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biography
| name: |
Grierson, Benjamin Henry
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1826–1911)
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| biography:
| US soldier, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The son of Irish immigrants, he taught music before joining an Illinois regiment shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War. Although he claimed to despise horses, he accepted a transfer to the 6th Illinois Cavalry, and Grant chose him to lead what became the most famous federal cavalry raid of the war. Leaving LaGrange, TN (17 Apr 1863), he took 1700 troopers on a 600-mile gallop of destruction through Mississippi (arriving in Louisiana on 2 May), an effective strategic diversion for Grant's Vicksburg Campaign. He saw long post-war service on the frontier, retiring as a brigadier general in 1890. |
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