Editing Bennet C. Riley

{{Short description|United States Army general and politician (1790–1853)}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Bennet C. Riley
| image               = Bennett Riley, 1852 (cropped).jpg
| caption             = 1852 portrait of Riley
| order               = 7th
| office              = Military Governor of California
| term_start          = April 12, 1849
| term_end            = December 20, 1849<ref>{{cite book|last=Bandini|first=Helen Elliott|title=History of California|date=1908|publisher=[[American Book Company (1890)|American Book Company]]|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LugXAAAAIAAJ|page=292|isbn=978-1-4219-2750-3 }}</ref>
| lieutenant          =
| predecessor         = [[Persifor Frazer Smith]]
| successor           = [[Peter Hardeman Burnett]] as first Governor of California {{efn|California joined the U.S. as a state the year after he took office, in 1850.}}
| order2              =
| term_start2         =
| term_end2           =
| predecessor2        =
| successor2          =
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1787|11|27}}
| birth_place         = [[St. Mary's County, Maryland]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1853|6|9|1787|11|27}}
| death_place         = [[Black Rock, Buffalo|Black Rock]], near [[Buffalo, New York]], U.S.
| resting_place       = [[Forest Lawn Cemetery (Buffalo, New York)|Forest Lawn Cemetery]], Buffalo
| party               =
| spouse              = Arabella Israel Riley
| profession          = Soldier
| allegiance          = United States of America
| branch              = [[United States Army]]
| rank                = {{plainlist|
* Colonel
* [[brevet (military)|Bvt.]] Major General
}}
| serviceyears        = 1813–1850
| unit                = {{plainlist|
* [[Regiment of Riflemen (United States)|U.S. Regiment of Riflemen]]
* [[5th Infantry Regiment (United States)|5th U.S. Infantry]]
* [[6th Infantry Regiment (United States)|6th U.S. Infantry]]
}}
| commands            = {{plainlist|
* [[2nd Infantry Regiment (United States)|2nd U.S. Infantry]]
* Riley's Brigade
* Department of Upper California
* [[1st Infantry Regiment (United States)|1st U.S. Infantry]]
}}
| battles             = {{plainlist|
* [[War of 1812]]
* [[Arikara War]]
* [[2nd Seminole War]]
* [[Mexican–American War]]
}}
| signature           = Bennetcrileysignature.JPG
}}
'''Bennet C. Riley'''{{efn|His name is sometimes written as Bennett, but his own correspondence uses the spelling of Bennet. For an example, see here.<ref>United States. Congress. House. 13th Congress, 2d Session-49th Congress. House Documents, Otherwise Publ. as Executive Documents: 13th Congress, 2d Session-49th Congress, 1st Session, [https://books.google.com/books?id=tYoFAAAAQAAJ&dq=Bennet+Riley&pg=PA821 p. 822.]</ref>}} (November 27, 1787 – June 9, 1853) was the seventh and last military governor of [[California]]. Riley ordered the election of representatives to a state constitutional convention, and handed over all civil authority to a governor and elected delegates at the end of 1849; the following year, California joined the U.S. as a [[U.S. state|state]].{{efn|Unlike most western states, California was never a [[U.S. Territory]]<ref>{{cite web|title=California 170th Anniversary of Statehood (1850): September 9, 2020|date=2020-09-09|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|url=https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/california-admission-anniversary.html|accessdate=2024-03-04}}</ref>}} He participated in the [[War of 1812]] on [[Lake Ontario]]. He also served in the [[United States Army]] during the [[Seminole War]] in Florida, and [[Mexican–American War]].

==Early life and family==
Riley was born to an Irish-Catholic couple, Bennet Riley and Susanna Ann Drury,<ref>Spencer Tucker, [https://books.google.com/books?id=w_Mqj6UuRgQC&dq=Bennet+Riley&pg=PT527 San Patricio Battalion], found in Alexander Bielakowski (ed), ''Ethnic and Racial Minorities in the U.S. Military: An Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, Jan 11, 2013. 9781598844283</ref> in [[St. Mary's, Maryland]], 1787. His father apprenticed him to a cobbler; later, he served as a foreman in a shoe factory. After his father's death in 1811, he signed up for service on a [[privateer]].<ref>Jefferson Davis, ''Papers'', LSU Press, 1975 9780807158654, p. 602.</ref>

Riley married Arabella Israel, of Philadelphia, on 9 November 1834, at the Jefferson Barracks, [[Lemay, Missouri]].<ref>Newspapers and Periodicals. American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. Ancestry.com. U.S., Newspaper Extractions from the Northeast, 1704-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014, 29 Nov 1834. Accessed 31 October 201.{{subscription required}}</ref> They had eight children: William Davenport Riley and Samuel Israel Riley, twins, died in [[Fort King]], Florida, on 15 and 17 November 1841; Bennet Israel Riley, born 1835 in Massachusetts, served in the Navy and died aboard the war-sloop {{USS|Albany|1846|6}}, which disappeared with all hands in September 1854;<ref>''Navy Casualty Reports, 1776–1941'', Lost and Wrecked Ships, Explosions and Steam Casualties, [https://www.fold3.com/image/?rec=268738888&terms=Bennet%20Riley p. 5], Fold3 12-003. Accessed 3 November 2015. {{Subscription required}} See also Correspondence of Franklin Pierce with the Senate, ''To the Senate (re sloop-of-war Albany),'' 26 February 1855, Congressional Edition, Volume 745, [https://books.google.com/books?id=mWZHAQAAIAAJ&dq=war+sloop+Albany+1855&pg=PA291 p. 331].</ref> Mary, born 1836; Arabella I. Riley, 1837–1916) (never married); George, born 1838; and Edward Bishop Dudley Riley (1839–1918), whose military career was split between the Union and Confederate armies.{{efn|Edward Riley, born in 1839 in Indian Territory, Oklahoma, graduated from [[West Point]] in 1860. There is some conflict with the sources over his subsequent service. Sources about his father report that he served with the 4th Infantry in California; upon the outbreak of war in 1861, he resigned his commission on 13 June 1861, and left with [[Lewis Armistead]] for Texas, and then to Virginia. He served as a staff officer, under [[Braxton Bragg]] and [[Albert Sidney Johnston]] and several others, as part of the Confederate staff.<ref>Davis, p. 601.</ref> According to Army records, he served as a corporal in the 2nd Infantry, and deserted in June 1861 in Troy, New York.<ref>New York State Archives, Cultural Education Center, Albany, New York; New York Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861–1900; Archive Collection #: 13775-83; Box #: 84; Roll #: 932-933, [http://search.ancestry.com//cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-c&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=Edward+Bishop&gsfn_x=0&gsln=Riley&gsln_x=0&MSAV=1&msbdy=1840&cpxt=1&cp=12&catbucket=rstp&uidh=5vf&pcat=39&h=650270&db=CWMusterRoll&indiv=1&ml_rpos=3 Edward Riley]. Accessed 3 November 2015.</ref> He is listed in the "Officers of the 4th Infantry Present and Absent in September 1861",<ref>"Officers of the 4th Infantry Present and Absent in September 1861", Army Register of Enlistments, p. 539, accessed 3 November 2015.</ref> and in the US Army Historical Register.<ref>US Army Historical Register - Volume 2 › Part III - Officers Who Left the US Army After 1860 and Joined the Confederate Service › Page 4. Accessed 3 November 2015. {{subscription required}}</ref>}}

[[Ulysses S. Grant]] described Bennet Riley as "the finest specimen of physical manhood I had ever looked upon...6'2 (190&nbsp;cm) in his stocking feet, straight as the undrawn [sic] bowstring, broad shouldered with every limb in perfect proportion, with an eagle and a step as light as a forest tiger."<ref>Susannah Ural Bruce, ''The Harp and the Eagle: Irish-American Volunteers and the Union Army, 1861–1865'', NYU Press, 2006, 9780814799390 pp. 36–37.</ref> An accident or injury in his youth caused him to lose part of his palate, and he spoke with a hoarse voice.<ref name=Davis>Davis, p. 602.</ref><ref name=Obit>''New York Times'', [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1853/06/11/75126752.pdf New York Times: ''General Riley''], June 11, 1853.</ref>

==Military career in the War of 1812==
Riley volunteered for service in the [[War of 1812]],<ref>Durwood Ball, ''Army Regulars on the Western Frontier, 1848–1861.'', University of Oklahoma Press, 2001, 9780806133126 [https://books.google.com/books?id=t7wzjM5IHgMC&dq=Bennet+Riley&pg=PA215 p. 8.].</ref> and on 19 January 1813, he was appointed Ensign of [[Regiment of Riflemen (United States)|Rifles]]. In March of the same year, he became a third lieutenant and in April 1814 a [[Second Lieutenant#United States|second lieutenant]] in the First Rifles. He saw action at [[Sackets Harbor, New York]], in [[Second Battle of Sacket's Harbor|second]] of two battles for control of the shipyards on [[Lake Ontario]]. He gained a promotion to [[First Lieutenant#United States|first lieutenant]] in March 1817. Riley was further advanced to [[Captain (United States)|captain]] in the [[5th Infantry Regiment (United States)|5th U.S. Infantry]], and by 1821 he was transferred to the [[6th Infantry Regiment (United States)|6th U.S. Infantry]].<ref name=Davis /><ref name=Obit />

===Skirmish near the garrison of Ogdensburg===
[[Benjamin Forsyth]] needed firewood for his barracks. Forsyth sent Bennet C. Riley with about a half dozen riflemen upriver to gather some wood in a boat. Riley and his men tried to stay by their side as close as possible and as stealthily as possible. But a group of British gunboats spotted Riley's boat crea and set upon them. Benjamin Forsyth and his riflemen rowed out on their boat providing sniper covering fire for Riley's crew. The British gunboats were held at bay as Riley and Forsyth both withdrew safely back to their fort in their boats.<ref>"The Insolent Enemy" by DE Butters Pages.41-42.</ref>

===Spearheading and raiding York===
[[Benjamin Forsyth]] and Bennet C. Riley spearheaded a raid in York. It would be a massive large force of 1,700 regulars including riflemen in 14 armed vessels. Forsyth and Riley led the way with their riflemen at the front to make a beachhead. Forsyth, Riley, and the riflemen landed at the beach. The Americans engaged the British regulars, Indians, and Canadians who were trying to set up a defense. Forsyth, Riley, and their riflemen hid behind trees and logs and never exposed themselves except when they fired, squatting down to load their pieces, and their clothes being green they were well camouflaged with the bushes and trees. The place chosen by the Americans for landing was very advantageous for their troops, being full of shrubs and bushes. The Americans immediately covered and cut off the British-allied forces, with little or no danger to the Americans. The British and their allies, suffering many casualties, withdrew from the field. The Americans suffered moderate casualties from resistance from British-allied remnants, magazine explosion, or other circumstances. The American raid at York was successful, however it was not without some controversy. Even though the civilians were not harmed, many of their belongings were looted by the Americans and much private property was burned to the ground. This was in spite of the explicit instructions of the American commander, Pike (who was killed in this raid), not to loot or burn private property. The Americans, after conducting their raid, withdrew from York. Forsyth, Riley, and the rest of their riflemen also withdrew.<ref>"The Insolent Enemy" by DE Butters Pages.68-76.</ref><ref>"The Documentary History of the Campaign Upon the Niagara Frontier" by Lundy's Lane Historical Society Pages.193-200.</ref>

===Capturing and interrogating prisoners===
Riley, Forsyth, and their riflemen were performing paramilitary operations in British Canada in support of America's invasion. Riley and his riflemen were out patrolling and acting as sentries. They captured two Canadian teenage boys who were acting as spies. Riley brought them before Forsyth. Forsythe and Riley did not wish to kill these captured teenagers, as they were just young boys whom they had no intention of killing. Forsyth and Riley bluffed their captured prisoners into talking by pretending to threaten them with death. The ruse worked, and the boys told Forsyth of valuable intelligence about a blockhouse that was being built to contest the American advance. Then Forsyth and Riley released both teenagers. Forsyth sent Riley to inform the American generals of the blockhouse. After Riley informed the American generals, the American army easily overtook the blockhouse and routed the British-Canadian defenders.<ref>"The Insolent Enemy" by DE Butters Pages.141-143</ref>

===Spearheading and besieging the British blockhouse Lacolle Mills===
Benjamin Forsyth, Bennet C. Riley, and their riflemen spearheaded an attack on British-allied forces who were retreating back to a blockhouse. The main American army followed behind. The British and their allies fell back into their blockhouse. The British and their allies were deeply entrenched and fortified in their blockhouse. Riley, Forsyth, their riflemen, and the American army besieged the blockhouse with rifle/musket fire and artillery. But the British held them off to great effect. After a long siege, the American force withdrew.<ref>"The Insolent Enemy" by DE Butters Pages.157-162.</ref>

===Long-range patrol===
[[Benjamin Forsyth]], Bennet C. Riley, and 70 of their riflemen went out from their base from Chamberlain to patrol near the Canadian border. While the Americans were patrolling in a loose skirmishing V formation. Forsyth stopped his men and had a secret conversation with Riley. Forsyth whispered to Riley that he sensed that there were Indians and Canadians hiding in ambush. Forsyth commanded Riley to tell the rest of the riflemen to casually withdraw so as not to cause the Indians and Canadians to be eager to launch their ambush. Riley suggested to Forsyth that they should withdraw to a tavern on the outskirts of this town and take shelter in it. Riley explained that they could conduct sniper fire from within the cover of the tavern. While Riley and Forsyth were marching their column casually for ten minutes. The Canadian-Indian force caught up and opened fire. All 70 American riflemen opened a simultaneous volley fire killing or wounding many Canadians and Indians. The Americans retreated by leapfrogging. One group of riflemen would provide covering fire while one group of riflemen retreated. The American repeated this process until they reached the tavern. Riley, Forsyth, and all their riflemen went inside the tavern. The Americans sniped at the enemy from behind covered and concealed positions within the tavern. The Americans killed or wounded many Canadians and Indians. After this intense engagement, the enemy fully retreated. The Americans were victorious. One American rifleman was killed and some wounded. The Americans later withdrew back to American lines in Chamberlain.<ref>"The Insolent Enemy" by DE Butters Pages.172-176.</ref>

===Ambushing and killing an enemy leader===
On August 10, 1814, Riley and a dozen American riflemen would conduct a mission behind enemy lines to kill or capture an enemy Canadian Indian tribal partisan leader named Captain Joseph St Valier Mailloux. Riley and his dozen riflemen infiltrated Odeltown in Canada silently. There was an enemy sentry. One of the American riflemen crept on the sentry and silently killed him with his tomahawk. Riley and his men hid the dead sentry's body. One of the American riflemen put on the dead sentry's uniform to trick captain Mailloux into a false sense of security when he came in to check on the sentry. The American rifleman disguised as the sentry stood guard while Riley and his other riflemen concealed themselves behind the bushes. Captain Mailloux came by and came closer to the sentry imposter to check up on him. Then Riley and his riflemen rose out of their concealment and demanded captain Mailloux to surrender. Captain Mailloux ran away. Riley's riflemen fired eleven shots hitting Mailloux eleven times. Mailloux was badly wounded. Riley and his riflemen carried Mailloux back to American lines in Chamberlain. The Americans tried to nurse Mailloux back to health, but Mailloux succumbed to his wounds and passed away.<ref>"The Insolent Enemy" by DE Butters Pages.181-184.</ref><ref>"Guidebook to the Historic Sites of the War of 1812: 2nd Edition, Revised and Updated" by Gilbert Collins Pages.234.</ref>

==Military operations against the Arikara Indians==
The officer joined his superior, Colonel [[Henry Leavenworth]], in an [[Arikara War|engagement against]] the [[Arikara]] Indians in August 1823. Riley was honored for ten years of faithful service by being promoted to [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Major (United States)|major]] on 6 August 1828, leading the first military escort along the [[Santa Fe Trail]] in 1829.<ref name=Davis/><ref>Otis E. Young, Philip St. George Cooke, ''The First Military Escort on the Santa Fe Trail, 1829: From the Journal and Reports of Major Bennet Riley and Lieutenant Philip St. George Cooke'', A. H. Clark Company, 1952.</ref> Among those he escorted were [[Charles Bent]], future first territorial Governor of [[New Mexico]] during the later [[Mexican-American War]].<ref name= BENT>{{cite web |url= https://archive.org/details/bentfamilyinamer00bent/page/n137/mode/2up |title=The Bent Family In America|publisher= D. Clapp & Son (1900)|access-date=24 May 2023}}</ref>

==Seminole Wars==
He had tenures as major in the [[4th Infantry Regiment (United States)|4th U.S. Infantry]] (1837) and [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]], [[2nd Infantry Regiment (United States)|2nd U.S. Infantry]], beginning in December 1839.<ref name=Davis /> The [[Battle of Chokachotta]] in Florida took place on 2 June 1840. Colonel Riley was cited for bravery and good conduct during this engagement in the [[Seminole Wars]]. He gained the rank of Brevet [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] in February 1844.<ref name=Davis/><ref name=Obit/>

==Mexican-American War==
During the [[Mexican–American War]], as colonel of the 2nd U.S. Infantry, Riley fought at the [[Siege of Veracruz]] and the [[Battle of Cerro Gordo]], where he was cited for bravery.<ref name=Davis/> He was brevetted [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] and assumed command of the 2nd Brigade in [[David E. Twiggs]]'s Second Division. He led his brigade at the [[Battle of Contreras]] and the [[Battle of Churubusco]], where [[Winfield Scott]] gave him credit for the U.S. victory: Riley had discovered a way around the rear of Velencia's position.<ref>Philip F. Rose, ''Mexico Redux'', iUniverse, Sep 21, 2012 9781475943313 pp. 204–205.</ref> He was appointed brevet [[Major general (United States)|major general]] and fought at the [[Battle of Chapultepec|Chapultepec]]. After the battle at Churubusco, he also presided over the courts-martial of 72 deserters of the so-called [[Saint Patrick's Battalion]] discovered hiding in the [[San Patricios]] convent; among them were [[John Murphy (Saint Patrick's Battalion)|John Murphy]] and [[John Riley (soldier)|John Riley]].<ref>Tucker, in Bielakowski.</ref> He was generally considered one of the ablest brigade commanders in the army during the war with Mexico.<ref name=Davis/><ref name=Obit/>

==Role in California statehood==
After the war with Mexico, Riley served a brief stint at [[Fort Hamilton]], in [[Brooklyn]], New York, in 1848.<ref>National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Returns from U.S. Military Posts, 1800-1916; Microfilm Serial: M617; Microfilm Roll: 442, Fort Hamilton, October 1848. Accessed 3 November 2015. {{Subscription required}}</ref> In the years 1849 and 1850, General Riley commanded the Military Department in Upper [[California]] and exercised the duties of Provincial Governor: the inaction of Congress in deciding the issue of California statehood complicated his service.<ref>Anthony Quinn. ''The Rivals: William Gwin, David Broderick, and the Birth of California''. U of Nebraska Press, 1997 pp. 22–24. 9780803288515</ref> He relieved Bvt. Gen. [[Persifor Frazer Smith]] on 13 April 1849, as the [[Gold Rush]] worked into its most violent phase. In addition to the influx of prospectors seeking their fortunes, daily desertions of his own men rapidly depleted his troops. At the height of the Gold Rush, he had eight companies of infantry, two artillery, and two dragoons stretched between San Diego and San Francisco. When Congress refused to act on the statehood of California and New Mexico, he called for the election of civil officers to a ''de facto'' government. Consequently, the military authorities could not prevent the slaughter of California's native population, nor could they suppress the violence in the lawless gold camps. He relinquished all his civil power on 20 December 1849.<ref>Ball, pp. 12–15.</ref> Whie governor, Riley had tasked Lieutenant [[Edward Ord]] with creating the first map of [[Los Angeles]] in preparation for statehood.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Creason|first=Glen|authorlink=Glen Creason|title=Cartographers Seen and Unseen|date=2021|journal=Southern California Quarterly|volume=103|issue=4|pages=363-397|jstor=27098870}}</ref>

After his administrative service concluded on the Pacific, Riley was ordered to take command of a regiment on the [[Rio Grande]]. However ill-health prevented further service on his part. He returned to his home in Black Rock, near [[Buffalo, New York]], where he died of cancer.<ref name=Davis /> General Riley died on Thursday evening, 09 June 1853, survived by his wife Arabella (who died on 12 February 1894) and four children.<ref name=Obit/><ref>The surviving family is listed in the 1855 State Census for Buffalo City, Ward 11, Erie, New York, USA, household [http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=General-7181&indiv=try&h=1654965617 586]. Census of the state of New York, for 1855. Microfilm. New York State Archives, Albany, New York. Accessed 3 November 2015. {{subscription required}}</ref> Riley is buried at [[Forest Lawn Cemetery (Buffalo, New York)|Forest Lawn Cemetery]], Buffalo.<ref name=Obit />

==Legacy==
On 27 June 1853, Camp Center (Kansas Territory) was named [[Fort Riley]] in Bennet Riley's honor, even though he never served at the fort, and it was a cavalry post, while Riley's career was that of an infantryman. [[Riley County, Kansas]] is also named in his honor.<ref>{{cite book|last=Beatty|first=Michael A.|title=County Name Origins of the United States|publisher=McFarland|date=2001|isbn=9780786410255|page=140, #937: Riley County|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3l1AAAAMAAJ}}</ref>

==Notes and citations==

===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1853/06/11/75126752.pdf ''New York Times'': "General Riley"], June 11, 1853, obituary
* [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf009n97w5/ Guide to the Bennet Riley Papers] at [[The Bancroft Library]]
* [http://missiontour.org/related/militarygov.htm Short bios of all California military governors]

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{{s-off}}
{{succession box
| title=[[List of pre-statehood governors of California|Military Governor of California]]
| before=[[Persifor Frazer Smith]]
| after=[[Governor of California]]<br />[[Peter Hardeman Burnett]]
| years=April 12, 1849 – December 20, 1849
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Governors of California}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Bennet C.}}
[[Category:United States military governors of California]]
[[Category:American military personnel of the Mexican–American War]]
[[Category:American people of the Seminole Wars]]
[[Category:United States Army colonels]]
[[Category:1787 births]]
[[Category:1853 deaths]]
[[Category:People from St. Mary's County, Maryland]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Maryland]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Buffalo)]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in New York (state)]]
[[Category:19th-century American politicians]]