Benjamin L. E Bonneville, an American soldier, born in France about 1795. He graduated at West Point in 1815, and in 1820 was employed in the construction of a military road through the state of Mississippi, and afterward on frontier duty till 1825. In 1831, receiving a furlough, he set out upon an exploring expedition beyond the Rocky mountains, and not being heard of till 1836, his name was dropped from the army list. His journal, edited and amplified by Washington Irving, was published in 1843, under the title of "Adventures of Captain Bonneville, U. S. A., in the Rocky Mountains and the Far West." Restored to the army, he served in the Indian territory and in the Florida and Mexican wars, becoming major in 1845 and brevet lieutenant colonel in 1847. He became colonel in 1855, was assigned to the command of the department of New Mexico, and in 1857 commanded the Gila expedition. In 1861 he was retired from active service for disability, and during the civil war served as superintendent of the recruiting service and chief disbursing officer in Missouri. In 1865 he was made brevet brigadier general.