Born in Clinton, Connecticut March 6th, 1820, Horatio Wright graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1842, second in his class, remaining two years as Assistant Professor of Engineering at West Point.
He was appointed a Brigadier General of Volunteers in September 1861, and Major General of Volunteers in July 1862. During the Civil War, he served as Chief engineer of Heintzelman’s Division at the Battle of Bull Run, and in the Port Royal expedition he commanded a Brigade. In February 1862, he was in the expedition that captured Fernandina, Florida, and commanded a Division in the attack on Secessionville, South Carolina in June 1862. In July he was assigned to the Department of Ohio, and commanded the 1st Division, VI Corps, in the Army of the Potomac during the Battle of Gettysburg.
After General Sedgwick’s death, he was elevated to commander of the VI Corps which he led in the Richmond Campaign until July 1864, when he was sent to the defense of the national capital, and afterwards, in August to December he was engaged in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Wright commanded the VI Corps again during Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley campaign from August 6 to October 16, 1864. Wright developed the battle plan and directed fighting at Cedar Creek on October 19 before General Sheridan’s arrival from Winchester, VA. He was wounded in the battle of Cedar Creek and was in the final military operations which ended with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee.
On April 2, 1865, during the Siege of Petersburg, the VI Corps was the first unit to break through the Confederate defenses. Subsequently, operating under the command of Sheridan, it defeated Confederate forces at Sayler’s Creek on April 6, 1865, resulting in the capture of a large number of Confederate soldiers, including Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell. For Wright’s actions at Petersburg he was promoted to a brevet major general in the regular army.
After the Civil War, he was military governor of Texas until 1866 when he resumed his practice of civil engineering.
In March 1865 he was promoted to Brigadier General and Chief of Engineering June 30, 1879, and retired March 6, 1884. He died at Washington, D.C. July 2, 1899 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
During his career he undertook numerous military engineering tasks. He completed the Washington Monument, which had been halted because of the Civil War. The obelisk marking his grave at Arlington National Cemetery was erected by survivors of the VI Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, which he commanded from the Battle of Spotsylavnia in May 1864 to the end of the war.
Rob Bennsky
Major General General Horatio Gouverneur Wright is portrayed by Rob Bennsky. Rob was born August 18th, 1961 in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Winchester, VA. Since early childhood, Rob has always had an interest in the American Civil War. At age 18, Rob joined the now defunct “Blue and Gray Association”, a reenactment group of Union and Confederate reenactors based throughout Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
At age 19, Rob joined the Central Intelligence Agency, working in Security, Applications Development, Computer Information Technology, Project Management, and Contracts Management. After a rewarding 35 year career with the CIA, Rob retired at the end of 2016.
In 2023, Rob joined the North-South Skirmish Association (N-SSA), based at Fort Shenandoah in Winchester, Va. The N-SSA is a competitive black powder shooting organization and was formed in 1950 to commemorate the heroism of the men, of both sides, who fought in the American Civil War. The N-SSA promotes the safe and competitive shooting of Civil War firearms and artillery while wearing Civil War uniforms. There are currently over 3,500 members (form New York to Florida) composing over 200 units (teams). An N-SSA unit must represent an actual unit that existed during the Civil War, so you’ll see units from all over the Union and Confederacy, competing in a friendly and family oriented atmosphere. Rob shoots with the Jeff Davis Team.
The Jeff Davis Legion was organized as the 2d Battalion, Mississippi Cavalry, consisting of five companies on October 24, 1861, at Camp Cooper, Virginia. Company A, from Mississippi, was mustered for the war. Companies B and C, from Mississippi, were mustered for 12 months. Company D, from Alabama, was mustered for 12 months and Company E, from Alabama, mustered for the war.
Joining the N-SSA reignited the re-enactor in Rob and as a result he reenacted in his first reenactment in over 40 years, at the reenactment of The Battle of Cedar Creek.
Coming back to reenacting and joining the N-SSA, Rob also became interested in Civil War Living History and accepted an invitation from a member of the Confederation of Union Generals (COUG) to join the organization. Rob chose General General Horatio Gouverneur Wright to portray because of Wright’s connection with Rob’s home area of the Shenandoah Valley and Winchester, VA.
Rob resides in Winchester, VA. With his wife Denise and their two spoiled kitties, Kelly and Maximus.