Benjamin Lyons Farinholt, student 1855-1856

Farinhold enlisted  as 2nd lieutenant in Co. E of the 53rd VA Infantry on July 8, 1861. On April 22, 1862, he left the company on advice of the surgeon due to an unknown illness, returning in May. He was injured on June 25, 1862 by a falling tree limb, fracturing several ribs In the early fall of 1862, he was absent for some weeks due to illness, and was then detailed to enroll conscripts in New Kent County, VA. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on September 30, 1862 and to captain on March 5, 1863. Farinholt was taken prisoner on July 3, 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg and sent first to the prison at Fort McHenry, MD, then transferred to the prison camp at Fort Delaware, DE, and finally sent on July 18, 1863 to the prison camp at Johnson's Island, OH, arriving there on July 20, 1863. He escaped from the prison camp on February 22, 1864, making his way back to Virginia, and had rejoined the army by May 1864.  He was dispatched with 296 reservists to defend a bridge over the Staunton River. Farinholt is best known for leading a small group of 938 men and boys, mostly his reservists and local residents with only 150 regular troops,  in the Battle of Staunton River Bridge on June 25, 1864, holding off an attack of over 5000 Union soldiers until Confederate forces could arrive. The successful defense of this bridge ensured the safety of the Richmond and Danville Railroad, an important supply line for the defense of Petersburg and Richmond. This battle has been called the "battle of old men and young boys." Farinholt was promoted to lieutenant colonel of reserve forces on July 18, 1864 and to colonel on August 12, 1864, in command of the 1st Regiment VA Reserves.

In 1870, he was a dry goods and grocery merchant in Essex County VA and in 1880 he is listed as a "country merchant." By 1900, he was a glass merchant in Baltimore, MD. He had relocated to West Point, Virginia and was an insurance agent. in 1910. Farinholt died December 24, 1919 and is buried in Sunny Slope Cemetery in West Point, King William County, VA.