Benjamin Franklin Kelley was an American soldier who served as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in several military campaigns in West Virginia and Maryland.

The Battle of Philippi formed part of the Western Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War and was fought in and around Philippi, Virginia, on June 3, 1861. A Union Army victory, it was the first organized land action of the war, though generally viewed as a skirmish rather than a battle.