Benjamin Maxwell was a Starfleet captain who began attacking Cardassian ships in 2367, convinced that they were preparing for another war.
Benjamin Maxwell was a respected Starfleet captain and a veteran of the Federation-Cardassian War. During the war his wife and children were killed in a Cardassian attack on the Setlik III outpost, and the loss stayed with him long after the peace treaty.
In 2367, as captain of the Nebula-class USS Phoenix, Maxwell destroyed a Cardassian science station, a warship and a supply ship without orders, claiming that the Cardassians were secretly rearming. The Enterprise-D was sent to stop him. Miles O'Brien, who had served under Maxwell on the USS Rutledge, was beamed aboard the Phoenix and convinced his old captain to surrender. Picard then told the Cardassians that the Federation knew Maxwell had been right about their military build-up.
Maxwell's story was the first in-depth look at the scars left by the Cardassian war and introduced the strong anti-Cardassian feelings that drive much of O'Brien's character in Deep Space Nine.