Stephen Vincent Benét was born in St. Augustine, Florida, on 22 January 1827, the son of a prominent political figure of Spanish descent.

[2] During the 1850s, Benét served in a variety of posts at Watervliet, Frankford, and St. Louis Arsenals, and also taught geography, history, ethics and law at the Military Academy.

In May 1865, Benét was awarded brevets of major and lieutenant colonel for faithful and meritorious service as an ordnance officer during the Civil War.

[4] When the Dyer Court of Inquiry was convened in 1868, Benét, by then a major, was assigned the task of serving as an expert witness in defense of his chief.

General Benét was also credited with having successfully pressed for retention of the Arsenal system despite determined efforts by private industry to take over all weapons production.