Medal of Honor

Benoni Stinson

Medal of Honor Recipient

“Bravery in Scouts & Actions Against Indians”

       The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Since 1863, when the first Medal of Honor was awarded during the Civil War, there have been 3,458 such medals awarded to date. Benoni Stinson was awarded the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars in the West.

     The son of Lewis Cobb Stinson & Sarah Sullins, was born in Overton County, Tennessee, about 1831. An adventurous young man, he would seek his fortune in the gold fields of California when gold was discovered in 1849. He and his brother would open a business in Placer County, California in the early 1850’s in the occupation of early photography. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Benoni would enlist in the 4^th Regiment California Infantry, U.S. Volunteers. He served from July 1861, thru March 1866 with this regiment. On September 24, 1866, Benoni, age 35 enlisted for a second time, joining the 8^th U.S. Cavalry. 

     The 8^th Cavalry troops were composed primarily of men enlisted on the Pacific Coast, and included many of the so-called “Forty-Niners”; men who had spent months or years in the mines or gold fields of California. Many were reenlistment's of experienced frontier soldiers, having served with California Volunteer units fighting the Indians during the Civil War. From December of 1866, companies of the 8th Cavalry were involved in the continuing Snake Indian War, replacing California and Oregon Volunteer companies that had been fighting the Snake Indians in Nevada and Oregon during the American Civil War. During the year 1867, Troop B, I, K, and L, were reassigned, and sent to posts in Arizona. The 8^th’s new assignment became trying to control various Native American tribes and bands throughout the western territory. Their duties during this period were of almost continuous field service by troops or detachments, scouting for Apaches and Navajo Indians, and furnishing guards and escorts.

     Pvt. Benoni Stinson, Troop B, 8^th US Cavalry was constantly engaged in encounters with the Apache Indians from May to October of 1868 in Arizona, in an effort to keep the territory open to settlers. The fierce Chiricahua Apache Indians, whose name literally translated by other Indians, means “fighting-men” or “enemy," were murdering men, women and children without mercy, and stealing live stock and other property of the settlers arriving in the territory. It was during the months of August, September and October when the greatest hardships were endured by the men of Troop B. Numerous difficult marches through the mountains and deserts of Arizona exposed them to the extremes of heat and cold, thirst and hunger. The cavalry soldiers spent the greater portion of every twenty-four hours in the saddle, and were exposed to treacherous fire from ambush in their determination to ferret out the Indians from the Dragoon's canyons, which was considered the impregnable fortress of the Apache Indians for many years.

     For their gallantry in these actions against the Apaches, and their successful efforts in keeping the territory open to the settlers, thirty-four men of the 8^th U.S. Cavalry were awarded the Medal of Honor. Benoni Stinson, one of the thirty-four men from this regiment so honored, was officially issued the award on July 24, 1869, in one of the largest Medal of Honor presentations at the time.

Benoni Stinson continued to fight the Apache and other Indians preying on settlers in the West until his discharge on March 30, 1870, in Stockton, California.

     It was through his “Lost to History” reference on the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States web page that his true name came to light. His name erroneously translated as “Benoni Strivson” on the Medal of Honor citation, obscured his ties to Overton County, and his family. Through renewed community interest in discovering Pvt. Stinson's story, Overton County proudly honors our native son Benoni Stinson this Memorial Day, May 28, 2012.

UPDATE: March 2, 2015
      Interest in this story since published in 2012 has never waned. What happened to Ben Stinson after the war? Why was he only a Private after serving nine years in the military? When did he die, and where is he buried? These are just a few of the questions that myself and others have asked since this story came to light. Benoni was a family name held by his uncle, a cousin among others in his family before him. It is a Hebrew biblical baby name, more often than not the person was called "Ben" as was the case of his uncle and cousin. 

A Distant Thunder

    It wasn't any loud or unpleasant sound that caused me to stir between the bed sheets early that morning. My first thoughts were of the roll of steady thunder off, into the distance. When the family had gone to bed, the night before, it had been raining, and in a fog of reflection that morning, a thought occurred to me of how muddy it would likely be on that field today... the field today! I listened once more, this time more keenly interested in the sounds echoing about the morning air. There it was, boom... and another, boom, and yet another, boom. I smiled and glanced around at the clock, 6:30am. Suddenly, I became fully aware of what was being announced throughout the area with a steady rapidity; there was a battle being fought. The sound though muffled, was still distinguishable, as some 18 miles away in a field where the Battle of Shiloh reenactment would take place in the afternoon, cannons were being fired.
     My mother lives in Farmington, Mississippi, just a few miles east of Corinth, where there,  in early April of 1862, the Confederate army marched toward Savannah, Tennessee to thwart the approaching Union army. My anticipation and excitement to attend the events surrounding the 150th anniversary of the battle could not be contained that Saturday morning in the upstairs bedroom of my mother's house. The roll of distant cannons had sprung to life words and images about the Civil War from a hundred thousand pages read over a lifetime. The morning sounds, and again later that afternoon the smells and sights of battle would transform the imagined, into a full sensory reality of war.
     It has been 150 years, and yet we still tell stories about the American Civil War, and if the attendance for reenactments is any indicator of today's interest in the subject, we will be telling stories of the men that fought the war for many more years to come. My name is Ron Goode, and I am a historical researcher and writer of stories and family history. My lifelong passion with the War Between the States, peaked in retirement with a move six years ago to Overton County, Tennessee on the highland rim of the Cumberland Plateau. When one reads the names listed in the local phone book, they will find the same family names that settled these hills, mountains, hollows and valleys, and volunteered its men to defend the cause of freedom when ever called upon. It is the perfect place to explore the great drama that unfolded in this country in 1860, and led to a bloody four years of war. It's a place where church, neighborhoods, and family saw loyalties split between its members, and where the killing became quite personal.
    I write stories about the county, the men, and the families as they experienced this war, and I write about them without regard to the support of either side. I also contribute stories to the local newspaper, which are  published in a weekly column in the Overton County News under the same title as this blog. I prefer to write these stories using first-person accounts of the events when source material is available. In this style, I endeavor to limit 21st century historical interpretation.