Benjamin Hardin Helm

From Dixiepedia: The PC-Free Encyclopedia

Benjamin Hardin Helm (2 June 1831 - 21 September 1863) married Emilie Todd, the half-sister of Mary Todd Lincoln, in 1856. Helm formed a close friendship with Abraham Lincoln. When the War Between the States broke out, Lincoln offered Helm a position as Major, but Helm joined the Confederacy as a Colonel. In 1862 he was promoted to Brigadier General. Helm was mortally wounded during the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia in September of 1863. The White House went into mourning when he died.