Benjamin Piatt Runkle (September 3, 1836 – June 28, 1916) was an American military officer, Episcopal priest, and Freemason, who is noted as being one of the seven founders of Sigma Chi fraternity. Prior to joining the clergy, he served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He served as Chief Superintendent of Freedmen's Affairs in Kentucky, and was plaintiff in the Supreme Court case Runkle v. United States. Runkle also twice served as trustee of Miami University.

Early life

Runkle was born in West Liberty, Ohio, to Ralph Edwin Runkle and Hannah Isabella Piatt. He attended Geneva College and, later, Miami University, from which he graduated in July 1857. While attending Miami University, Runkle became a Freemason as well as one of the seven founders of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

Runkle married Venitia Reynolds on June 4, 1857, and their daughter, Maud Elizabeth Runkle, was born on January 15, 1859, in Findlay, Ohio. He was the 1860 Democratic candidate for the Ohio State Senate. In April 1862 the 13th Ohio, then in Virginia, made a forced march to join General Don Carlos Buell's forces in Kentucky, then continued with Buell's forces to the Battle of Shiloh. Upon arrival, the regiment led an attack that captured the Washington Artillery Battery of New Orleans. He was shot through the feet during a Confederate counter-attack, but continued until wounded again with a shot through the right jaw. He was thought to be mortally wounded, and Whitelaw Reid, then a correspondent for the Cincinnati Gazette, had seen Runkle's wounds and filed a glowing obituary saying in part "He died a hero. Green grows the grass above his grave." Runkle's men broke the enemy line at the Battle of Dutton's Hill in Somerset, Kentucky on March 30, 1863, and he was thanked for his gallantry on the field by Quincy Gillmore, the commanding general, who gave Colonel Runkle's command entire credit for the victory. Fought in the Battle at Monticello, Kentucky on May 1, 1863, where Confederate forces under General Pegram were driven from the field.

Other commands

From July 1863 to January 1864, while recovering from wounds, he served on the staff of Ohio governor David Tod and led Ohio Militia units in response to Morgan's Raid. He later commanded the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Division of the XXIII Corps in Kentucky and Tennessee and participated in Sherman's Atlanta campaign at the battles of Rocky Face Ridge and Resaca. Runkle was honorably mustered out July 21, 1864, and on August 29, 1864, he was appointed lieutenant colonel in the Veteran Reserve Corps where he commanded the 21st Regiment until the war ended.

On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Runkle for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from November 9, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12, 1866.

He served as the Chief Superintendent of the Freedmen's Bureau for Memphis, Tennessee during the violent Memphis Riots of 1866 on May 1, 1866, where, since he had few troops available, he was powerless to protect the black Union veterans who had been mustered out of the army the previous day. On January 7, 1869, Runkle became the head Superintendent of Freedmen's Affairs, State of Kentucky. Since the government had announced plans to terminate Freedmen's Bureau operations in Kentucky, Runkle, and his caretaker staff presided over bureau school closings and the dispersal of the remaining funds, which were completed in the summer of 1870, although the veterans' claim offices remained open through June 1872. While serving as both an active duty army major and as a disbursing officer of the Freedmen's Bureau for the State of Kentucky in 1870, he was placed on the retired list as major, but continued as a disbursing officer until he was arrested and tried before a court-martial for financial irregularities on the part of his sub-agents for "alleged failures to pay, or to pay in full".

Court-martial

The court-martial found Runkle guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman and of violating the March 2, 1863, c. 67, § 1, Act of Congress. His sentence was imprisonment, payment of a fine, and dismissal from the army, where he had been serving on the retired list and drawing retired pay. The Secretary of War, William W. Belknap, reviewed the proceedings and in 1873 issued an order approving Runkle's conviction, but in consideration of his war service and wounds, granted Runkle executive clemency in the name of the President and eliminated the fine and prison sentence. However, his dismissal from the army remained in effect. Under the law at that time, any court-martial sentence involving an officer's dismissal in peacetime needed to be confirmed by the President, and there was no indication in this order that the conviction was confirmed by President Ulysses S. Grant himself. This petition was referred by Grant to the Judge Advocate General for review. Runkle objected to the court-martial specifically because President Grant had appointed the officers who served on it. Initially, General Joseph Holt, the Judge Advocate General, determined that the court-martial conformed to the Articles of War and that because the president, as commander in chief, had an inherent authority to convene courts-martial, Grant's role in Runkle's trial was sound. It remained open when President Rutherford B. Hayes came into office, as President Grant had done nothing further in the matter. On the advice of Holt's successor, General William McKee Dunn, Hayes then picked it up as unfinished business and registered an order of disapproval, revoking the 1873 order dismissing Runkle. Runkle was the only founder of Sigma Chi to become Grand Consul, serving as the seventh national president from 1895 to 1897.

See also

  • List of American Civil War brevet generals (Union)

References

  • Sigma Chi biography