Benjamin F. Stewart was born around 1836 in Georgia to J. T. and Mary Stewart. His father was a farmer who owned $400 of real estate by 1850. The family lived in Dirt Town, Georgia. He enlisted in the Confederate army on September 24, 1861, and he mustered in as a corporal in Company I of the 35th Georgia Infantry later that day. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with black hair and black eyes. He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant on June 26, 1862. He was wounded in the Second Battle of Manassas on August 29, 1862, and he died on August 31.