OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. 



Napoleon, and his education was received at a 

 French military school, where he went bare- 

 headed for years, hats of all kinds being con- 

 sidered effeminate. Before leaving France, in 

 1810, young Armstrong frequently saw Napo- 

 leon and many of his marshals. On the break- 

 ing out of the second war with Great Britain, 

 1812, he entered the army as captain in the 

 Thirteenth Regiment United States Infantry, and 

 served throughout the war with great gallantry 

 and distinction. He was severely wounded at 

 the assault upon Queenstown Heights, and 

 shared in the capture of Fort George, the bat- 

 tle of Stony Creek, and the sortie from Fort 

 Erie. At the return of peace in 1815, he re- 

 tired from the army as lieutenant-colonel of 

 the First Regiment of Rifles. For nearly sev- 

 enty years Col. Armstrong lived the life of a 

 country gentleman on his estate on the banks 

 of the Hudson in Dutchess county. 



Arnold, Isaac Newton, an American author, 

 born in Hartwick, N. Y., Nov. 30, 1815; died 

 in Chicago, April 24, 1884. His parents were 

 natives of Rhode Island, whence they removed 

 to western New York in 1800. After attend- 

 ing the district and select schools, he was 

 thrown on his own resources at the age of fif- 

 teen. For several years he taught school a 

 part of each year, earning enough to study 

 law, and at the age of twenty was admitted to 

 the bar. In 1836 he removed to Chicago, 

 where he soon established a reputation as an 

 able lawyer. He represented the Second Illi- 

 nois District in Congress in 1861-'65, and 

 was for many years previously an intimate 

 friend of Abraham Lincoln's. Mr. Arnold 

 wrote a history of Mr. Lincoln's career and 

 the overthrow of slavery. This was followed 

 by a " Life of Benedict Arnold " and a memoir 

 of President Lincoln, published since the au- 

 thor's death, which was in part caused by his 

 assiduous and persistent labor in completing 

 his last literary work. Mr. Arnold was an 

 admirable public speaker, and delivered ad- 

 dresses before various literary societies both in 

 this country and in England. 



Beach, William A., an American lawyer, born 

 in Saratoga, N. Y., in 1805 ; died in Tarrytown, 

 N. Y., June 28, 1884. He began the practice 

 of law in his native town, and continued work 

 there till he was fifty years old. He was elect- 

 ed District Attorney of Saratoga county in 

 1840. In 1855 he removed to Troy, where he 

 was actively occupied in professional work un- 

 til 1870, when he removed to New York city 

 and established the law firm of Beaoh & Brown. 

 He was engaged in various notable cases, as 

 that of Stokes for the murder of Fisk, the im- 

 peachment of Judge Barnard, the trial of Hen- 

 ry Ward Beecher, and the Vanderbilt suit. 



Eenham, Henry W., an American soldier, born 

 in Connecticut in 1817; died in New York, 

 June 1, 1884. He entered the Military Acad- 

 emy at West Point in July, 1833, and was 

 graduated in July, 1837. He was at once 

 placed in the Corps of Engineers, and entered 



upon duty in the work of improving Savannah 

 river. In July, 1838, he was promoted to the 

 grade of first lieutenant in the Engineer Corps, 

 and from 1839 till 1844 was superintending 

 engineer of the repairs of Fort Marion and of 

 the sea-wall at St. Augustine, Florida. Dur- 

 ing the following three years he was engaged 

 upon Government works in Pennsylvania, 

 Maryland, and elsewhere. He was with the 

 army in Mexico in 1847 and 1848, and was 

 brevetted captain for gallant and meritorious 

 services in the battle of Buena Vista, Feb. 23, 

 1847. After the Mexican War, he was engaged 

 for a time in works of engineering in New 

 York harbor, and was promoted to the rank of 

 captain in the Engineer Corps in May, 1848. 

 He was also in charge of several other works 

 of importance at Boston, Washington, and Buf- 

 falo, from 1848 to 1853. In the latter year he 

 was assistant in charge of the United States 

 Coast Survey office at Washington, and was 

 sent to Europe on duty connected therewith. 

 During the following seven years he was fully 

 occupied in professional work for the Govern- 

 ment at Boston, Newport, and Sandy Hook, 

 and on the Potomac Aqueduct. At the out- 

 break of the civil war, in 1861, Capt. Benhara 

 entered upon active service ; was on Gen. Mor- 

 ris's staff as engineer of the Department of the 

 Ohio ; was brevetted colonel for gallantry at 

 the battle of Carrick's Ford, Va., July 13, 

 1861 ; in August was made brigadier-general 

 of volunteers, and was present at several en- 

 gagements during the latter part of the year. 

 In 1862 he superintended fortifications in B( 

 ton harbor, and the construction of the forth 

 cations of Portsmouth harbor, and also w 

 command of the northern district of the 

 partment of the South. He proved himself to 

 be very efficient in throwing ponton-bridges 

 across the Rappahannock, the Potomac, and 

 the James rivers, and was in command of the 

 ponton department at Washington in 1864. In 

 March, 1865, he was brevetted brigadier-gen- 

 eral for gallant services in the campaign that 

 terminated with the surrender of Lee's army. 

 He was also promoted to the rank of major- 

 general in the United States Army. During 

 1867 Gen. Benham was engaged in Govern- 

 ment works on the coast of New England, and 

 from October, 1869, to July, 1877, was simi- 

 larly occupied in the works on Long Island 

 Head. Subsequent to this he was in charge of 

 the defenses of New York harbor. He was 

 placed on the retired list, June 30, 1882. 



Benjamin, Jndali P., an American lawyer, born 

 in St. Croix,West Indies, in 1811 ; died in Paris, 

 France, in May, 1884. He was of English par- 

 entage and of the Jewish faith, and was brought 

 by his father to Wilmington, N. C., in 1816. 

 He entered Yale College in 1825, where he re- 

 mained three years, and, without graduation, 

 went to New Orleans in 1828, where he was 

 admitted to the bar in 1832. He took an active 

 part in politics, and was elected to the United 

 States Senate in 1852, and re-elected in 1858. 



