to hold public office in the United States unless pardoned. Benjamin Humphreys was unpardoned when he announced his candidacy for Mississippi governor as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]. [[President of the United States|President]] [[Andrew Johnson]] did not want him elected and refused to pardon him. Humphreys persisted in his candidacy, won the election on October 2, 1865, and was inaugurated and sworn in as Governor on October 16. On October 26, provisional Governor [[William L. Sharkey]] received from President Johnson a pardon for Humphreys. Humphreys won re-election to a second term in 1868.

However, [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] in Congress took control of Reconstruction, and  on June 15, he was physically removed from office by soldiers of the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]].<ref>Eicher, p. 309, lists his position as Provisional Governor.</ref>

As a Democratic Governor of the State of Mississippi, he professed the ideology of [[White supremacy]]. In his own words:
{{Blockquote|The Negro is free, whether we like it or not; we must realize that fact now and forever. To be free, however, does not make him a citizen, or entitle him to political or social equality with the white race.}}

After he retired from politics, Humphreys entered a career in insurance in [[Jackson, Mississippi]]. He continued there until his retirement in 1877, when he moved to his plantation in [[Leflore County, Mississippi]], where he died in 1882. He is buried in Wintergreen Cemetery, [[Port Gibson, Mississippi]].<ref>Eicher, p. 309.</ref>

[[Humphreys County, Mississippi]], is named after him. His son, [[Benjamin G. Humphreys II]], was a [[United States Representative]] from Mississippi.

==See also==
*[[List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* McKitrick, Eric L. "Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction". New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1988. {{ISBN|0-19-505707-4}}
* Eicher, John H., and [[David J. Eicher]], ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-8047-3641-1}}.
* Pfanz, Harry W. ''Gettysburg – The Second Day''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987. {{ISBN|0-8078-1749-X}}.
* [[Ezra J. Warner (historian)|Warner, Ezra J.]] ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. {{ISBN|978-0-8071-0823-9}}.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060925013231/http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/features/feature47/governors/21_ben_humphreys.htm Mississippi History]
*[http://www.historycentral.com/bio/CWcGENS/CSAHumphreys.html History Central]

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John J. Pettus]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[List of Governors of Mississippi|Governor of Mississippi]]|years=1865}}
{{s-vac|next=[[John Marshall Stone]]}}
{{S-off}}
{{Succession box
|before=[[William L. Sharkey]]
|title=[[List of Governors of Mississippi|Governor]] of [[Mississippi]]
|after=[[Adelbert Ames]]
|years=1865–1868
}}
{{S-end}}

{{Gettysburg figures|state=collapsed}}
{{Governors of Mississippi}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humphreys, Benjamin G.}}
[[Category:1808 births]]
[[Category:1882 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Claiborne County, Mississippi]]
[[Category:People from Itta Bena, Mississippi]]
[[Category:United States Military Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Democratic Party governors of Mississippi]]
[[Category:Confederate States Army generals]]
[[Category:People of Mississippi in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:19th-century American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:Democratic Party Mississippi state senators]]
[[Category:People pardoned by Andrew Johnson]]
[[Category:Southern Historical Society members]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Mississippi Legislature]]
[[Category:19th-century American planters]]
[[Category:Planters from Mississippi]]
[[Category:American cotton plantation owners]]