Henry Blackstone Banning was born November 10, 1836, in Bannings Mills, Ohio. He attended school in the Clinton school district, later Mount Vernon Academy, and graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. He then studied law and gained admission to the bar in 1857. He began his law practice in Mount Vernon, Ohio.

After the Civil War broke out, Banning enlisted in the Union Army as a private. In June, 1861 he received a commission as captain of the 4th Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry. A year later, he was promoted to colonel of the 87th Regiment. While in that command, his regiment was stationed along the Potomac during the Antietam Campaign and was captured at Harpers Ferry. On January 1, 1863, he received a commission to be lieutenant colonel of the 125th Regiment in the Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was transferred to the 121st Regiment in April of that year. He was promoted to colonel on November 10, 1863, and then brigadier general and major general of Volunteers on March 13, 1865.

After the war, Banning briefly shifted his attention toward politics. He became a member of the Ohio State House in 1866 and served through 1867. He then moved to Cincinnati in 1869 and practiced law again. In 1872 Banning won election as a Liberal Republican to the 43rd Congress. In the 1874 he won re-election as a Democrat and was re-elected again to a third term. Altogether, he served in Congress from March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1879. During his last two terms in office, he chaired the Committee on Military Affairs. He failed to win re-election in 1878.

Banning tried once more to regain his House seat in 1880 but lost again. He returned once again to practicing law in Cincinnati. He died December 10, 1881, in Cincinnati, and was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery.

Sources:
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Compilation of the Official Records of Union and Confederate Armies:
http://www.civilwarhome.com/records.htm
Picture from: http://aotw.org/officers.shtml?officer_id=1100#note_2

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