Benjamin Hardin Helm (June 2, 1831 – September 21, 1863)[2] was an American politician, attorney, and Confederate brigadier general.

He served at a cavalry school at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and at Fort Lincoln, Texas, but resigned his commission after a year, when he was diagnosed with inflammatory rheumatism.

[10] Kentucky remained officially neutral during the American Civil War, but his brother-in-law, now President Abraham Lincoln, offered him the position of paymaster of the Union Army.

[11] Helm was commissioned a colonel on October 19, 1861, and served under Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

[11] Near the end of the spring of 1863, Breckinridge ordered Helm to deploy the brigade to Vicksburg, Mississippi to participate in General Joseph E. Johnston's unsuccessful attempt to break the siege.

[16] General Cleburne's division, which was intended to strike near the center of the line, was delayed by heavy fire from Union soldiers, leaving the left flank unguarded.

[21] Mary Lincoln's niece recalled: "She knew that a single tear shed for a dead enemy would bring torrents of scorn and bitter abuse on both her husband and herself.

"[22] However, the widowed Emilie Todd Helm was granted safe passage to the White House in December 1863.

[23] In an official report of the Battle of Chickamauga, General Daniel Harvey Hill stated that Benjamin Helm's "gallantry and loveliness of character endeared him to everyone.

"[21] In a letter to Emilie Todd Helm, General Breckinridge said, "Your husband commanded them [the men of the Orphan brigade] like a thorough soldier.