Henry L. Benning
Henry L. Benning | |||||||||||
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Brigadier General Henry L. Benning by Bjorn Egeli | |||||||||||
| Birth name | Henry Lewis Benning | ||||||||||
| Nickname | "Old Rock" | ||||||||||
| Born | April 2, 1814 Columbia County, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Died | July 10, 1875 (aged 61) Columbus, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Buried | Linwood Cemetery, Columbus, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Allegiance | Confederate States | ||||||||||
| Branch | Confederate States Army | ||||||||||
| Service years | 1861–1865 | ||||||||||
| Rank | Brigadier general | ||||||||||
| Commands | 17th Georgia Infantry Benning's Brigade | ||||||||||
| Battles | |||||||||||
| Spouse |
Mary Howard Jones (m. 1839) | ||||||||||
| Children | 10 | ||||||||||
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Henry Lewis Benning (April 2, 1814 – July 10, 1875) was a Confederate general who commanded infantry in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. He was also a lawyer, legislator, and associate judge in the Georgia Supreme Court. Following the Confederacy's defeat, he returned to his native Georgia, where he resumed his legal practice.
At the request of the Columbus Rotary Club in 1918, Fort Benning was named in his honor, and remained such until 2023, when it was renamed to Fort Moore in honor of Hal Moore and his wife, Julia. In March 2025, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered that the military base's name be reverted back to "Fort Benning". However, the name is instead in tribute to Fred G. Benning from Neligh, Nebraska, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his extraordinary heroism in combat during World War I while serving in France. Fred Benning is not related to Henry Benning.