Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/866

BENNIGSEN. army, and besieged Hamburg. Failing health made hira retire from the Russian service in 1818 to his paternal estate in Hanover. BENNIGSEN, RtrooLF von (182.5-1902). A German statesman. He was born at Liineburg, Hanover, and at an early stage became prominent and influential in the political life of his native land. After the annexation of Hanover to Prussia in 1866, he was elected to the North German l)iet and the Prussian Assembly and became vice-president of both bodies. In 1871 he was elected to the German Reichstag, where he rose to great prominence as the leader of the National Liberal Party. He was equally conspicuous in the Prussian Assembly, over 'hich he presided from 187S-79. He was for years a warm supporter of Bismarck, but after 1878 opposed the laws against the Socialists and equally the economic policy of the Government. After the more liberal wing of the National Liberals seceded (1880), Bennigsen continued to lead the party on a more conservative basis. He resigned his mandate in the Prussian Assembly and the Reichstag in 1883, but reentered politics in 1887. and once more became the leader of the National Liberal Party, thenceforth generally in accord with the Government. He became President of the Province of Hanover in 1888, but resigned his position in 1898. BEN'NINGTON. A village and the coimtyseat of Bennington County, Vermont, 37 miles northeast of Troy, N. Y.; on the Rutland and the Lebanon Springs railroads (Map: Vermont, B 10). It is noted as a manufacturing centre, producing extensively knit goods, woolens, hosiery, machinery, needles, shirts, collars, cuffs, etc. Bennington is the seat of a State Soldiers' Home. The government, under a charter of 1885, is administered by a village president and a board of trustees, chosen at to^^l meetings, which are convened annually, and at special times on call. Settled in 1761, and named in honor of Governor Penning Wentworth of New Hampshire, Bennington was for many years—before the recognition of Vermont as a State—claimed both by New York and New Hampshire. It was the home of Scth Warner and Ethan Allen, and on August 16, 1777, was the scene of the battle of Bennington (q.v. ). A battle monument over 300 feet high, commemorative of this event, has been erected in Bennington Centre. Population, in 1890, 3971; in 1900, 5656. Consult Merrill and Merrill, Sketches of Historic Beninngton (Cambridge, 1898). BENNINGTON, Battle of. A battle fought on August 16, 1777, during the American Revolution, between a force of Hessians, British, Loyalists, and Indians, under Colonel Baum, and a superior force of New Hampshire militia, under General Stark. On the 13tli, BurgoTOc had sent Baiun with a detachment of 700 ( including 150 Indians) to capture the depot of su])plies at Bennington, and on the 15th had sent Colonel Breyman with a reinforcement of 640 Hessians. Baum was attacked at 3 p.m. on the 16th by Stark, at the head of about 2000 militia, and before the arrival of Breyman nearly liis whole force had been killed, wounded, or captured, he himself being mortally wounded early in the engagement. Stark, reinforced by 500 men inider Seth 'arner ( q.v. ), then turned upon Breyman, and by nightfall had almost annihilated his army. The British loss is estimated at 207 killed and TOOcaptured (including the wounded); the American at 40 killed and 42 wounded. The victory greatly weakened Burgoyne by withdrawing almost a seventh of his effective force, and by causing the desertion of a large body of Indian.s and Canadians, while it greatly strengthened the Americans, particularly by causing the enlistment of large bodies of militia for service under General Gates. (See Sar.toga. Battles OF.) Consult: Tyler, Bcntiiitfiloii. the Battle (Worcester. 1878); and Carrington, Batlhs of the American Revolution (New York, 1877). BEN'NO, Saint (1010-1107). Bishop of Meissen. He was a son of the Count of Woldenberg, and became Bishop of Meissen in 1066. His vacillating policy during the conflict between the Emjieror Hcniy VI. and Pope Gregory VII. led to his frequent imprisonment. He was deposed in 1085 by the Sj'nod at Mainz, but was reinstated two years afterwards through the mediation of Pope Clement III., and thenceforth devoted himself solely to his clerical duties and to the conversion of the Wends. He was placed among the saints by Pope Adrian VI. in 1523. Luther attacked him in the writing entitled. Wider den alien Teufel der zu Meiasen soil erhohen werden., and at the beginning of the Reformation his body was disinterred, but finally found a resting-place at Munich in 1576, which city had chosen Benno as its patron saint. BENOIT, be-mvii', Pierke L^ionard Leopold (1834-1901). A Flemish composer. He was born at Harlebeke, Belgium, and studied with Fetis at the Brussels Conser'atory (1851-55), and afterwards at Leipzig, Dresden, Munich, and Berlin. In 1S62 he conducted the orchestra at the BoulTes Parisiens, Paris, and in 1867 he received an appointment as director of the Conservatory at Antwerp. He was the most active promoter of a strictly national school of music for Belgium. His important compositions inchide Het Dorp in't Oebergte, comic opera (1856); Isa, opera (1867); De Oorlog (War), oratorio (1873); music to Charlotte Gorday, a historical drama, by Ernest van der Ven ( 1876). He was also a voluminous and influential writer on musical subjects. BENOIT DE SAINTE-MORE, be-nwii' Ae sant' mor', or DE SAINTE-MAURE (Twelfth Century), A French troubadour, born in the little village of Sainte-ilaure, in Touraine, He was attached to the court of Henry II, of England (1154-80), and in 1160 composed, at the request of Queen Eleanor, the Roman de Troie, 2 vols, (Paris, 1869-71). His Chronique des dues de Normandie, 3 vols. (1837-42), composed about 1180 (probably at the request of Henry II, ), and consisting of about 45,000 octosyllabic verses, strongly eulogizes the Plantaganet dynasty. Benoit's other works include Le Roman d'Encas, a continuation of the Roman de Troie. BENOITON, be-nwil'toN', La Famille (Fr., the lienoiton family). The title of a comedy by Sardou (1865). Madame Benolton has become proverbial for a woman who neglects her home. BENOUVILLE, be-noo'vel', Jean Achille (1815-91). A French landscape painter. He was liorn in Paris, and was a puj)!! of Picot. He received the Grand prix de Rome in 1845 for his