Heroes Among Us


Stories and photos by Borden Black


Riverside, also known as Quarters One, is the home of Fort Benning’s commander. It was built in 1909 by Columbus businessman Arthur Bussey and sold to the Army in 1918. Since then 53 commanders have lived there.


The ‘White House’ of Fort Benning


A


tlanta has the Governor’s man- sion, Washington has the White House and Fort Benning has Riverside. The home of the com-


manding general is as magnificent and steeped in history as the homes of other state and national leaders.


Te House Gone With Te Wind could have been


set in the Southern plantation home that serves as the home of Fort Benning’s Com- mandant. Verandas surround the two-story,


white–columned, frame house. Down- stairs there are two parlors, banquet room, study, kitchen and butler’s pantry used for family dining. The family’s private quarters upstairs consist of five bedrooms, study and baths. In all, there are 7,000 square feet of living space.


August 2012 Te hardwood floors, wavy window-


panes and coffered ceilings speak to the age and rich history of the home. According to various historians, the site


was first inhabited by the Creek Indians. After the 1827 lottery to distribute Creek lands, John Woolfolk acquired about 5,000 acres along the Chattahoochee River. Woolfolk named his estate Cusseta Plan- tation after the Creek Indian village of Kashita. Te plantation was subdivided and sold


after the Civil War. Martha Hatcher pur- chased 1,780 acres in 1883 and in 1909 sold them to prominent Columbus busi- nessman Arthur Bussey. Bussey built a summer place on the property and named it Riverside. Te initial home was once a meeting


house that Bussey moved from Lumpkin Road. Using logs drawn by mules, the


Columbus and the Valley


single room was pulled through a forest near the corner of Baltzell and Lumpkin avenues without damaging a single tree. It was a move the local newspaper heralded as an engineering feat. A two-story addition, including a par-


lor and wash-basin bath downstairs, bed- rooms upstairs and porches on three sides, was then constructed. Te surrounding 18-acre farm, which produced cotton, corn and sugar cane, was one of the last self-supporting plantations in the area. Although intended as a summer home,


Riverside had three fireplaces, and the Bus- seys wintered there for two years. It was one of the first homes in the area to have running water inside, which was pumped from a pond about a mile away. In 1918, when Camp Benning was


founded and the Infantry School moved from Fort Sill, Okla., to Columbus, Riverside was acquired for military quarters. Since then, it has served as the official living quarters for a succession of


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