Grierson, Benjamin Henry, 1826-1911

Benjamin Henry Grierson (July 8, 1826 – August 31, 1911) was a music teacher from Illinois who, although afraid of horses, volunteered for service in the cavalry during the Civil War, commanding a cavalry division Army of the Tennessee and reaching the rank of major general in the United States Volunteers. He is most noted for Grierson's Raid, an 1863 expedition through Confederate-held territory that severed enemy communication lines between Vicksburg, Mississippi and Confederate commanders in the Eastern Theater. After the war, he became colonel of the 10th Cavalry Regiment, an African-American regiment from 1866 until his retirement in 1890. Grierson was born in Pennsylvania, but moved to the Midwest, where he earned his living as a music teacher and as a partner in an unsuccessful mercantile business. He began his military career as a volunteer aide-de-camp but was soon advanced to major of cavalry. After six months, he was promoted to the command of his regiment and before long to the command of a cavalry brigade, and finally of a cavalry division. As colonel of an African-American regiment, he was disliked by his superiors and fellow officers due to his support for and trust in his black troops. His 26 years of postwar service were spent in garrison and in the field at the southwestern frontier.