Class of 1849

Stephen Vincent Benét: Born Jan. 22, 1827, St. Augustine, FL.

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1845, to July 1, 1849, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Bvt. Second Lieut., Ordnance, July 1, 1849.

Served: as Asst. Ordnance Officer, at Watervliet Arsenal, N. Y., 1849‑50; on Special duty in Ordnance Bureau, Washington, D. C., 1850‑52; as Asst. Ordnance Officer, at Frankford Arsenal, Pa., 1852‑53;

(Second Lieut., Ordnance, July 10, 1851)

(First Lieut., Ordnance, July 1, 1853)

in command of Pikesville Arsenal, Md., 1853‑54; on Special duty in Ordnance Bureau, at Washington, D. C., 1854; on Coast Survey, Apr. 25 to July 10, 1854; as Asst. Ordnance Officer, at St. Louis Arsenal, Mo., 1854‑59; and at the Military Academy, 1859‑61, as Principal Asst. Professor of Geography, History, and Ethics, Oct. 4, 1859, to Apr. 26, 1861.

Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861‑66: at the Military Academy, 1861‑64, as Instructor of Ordnance and Science of Gunnery, Apr. 26, 1861, to Feb. 1, 1864, being temporarily detached as

(Captain, Ordnance, Aug. 3, 1861)

Member of Ordnance Board, Sep. 12, 1863, and Board for Examination of Ordnance Officers for Promotion, Sep. 19, 1863; Experimenting with Parrott Guns at the West Point Foundry, Cold Spring, N. Y., 1861‑63; and as Inspector of Cannon and Projectiles, Feb. 1 to Aug. 15, 1864.

 p373  Bvt. Major, and Bvt. Lieut.‑Col., Mar. 13, 1865,
for Faithful and Meritorious Services in the Ordnance Department.

Served: in command of Frankford Arsenal, Pa., and Inspector of Gunpowder, Aug. 17, 1864, to Sep. 18, 1869; as Member of Board on Seacoast

(Major, Ordnance, Dec. 22, 1866)

Rifled Cannon, Carriages, Projectiles, etc., Dec. 12, 1867, to June 4, 1868, — of Board to test Beaupré's system of constructing Cannon, Sep. 1‑5, 1868, — and of Board to examine Improvements for moving and manoeuvering heavy guns, Jan.‑Feb., 1870; as Counsel for General Dyer before his Court of Inquiry, Nov. 9, 1868, to May 7, 1869; as Assistant to the Chief of Ordnance, Washington, D. C., Sep. 18, 1869, to Feb. 4, 1874; and Acting Chief of Ordnance, Feb. 4 to June 23, 1874;

(Brig.‑General and Chief of Ordnance, U. S. Army, June 23, 1874)

and as Chief of Ordnance of the U. S. Army, in charge of the Ordnance Bureau, at Washington, D. C., since June 23, 1874; and as President of the Court of Inquiry to investigate the Greely Relief Expedition, 1883.

Civil History. — Translator, from the French of Jomini, of the "Campaign of Waterloo," 1853. Degree of A. M. conferred by the University of Georgia, 1855. Author of a "Treatise on Military Laws, and the Practice of Courts Martial," 1862; and of a Work of Electro-Ballistic Machines, and the Schultz Chronoscope, 18–––. Degree of LL. D. conferred by Georgetown College, D. C., 1887.