Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Civil War Oddities #56


Confederate Brig. General Ben Hardin Helm was the only Southerner whose combat death caused conspicuous mourning in Washington. Having married Mary Todd Lincoln’s half-sister Emilie, he turned down his brother-in-law’s offer of a commission as Union paymaster. When Helm died from wounds received as Chickamauga, the Union commander in chief and his family went into mourning.