User:Sbennett31/James Augustus Bennett

James Augustus Bennett was born in East Avon, New York on January 8, 1831. He was about 5ft 8in tall, had a fair complexion, blue eyes, and brown hair. At an early age, he enlisted in military service and spent eight years serving as a Dragoon in New Mexico. Simultaneously he penned journals that would later become his book, Forts and Forays: A Dragoon in New Mexico 1850-1856, detailing his experience. After being discharged in 1858, Bennett spent his life pursuing a career in the medical field. He also in the years following his military service, married and fathered a child several years before his eventual death on January 14, 1909.

Early Life
James Augustus Bennett was born in East Avon, New York on January 8, 1831 to Augustus A. Bennett and Maria Pierson Bennett. At age eight, James' father, Augustus, was robbed and murdered, prompting his mother Maria to move herself and her six children to Rochester, New York. Entering adulthood, Bennett worked as a farmer before enlisting in the military in his early twenties.

Military
On November 22, 1849, James A. Bennett enlisted in the United States Military as a private after meeting a soldier in Rochester, New York. This soldier told Bennett about the benefits associated with military service and the prospect of getting sent West to California, the 'land of gold', resulting in Bennett's prompt enlistment for five years of service under the alias of James A. Bronson.

Bennett spent his training at Governor's Island, New York, from December 1849 to July 1850. While there he practiced drills, played fife and drums, and stood guard as a sentinel. Then on July 2, 1850, Bennett was assigned to the 1st company Dragoons in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In New Mexico, Bennett served for a total of eight years. Here he acted as a member of the Company I 1st Dragoons, a horse-mounted unit, going on numerous scouting missions, building forts, and dealing with Native American relations. Bennett's involvement in scouting as a Dragoon led him to befriend and work alongside renowned military scout Kit Carson. In 1854, Bennett started experiencing medical issues when he was shot in the legs and a supperating tract developed in his right leg, for which he had to receive an operation. He came very close to completely losing the leg at this time, however managed to recover enough to keep it. Later that year, on November 21, under the alias James A. Bronson, Bennett was discharged from the Company I 1st Dragoons and on December 15, he re-enlisted under the alias James H. Bronson to the Company G 1st Dragoons. There he continued to conduct similar business to what he did in the previous company. His last documented actions for his bout of military service in New Mexico is his hospitalization due to sickness and persisting injury in July of 1856. It is, however, known that Bennett did continue to serve in some capacity until discharged in 1858.

In addition to his military duties, during six of those eight years served, Bennett penned a series of memoir-like journals of his experiences in the service. These journals would eventually be published as a book in 1948, nearly one-hundred years after they were written.

Alias'
James Augustus Bennett used various alias' throughout his military career. It is shown through his published journal, Forts and Forays: A Dragoon in New Mexico 1850-1856, that his family, as told by his daughter, believes his alias to be James S. Bronson. However, according to Muster Rolls, Bennett first enlisted in 1849, under the alias of James A. Bronson, just altering his last name. Then once his five-year contract was up in 1854, Bennett re-enlisted under the alias James H. Bronson, keeping the altered last name but this time also altering the middle initial as well.

Author
While serving as a Dragoon in New Mexico, Bennett kept a journal of his experiences. That journal would later be published in 1948, by his daughter Elizabeth Warfield Bennett in collaboration with Clinton E. Brooks and Frank D. Reeve as editors. The publisher was the University of New Mexico Press in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the work was published under the title, Forts and Forays: a Dragoon in New Mexico 1850-1856 by Dr. James A. Bennett.

It is said that Bennett reviewed his original journal and transcribed his notes after years had passed and then took the originals and burned them, leaving only the transcribed manuscript for the later publication of the journal. The journal does not cover all eight years Bennett spent with the 1st Dragoons in New Mexico, instead they span just six years from 1850-1856, as Bennett was hospitalized and unable to write for the last two years of his service. The content of the journal is fairly detailed and varied, citing aspects of life from more trivial things like what Bennett ate for dinner to other more serious things such as treaty negotiations between the Dragoons and various Native American tribes.

The book, originally published through the University of New Mexico Press in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is no longer in print. However, in 2017-18 the publisher Papamoa Press published the book digitally, and it remains available for purchase in a digital medium.

Medicine
According to Bennett's daughter Elizabeth Warfield Bennett, after being discharged from his military service in 1858, Bennett journeyed into Mexico where he spent a number of years making a living as a practical doctor and trader, as an attempt to accumulate wealth before returning to live in the United States. However, as Bennett was making his way back to the United States, his wagon train was attacked by Comanches, who destroyed and/or took all of his belongings. Bennett was the only survivor of this raid by the Comanches, and without money, weaponry, or any mode of transportation Bennett had to walk the rest of his journey back to the United States. Eventually he made it to Texas, where he was able to borrow money for a train to Lima, New York.

Once in Lima, Bennett took up the study of medicine under his brother, Dr. George Bennett, and just before the Civil War begun, Bennett completed his medical studies at the University of the City of New York.

Having recently graduated in medical studies as the Civil War begun, Bennett re-enlisted in military service. Though, this time Bennett served as a doctor, Assistant Surgeon, in the New York Artillery Regiments.

Bennett went on to practice as a medical doctor in Prattsburgh, New York.

Eventually, Bennett even entered into the drugstore business with his brother-in-law, Myron Frank Warfield. At this time he was also apart of a fraternal order and played a prominent role in civil affairs.

Personal Life
James Augustus Bennett married Rowena M. Warfield on September 19, 1860. The two were married for twenty-nine years, until the death of Mrs. Bennett on December 19, 1889. The pair had one child together, a daughter, named Elizabeth (Lizzie) Warfield Bennett in 1864.

Legacy
James Augustus Bennett died on January 14, 1909 at age 78. Though his life has been largely undocumented, through his authorship, he lives on. Bennett's account gives a detailed first-person perspective of life as a military official in the American West. Providing insight into not only military life and procedure, but the challenges of life on the western frontier in mid-nineteenth century America. Effectively broadening the scope of knowledge, questioning, understanding, and overall reverence held amongst scholars and the general public alike for life on America's western frontier.