Benjamin Piatt Runkle

Biography

Benjamin Piatt Runkle’s steadfast character shaped the founding of Sigma Chi at Miami University and was mirrored in his Union Army service, where he rose through the ranks to colonel of the 44th Ohio, bore wounds at Shiloh and Vicksburg, and stood firm defending the capital.

After the Civil War he continued to serve Ohio through the National Guard and civic life, championing veterans’ causes and the ideals of duty and scholarship that marked his later years at Arlington National Cemetery.