The (somewhat) Complete Text of "Benny Havens, Oh"
If you're truly still liftin' a pint to your lips after singing every verse, I truly Salute you! (The first few lines are aligned....but the rest is up to you) Come fill your glasses, fellows, and stand up in a row, (Come, tune your voices, comrades, and stand up in a row,) To singing sentimentally, we're going for to go, In the army there's sobriety, promotion's very slow, So we'll sing our reminiscences of Benny Havens, oh! Chorus: Oh, Benny Havens, oh! Oh, Benny Havens, oh! So we'll sing our reminiscences of Benny Havens, oh! Let us toast our foster-father, the Republic, as you know, Who in the paths of science taught us upward for to go; And the maidens of our native land, whose cheeks like roses glow, They're oft remembered in our cups, at Benny Havens, oh! Of the lovely maids, with virgin lips, like roses dipped in dew, (Of the smile-wreathed maids whose virgin lips like roses dipped with dew,) Who are to be our better halves, we'd like to take a view. (Who are to be our better halves, we'd like a better view.) But sufficient to the bridal day is the ill of it, you know, So we'll cheer our hearts with chorusing at Benny Havens, oh! To the ladies of our Army our cups shall ever flow, Companions of our exile, and our shield 'gainst every woe; May they see their husbands Generals, with double pay, also, And join us in our choruses at Benny Havens, oh! 'Tis said by commentators, when to other worlds we go, We follow the same handicraft we did in this below; If this be true philosophy - the sexton he says "No" - What days of song and dance we'll have at Benny Havens, oh! To our regiments, now fellows, we all must shortly go, We must cultivate the graces, do everything "just so" And look as sage as parsons when they talk of what's below; And never speak to ears polite of Benny Havens, oh! To the ladies of the orange clime, let all our bumpers flow; Who dares gainsay their peerless charms must take a knightly blow. We'll throw the gauntlet in their cause and taunt the soulless foe Who hesitates to drink to them at Benny Havens, oh! To the ladies of the Empire state, whose hearts and albums too, Bear sad remembrance of the wrongs we stripling soldiers do, We bid a fond adieu, my boys; our hearts with sorrow flow; (We bid a fond adieu, boys; best recompense we know;) Our loves and rhyming had their source at Benny Havens, oh! And when in academic halls, to summer hops we go, And thread the mazes of the dance on the light fantastic toe, We look into those sunny eyes, where youth and pleasure glow, And think ourselves within the walls of Benny Havens, oh! 'Tis a proverb that "Republics to their veterans thankless grow," And to a youth of service oft awards an age of woe; (That a youth of gallant services brings but an age of woe;) But if a lowly station most honor doth bestow (So if a civil station most honor doth bestow) Give me the one now occupied by Benny Havens, oh! Let us remember, comrades, when to our posts we go, (Let's remember, gallant comrades, as to our posts we go,) The ties that must be cut in twain, as o'er life's sea we row, Hearts that now throb in unison must moulder down below, So let us take a parting cup at Benny Havens, oh! You veterans on the "half pay list" in quiet ease should go, And suffer no subalterns up a grade or two to row, Award each State a regiment of Regulars, you know - Their officers are chosen ones from Benny Havens, oh! May we never lack a smile for friend, nor sternest heart for foe; May all our paths be pleasantness wherever we may go; May our "Muster-rolls" in after years report in status quo, And goodly samples ever bring from Benny Havens, oh!May the Army be augmented, promotion be less slow; May our country in the hour of need be ready for the foe; May we find a soldier's resting-place beneath a soldier's blow, With space enough beside our graves for Benny Havens, oh! |
And if amid the battle's shock our banner e'er should trail, And hearts that beat beneath its folds shall faint or basely fail, (And hearts that beat beneath its folds should turn or basely quail,) Then may some son of Benny's with quick avenging blow, Lift up the flag we loved so well at Benny Havens, oh! From the courts of death and danger, from Tampa's deadly shore, There comes a wail of manly grief, "O'Brien is no more", In the land of sun and flowers his head lies pillowed low, No more he'll sing "Petite Coquette" or "Benny Havens, oh!" When you, and I, and Benny, and General Jackson, too, (When you and I and Benny, and all the others, too,) Are called before the "final board" our course of life to view, May we never "fess" on any point, but straight be told to go (May we never "fess" on any point but "coldly max it throught,") And join the Army of the Blest with Benny Havens, oh!
Come fill up to our Generals, God bless the brave heroes, They're an honor to their country, and a terror to their foes; May they long rest on their laurels and troubles never know, But live to see a thousand years at Benny Havens, oh! Here's a health to General Taylor, whose "rough and ready" blow (To General Taylor's memory, whose rough and ready blow) Struck terror to the rancheros of braggart Mexico; May his country ne'er forget his deeds and ne'er forget to show She holds him worthy of a place at Benny Havens, oh! To the "veni, vidi, vici" man, Scott, the great hero, Fill up the goblet to the brim, let no one shrinking go; May life's cares on his honored head fall light as flakes of snow, And his fair fame be ever great at Benny Havens, oh! To our comrades who have fallen, one cup before we go, They poured their life-blood freely out pro bono publico; No marble points the stranger to where they rest below, They lie neglected far away from Benny Havens, oh! Now Roe's Hotel's a perfect "fess", and Cozzen's all the go, And officers as thick as hops infest "The Falls" below; But we'll slip them all so quietly, as once a week we go To toast the lovely flower that blooms at Benny Havens, oh! To the Army's brave commanders let now our glasses flow We'll drink to Grant and Sherman and to the "subs" also, To Thomas, Meade and Sheridan (these come in a propos), We'll toast them all with goblets full at Benny Havens, oh! (Who hesitates to drink to them at Benny Havens, oh!) To our kind old Alma Mater, our rock-bound Highland home, We'll cast back many a fond regret, as o'er life's sea we roam, Until on our last battlefield the lights of Heaven shall glow, We'll never fail to drink to her and Benny Havens, oh! Another star has faded, we miss its brilliant glow, For the veteran Scott has ceased to be a soldier here below; And the country which he honored now feels a heartfelt woe, As we toast his name in reverence at Benny Havens, oh! When this life's troubled sea is o'er, and our last battle's through, If God permits us mortals then His blest domain to view, Then shall we see with glory crowned, in proud celestial row, The friends we've known and loved so well at Benny Havens, oh! Here's a cup to brave McKinney, and all who like him die, Their souls upon the battle smoke ascend the upper sky; May the angels there attend him and show him where to go And join his comrades gone before, with Benny Havens, oh! In silence lift your glasses: a meteor flashes out, So swift to death, brave Custer, amid the battle's shout. Death called - and crowned, he went to join the friends of long ago, To the land of Peace, where now he dwells with Benny Havens, oh! We drop a tear for Harrington, and his comrades, Custer's braves, Who fell with none to see the deeds that glorified their graves. May their memory live forever, with their glory's present glow; They've nobly earned the right to dwell with Benny Havens, oh! Come, fellows, let us join once more, ere to our homes we go, And give a parting requiem to "Benny Havens, oh!" Our fathers worship'd at his shrine, in days long, long ago, Then why should we, their faithful sons, not love our "Havens, oh". The spirit of the olden gray, with boys, 'tis folly, true; But then it proves "Esprit de Corps" when clothed in Army blue. Then in the path our fathers trod let us not fail to go; If it leads to fame and glory - or to Benny Havens, oh! Their names shall sacred to us be for deeds done long ago; For they are graved with gold and red on azure blue you know; And as on us their mantles fell, our gratitude we'll show, By life remembrances of them and Benny Havens, oh! Genial Barbour, the brave Mudge and Inge, oft went through drifted snow, To have an hour's pleasant chat, and make their spirits flow. Clay, Crittenden and legions more, could never give a NO, When asked to share the friendly cheer of Benny Havens, oh! Did Arngold's flying battery e'er make its aim to low - Did Duncan's ready howitzers e'er fail to reach the foe - Did Canby brave, or Custer bold, e'er dread Modoc or Sioux - Because of dark or moonlight raids on Benny Havens, oh! From Nevada's hoary ridges, from stormy coast of Maine, From the lava beds and Yellowstone the story never waned: Wherever duty called they went, their steps were never slow - With "Alma Mater" on their lips, and Benny Havens, oh! Their blood has watered Western plains and Northern wilds of snow, Has stained Sierra's highest peaks, where piercing winds e'er blow, Has dyed deep red the Everglades, and deeper still, you know, The sacred Montezuma shades and walls of Mexico. But now the soften'd summer winds come whisp'ring to us low, That he of whom we oft have sung, Death's hand lies on his brow. These granite hills surrounding us, by sun all set aglow, May they be guardian angels to our Benny Havens, oh! They may lead no front line regiment to face the blazing steel, But they mold the gallant officers who win the victors' seal; They devote their martial talent to the men who'll stem the foe; And we know their souls will surely rest with Benny Havens, oh!1 Our halls are rich with trophies that have graciously been brought By a nebula of athletes who've graced the fields of sport. May their skill and courage aid them when they face the mortal foe That they may march triumphantly to Benny Havens, oh!1 Every year new sons of West Point join the everlasting Corps To maintain the lofty prestige of the ideals they adore, For each living member wins acclaim wherever he may go; And all at last lie peacefully with Benny Havens, oh!1 To Ripley Arnold, fellows, who rests here by the flow: His shadow lies across this fort when evening sun gets low. If you listen when its very quiet, you may hear his "Forward-Ho!" So we'll sing his reminiscences of Benny Havens, oh!2 Salute the major, fellows, our pride in him we show; In meeting all adversity, straight-arrow he was so. As Duty--Honor--Country helped Fort Worth begin to grow. So we'll sing his reminiscences of Benny Havens, oh! |
Backyard Landmarks: Benny Havens of Highland Falls, New York
By Guest Blogger– October 13, 2011Posted in: The Original Benny Havens, Photo: Highland Falls Town Hall
A World Winder exclusive by Guestblogger Shane Cashman of Future Ancestor.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I combed through a forgotten cemetery beside a trailer park looking for the grave of Benny Havens. Havens was a locally infamous barkeep from the small town of Highland Falls and West Point, New York circa 1830.
On his small faded white headstone is inscribed, “Benny Haven’s, Oh!” The title of the song that service men used to sing in his honor while drinking at his bar and later while marching in and out of the Civil War.
An incarnation of Benny’s old bar still exists on Main Street in Highlands Falls today and a good deal of us from that town have had many a whiskey there. Growing up in West Point has given me the opportunity to drink whiskey with the ghosts of some of the West Point alum who went on to become Civil War Generals and Legends
Even Edgar Allan Poe, before he left the Academy, also frequented the bar in his Cadet days.
Of alcohol, in 1848, Ex-United States Military Academy cadet, Edgar Allan Poe wrote, “I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been a desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some impending doom.”
A young Poe used to frequent a Hudson Valley, NY tavern for drinks during his short career as a cadet. From 1830-1831 his favorite haunt was Benny Havens in Buttermilk Falls, now known as Highland Falls, West Point’s neighboring town. Although Benny Havens is no longer in its original location, which overlooked the Hudson River beneath a concealed cliff, its legend survives only blocks away on Main Street. It was there that Poe was able to try his hand in his “pursuit of pleasure.”
Today the bar, although buzzing with arcade games and jukebox playlists, still maintains the charm of a wood-skeleton saloon that is steeped in legend.
A sign from the original Benny Haven’s hangs in the bar. It reads, “Havens Landing.”
Poe, along with other West Point notables, such as William Tecumseh Sherman and former U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, shared a love for the local bar.
Poe ended his education at West Point just a year after he matriculated, but said that Benny Havens, the tavern keeper, was the “sole congenial soul in the entire Godforsaken place.” Some of American history’s most well known military figures would agree. From George Armstrong Custer to Jefferson Davis to Ulysses S. Grant, all became devout patrons of Benny Haven’s during their respective stays at the Academy.
Benny Havens served as a first lieutenant of the Highland falls company in the War of 1812. For years Benny and his wife, Letitia, operated their tavern, a one-story cottage near the old cadet hospital on the base. They served ale, cider, and other home cooked meals that gathered faithful soldiers and cadets daily. Cadets though were not allowed to partake in the tavern’s revels, as West Point restricted them from drinking anything other than coffee or cider, so when West Point found out that Benny was selling his potent drinks to the young cadets, he and his bar were expelled from Post in 1832, one year after Poe was expelled himself.
At the time Colonel Sylvanius Thayer, the new West Point superintendent banned liquor from the academy. Benny and Letitia Havens would become the only American citizens to be banished from West Point for life.
After he was exiled for serving drinks to cadets, Benny re-located beneath the cliffs of Buttermilk Falls, near the river, just over a mile from the cadet barracks.
No amount of rough terrain, bad weather, or strict rules, kept cadets from their favorite watering hole. Cadets, such as Custer, Poe, and Davis, would routinely risk their lives, or at least their studies, to venture down river, after having snuck off base, to go drink at the popular tavern. The cadets would sneak out of their windows after lights out and either travel through the dense forest rife with cliffs to the bar, or should the dead of winter have proven cold enough, they would have stealthily skated down the Hudson River right to Benny Haven’s.
His home cooked meals were also a favorite attraction for cadets. In Laura Benet’s biography of Edgar Allen Poe, she writes, “Poe was very uneasy about his future and this isolated spot on the Hudson River had no social life…Benny Havens’ chickens soups were famous. The boys carried home many articles under their blue swallow-tail coats.”
Jefferson Davis nearly lost his life five years before Poe came to West Point, because of his fondness of the tavern. Before Davis would become the president of the Confederacy, he used to recount a story, about how he almost died while escaping Benny Haven’s one night. Officers had supposedly busted up one raucous night at the bar when the young Davis was in the pub drinking, against Academy regulation. He tried evading the officers by running along the jagged cliffs in the forest. In the cover of night though he had fallen over one of the cliffs, almost losing his life in an attempt to avoid any reprimand his officers would have sentenced him with.
The bar’s off-limits appeal would eventually make Benny Havens a legacy, and an institution amongst the cadets. So much so that a song, “Benny Haven’s, oh,” was written in honor of it. Lieutenant O’Brien of the Eighth Infantry created “Benny Haven’s, oh,” in 1838 while visiting a friend at West Point
After the song had gained in popularity amongst cadets and soldiers, for years after Lt. O’Brien himself died, each graduating class from West Point would add a verse to the song. It was popularly sung during the Civil War by entire regiments. The song is still sung today by the West Point Glee Club. The first stanza goes:
Come fill your glasses, fellows, and stand up in a row,
To singing sentimentally, we’re going for to go,
In the army there’s sobriety, promotion’s very slow,
So we’ll sing our reminiscences of Benny Havens, oh!
The song would immortalize the man, who was broken hearted for being cast out of West Point, who had since become a friend to many cadets and soldiers alike.
“Anyone probably wouldn’t know anything about him if it weren’t for the song,” Sharon Lodge, the manager of the West Point Visitor’s Center says.
When Benny Havens died in 1877 his tavern had to eventually be relocated to make room for the West Shore railroad. It was then disassembled and re-erected in the hills by Long Pond Mountain five miles away. Since that time the original transplanted tavern has become a victim to fire.
Benny Havens is buried in the Highland Union Cemetery in Highland Falls off of Old State Road. His grave is marked with the title of his infamous song.
Some cadets still visit the bar today, but it’s doubtful that “Benny Haven’s, Oh” is on the jukebox, or even sung there. Although, I might go there again soon and do my best to sing at least a verse and or come up with my own.
If you find yourself with a mean hangover the morning following your visit to Benny Havens, I recommend getting breakfast at Andy’s Restaurant. It’s just a few storefronts down from the bar and anything on their menu can cure whatever concoctions you enjoyed the night before.
Visit Benny Havens at 993 Main Street in Highland Falls and
also at his burial site in the local Highland Union Cemetery.
(Ask any local for directions to the pub or to the cemetery site.)
By Guest Blogger– October 13, 2011Posted in: The Original Benny Havens, Photo: Highland Falls Town Hall
A World Winder exclusive by Guestblogger Shane Cashman of Future Ancestor.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I combed through a forgotten cemetery beside a trailer park looking for the grave of Benny Havens. Havens was a locally infamous barkeep from the small town of Highland Falls and West Point, New York circa 1830.
On his small faded white headstone is inscribed, “Benny Haven’s, Oh!” The title of the song that service men used to sing in his honor while drinking at his bar and later while marching in and out of the Civil War.
An incarnation of Benny’s old bar still exists on Main Street in Highlands Falls today and a good deal of us from that town have had many a whiskey there. Growing up in West Point has given me the opportunity to drink whiskey with the ghosts of some of the West Point alum who went on to become Civil War Generals and Legends
Even Edgar Allan Poe, before he left the Academy, also frequented the bar in his Cadet days.
Of alcohol, in 1848, Ex-United States Military Academy cadet, Edgar Allan Poe wrote, “I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been a desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some impending doom.”
A young Poe used to frequent a Hudson Valley, NY tavern for drinks during his short career as a cadet. From 1830-1831 his favorite haunt was Benny Havens in Buttermilk Falls, now known as Highland Falls, West Point’s neighboring town. Although Benny Havens is no longer in its original location, which overlooked the Hudson River beneath a concealed cliff, its legend survives only blocks away on Main Street. It was there that Poe was able to try his hand in his “pursuit of pleasure.”
Today the bar, although buzzing with arcade games and jukebox playlists, still maintains the charm of a wood-skeleton saloon that is steeped in legend.
A sign from the original Benny Haven’s hangs in the bar. It reads, “Havens Landing.”
Poe, along with other West Point notables, such as William Tecumseh Sherman and former U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, shared a love for the local bar.
Poe ended his education at West Point just a year after he matriculated, but said that Benny Havens, the tavern keeper, was the “sole congenial soul in the entire Godforsaken place.” Some of American history’s most well known military figures would agree. From George Armstrong Custer to Jefferson Davis to Ulysses S. Grant, all became devout patrons of Benny Haven’s during their respective stays at the Academy.
Benny Havens served as a first lieutenant of the Highland falls company in the War of 1812. For years Benny and his wife, Letitia, operated their tavern, a one-story cottage near the old cadet hospital on the base. They served ale, cider, and other home cooked meals that gathered faithful soldiers and cadets daily. Cadets though were not allowed to partake in the tavern’s revels, as West Point restricted them from drinking anything other than coffee or cider, so when West Point found out that Benny was selling his potent drinks to the young cadets, he and his bar were expelled from Post in 1832, one year after Poe was expelled himself.
At the time Colonel Sylvanius Thayer, the new West Point superintendent banned liquor from the academy. Benny and Letitia Havens would become the only American citizens to be banished from West Point for life.
After he was exiled for serving drinks to cadets, Benny re-located beneath the cliffs of Buttermilk Falls, near the river, just over a mile from the cadet barracks.
No amount of rough terrain, bad weather, or strict rules, kept cadets from their favorite watering hole. Cadets, such as Custer, Poe, and Davis, would routinely risk their lives, or at least their studies, to venture down river, after having snuck off base, to go drink at the popular tavern. The cadets would sneak out of their windows after lights out and either travel through the dense forest rife with cliffs to the bar, or should the dead of winter have proven cold enough, they would have stealthily skated down the Hudson River right to Benny Haven’s.
His home cooked meals were also a favorite attraction for cadets. In Laura Benet’s biography of Edgar Allen Poe, she writes, “Poe was very uneasy about his future and this isolated spot on the Hudson River had no social life…Benny Havens’ chickens soups were famous. The boys carried home many articles under their blue swallow-tail coats.”
Jefferson Davis nearly lost his life five years before Poe came to West Point, because of his fondness of the tavern. Before Davis would become the president of the Confederacy, he used to recount a story, about how he almost died while escaping Benny Haven’s one night. Officers had supposedly busted up one raucous night at the bar when the young Davis was in the pub drinking, against Academy regulation. He tried evading the officers by running along the jagged cliffs in the forest. In the cover of night though he had fallen over one of the cliffs, almost losing his life in an attempt to avoid any reprimand his officers would have sentenced him with.
The bar’s off-limits appeal would eventually make Benny Havens a legacy, and an institution amongst the cadets. So much so that a song, “Benny Haven’s, oh,” was written in honor of it. Lieutenant O’Brien of the Eighth Infantry created “Benny Haven’s, oh,” in 1838 while visiting a friend at West Point
After the song had gained in popularity amongst cadets and soldiers, for years after Lt. O’Brien himself died, each graduating class from West Point would add a verse to the song. It was popularly sung during the Civil War by entire regiments. The song is still sung today by the West Point Glee Club. The first stanza goes:
Come fill your glasses, fellows, and stand up in a row,
To singing sentimentally, we’re going for to go,
In the army there’s sobriety, promotion’s very slow,
So we’ll sing our reminiscences of Benny Havens, oh!
The song would immortalize the man, who was broken hearted for being cast out of West Point, who had since become a friend to many cadets and soldiers alike.
“Anyone probably wouldn’t know anything about him if it weren’t for the song,” Sharon Lodge, the manager of the West Point Visitor’s Center says.
When Benny Havens died in 1877 his tavern had to eventually be relocated to make room for the West Shore railroad. It was then disassembled and re-erected in the hills by Long Pond Mountain five miles away. Since that time the original transplanted tavern has become a victim to fire.
Benny Havens is buried in the Highland Union Cemetery in Highland Falls off of Old State Road. His grave is marked with the title of his infamous song.
Some cadets still visit the bar today, but it’s doubtful that “Benny Haven’s, Oh” is on the jukebox, or even sung there. Although, I might go there again soon and do my best to sing at least a verse and or come up with my own.
If you find yourself with a mean hangover the morning following your visit to Benny Havens, I recommend getting breakfast at Andy’s Restaurant. It’s just a few storefronts down from the bar and anything on their menu can cure whatever concoctions you enjoyed the night before.
Visit Benny Havens at 993 Main Street in Highland Falls and
also at his burial site in the local Highland Union Cemetery.
(Ask any local for directions to the pub or to the cemetery site.)