John Benson grew up studying the Civil War. His father was an early member of the North South Skirmish Association in the 1950’s. His father traveled around Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania competing in target shooting with original muskets used in the Civil War. His father collected many original civil war muskets that form the base of John’s personal collection today. As he was growing up, family trips to Gettysburg were quite common. John’s mother taught him to love reading and he gradually started reading everything he could on the battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War. In high school he was awarded a scholarship to the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College which allowed him to meet and discuss the war with the top academics in the country. Eventually friends asked him to give them tours of the Gettysburg and Antietam battlefields. As word spread, more and more people requested tours. This eventually led to giving bus tours to local high schools and middle schools. Today, he has led more than 1,500 people, including members of the Bucks County Civil War Roundtable on extensive tours of these battlefields. John has served as President of the Bucks County Civil War Roundtable, taught Civil War courses at two local colleges, authored more than 30 book reviews, served as a research assistant for the legal team that attempted to reverse the conviction of Dr. Walter Mudd, an alleged conspirator in the Lincoln assignation, and is considered an expert on Civil War firearms. He is presently researching and writing two books on the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg.
