Lt. Ben Birdwell served in the Civil War In September, 1861, he enlisted in Co. E, 28th Tennessee Infantry CSA under Col. John P. Murry. He participated in the following battles:Fishing Creek, Shiloah (sic), Missionary Ridge, and in all the battles on the retreat on Atlanta. After the fall of Atlanta, he returned to Tennessee with Gen. Hood and was in the fight at Franklin where he lost his right arm and was captured and sent as a prisoner of war to Camp Chase where he remained until the close of the war." Served from 1861-1865. The loss of the arm did not keep him from any task except that of tying his shoelaces. Following the war, he served two terms as County Court Clerk of Jackson County.
The following obituary appeared in the Jackson County Sentinel: "Benjamin F. Birdwell was born October 6, 1841, on Flynn's Creek, Jackson Co., Tennessee, where he resided until his death, which occured at his late residence near Clenny, Tennessee (where Rush Fork runs into Flynn's Creek) on the 19th of March, except a period of seven years during his boyhood which he spent in Missouri." "In September, 1861, he enlisted in Co. E, 28th Tennessee Infantry CSA under Col. John P. Murry. He participated in the following battles: Fishing Creek, Shiloah (sic), Missionary Ridge, and in all the battles on the retreat on Atlanta. After the fall of Atlanta, he returned to Tennessee with Gen. Hood and was in the fight at Franklin whre he lost his right arm and was captured and sent as a prisoner of war to Camp Chase where he remained until the close of the war." "He returned home...May, 1865. In November (1865)...he married Aletha Billingsley. She lived a few short years and after her death he married Miss Adlissia Wheeler who survived him only a few short weeks...He became a member of the Christian Church in 1861...He was a charter member of S.S. Stanton Bivouac UAC at Gainesboro and remained an honored member beloved and respected...by all who knew him until he was summoned by the Great Captain to answer the last roll call on Earth and to enlist in the Army of the Redeemed on High"
Served in U.T. Brown's Co."E"28th Tenn. Vol. Infantry, CSA