Benjamin Franklin Turpin was a
member of an Indiana Pioneer family that goes back to the Jamestown Colony in
the Virginia Tidewater. The Turpin’s mingled and intermarried with the likes of
the Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Branch, and Randolph families of Virginia. The Turpin’s were
among the first pioneers
to start the westward movement with Daniel Boone into Kentucky and finally settling in
SW Indiana. The Turpin’s were mainly farmers
and harden abolitionist Wigs. Franklin was among the first
Republicans in Gibson County
supporting the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. In early 1861 Ben Franklin
Turpin joined Co. F of the 33rd Indiana Vol. Infantry and served
throughout the Civil War. He was captured at Thompson’s Station, Tenn. March 1863 along with most of the 33rd
Indiana.
Franklin was paroled and later
exchanged from Libby Prison, Richmond, VA
May17, 1863. After a short furlough Ben Franklin Turpin rejoined Company F
33rd Indiana Vol. Infantry and participated in several battles and
skirmishes in Tenn. leading up to the Battle of Lookout Mt.
Following the battle of Lookout
Mt., the 33rd Ind. participated in the campaign in North Georgia and the
battle of Atlanta. Following Atlanta, the 33rd Ind. along with the other Regiments of Coburn’s
Brigade participated in Sherman’s March to the Sea, the
capture of Savannah,
GA and subsequent march through the Carolinas
to Virginia that ended of
the Civil War. Ben Franklin Turpin was discharged August 6, 1865 and returned
to his home in Gibson County. Through four yeas of war Ben
Franklin Turpin suffered many hardships, including three times wounded in
combat, captured twice by Confederate forces, imprisoned and exchanged, while
suffering from many of the diseases that plagued soldiers of the Civil War. I am
fortunate to have a photo of my great grand father taken at a reunion with
comrades of the 33rd Ind. circa 1920.
Contributed 24 Feb 2011 by: Dewayne W.Cargill, 1Sgt. USMC
Ret.
Note: A longer biography can be found on pp. 530-533 of Stormont's History of Gibson County.