Alexander Hays

Alexander Hays
Alexander Hays
	United States of America; Union
Service/branch	United States Army; Union Army
Years of service	1844–1848, 1861–1864
Rank	Brigadier General; Brevet Major General
Unit	Regular Army 8th U.S. Infantry; 16th U.S. Infantry;
Commands held	63rd Pennsylvania Infantry
Battles/wars	Mexican–American War; American Civil War Battle of Yorktown; Battle of Williamsburg; Battle of Seven Pines; Battle of Savage's Station; Battle of Malvern Hill; Second Battle of Bull Run; Battle of Gettysburg; Battle of the Wilderness †;

Alexander Hays (July 8, 1819 – May 5, 1864) was a Union Army general in the American Civil War who was killed at the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864.

Early life and career

Hays was born in

8th U.S. Infantry. He served in the Mexican–American War, and won special distinction in an engagement near Atlixco. In April 1848, he resigned his commission in the army and returned to Pennsylvania

.

He settled in

Pittsburgh

, helping plan several bridge building projects.

Civil War

At the beginning of the

Yorktown, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Savage's Station, and Malvern Hill. At the close of the Seven Days Battles, he was appointed a brevet lieutenant colonel in the regular army for gallantry in action, as Hays had directed a bayonet charge with his regiment into the enemy lines to cover the retreat of his brigade. Hays briefly went on sick leave a month later, suffering from partial blindness and paralysis of his left arm, injuries incurred from battle.^[2]

Hays resumed command of the 63rd Pennsylvania during the

Northern Virginia Campaign in August and again led a charge in the Second Battle of Bull Run, receiving a painful wound that shattered his leg. While recovering, he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers, September 29, 1862. Early in 1863 Hays was made a brigade commander in XXII Corps in the defenses of Washington, D.C. His brigade, composed largely of troops surrendered after the Battle of Harpers Ferry, was added to the Army of the Potomac as the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, II Corps

.

*General Alexander Hays* (c. 1914) by J. Otto Schweizer, Gettysburg Battlefield, Gettysburg, PA.

Due to his seniority, after the reassignment of

Mine Run

.

Hays's last major engagement as a division commander was at

Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's corps.^[4]

However, Hays was keenly aware of and sensitive to rumors of his drinking and specifically addressed them in letters to his family. And given that his wife, Annie, was present in camp during the Battle of Morton's Ford, it is highly likely that General Hays was sober during the battle.

When the Army of the Potomac was reorganized in early 1864 under his friend Grant's guidance, Hays was placed in command of the 2nd Brigade of Birney's 3rd Division of the II Corps. Hays was unhappy at losing division command but was happy to serve once more under Birney, with whom he had campaigned in III Corps.^[5] During the Overland Campaign, Hays was killed in action near the junction of the Brock and Plank Roads in the Wilderness, being struck in the head by a Minié ball.

He was buried in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At a campaign stop in Pittsburgh during his run for the presidency, Ulysses S. Grant visited Hays's grave and wept openly.^[6]

Honors

Post #3 of the Grand Army of the Republic in Pittsburgh was named for General Alexander Hays, as was Fort Hays and the city of Hays in Kansas. Alexander Hays Road in Bristow, Virginia, is named for him. The road is in New Bristow Village in Bristow, Virginia, adjacent to the Bristoe Station Battlefield.

Notes

^ Tagg, p. 53.
^ "Allegheny Cemetery webpage for Hays". Archived from the original on 2007-01-04. Retrieved 2006-10-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ "Tagg". Archived from the original on 2006-11-04. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
^ Mahood, pp. 142–48.
^ Mahood, pp. 150–52.
^ "Allegheny Cemetery website". Archived from the original on 2007-01-04. Retrieved 2006-10-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), citing period Pittsburgh newspapers.

References

Tagg, Larry. The Generals of Gettysburg. Campbell, CA: Savas Publishing, 1998.
ISBN 1-882810-30-9
.

Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964.
ISBN 0-8071-0822-7
.

General Alexander Hays, USA, History Central.
"Allegheny Cemetery webpage for Alexander Hays". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved October 2, 2006.

Attribution:

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Hays, Alexander" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.

External links

Photos of Hays's Grave and monument
"Alexander Hays". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2008-07-01.

[1] Tagg, p. 53.

[2] "Allegheny Cemetery webpage for Hays". Archived from the original on 2007-01-04. Retrieved 2006-10-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

[3] "Tagg". Archived from the original on 2006-11-04. Retrieved 2006-10-02.

[4] Mahood, pp. 142–48.

[5] Mahood, pp. 150–52.

[6] "Allegheny Cemetery website". Archived from the original on 2007-01-04. Retrieved 2006-10-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), citing period Pittsburgh newspapers.

[2]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Gettysburg figures
Confederate leaders	Lee Alexander R. Anderson G. Anderson Archer Armistead Barksdale Benning Brockenbrough Chambliss Daniel Davis Doles Early Ewell Garnett Gordon Hampton Hays Heth Hill Hood Humphreys Imboden Iverson Jenkins Johnson J. Jones W. Jones Kemper Kershaw Lane Law F. Lee W. Lee Longstreet Mahone Marshall McLaws O'Neal Oates Pender Pettigrew Perrin Pickett Posey Ramseur Robertson Rodes Scales Semmes Smith G. Steuart J. E. B. Stuart Thomas Trimble J. Walker R. Walker Wilcox Wofford Wright
Union leaders	Meade Ames Ayres Barlow Barnes Baxter Biddle Birney Buford Caldwell Candy Carpenter Carr J. Chamberlain Claflin Cross Curtin Cushing Custer Cutler Crawford Doubleday Farnsworth Geary Gibbon Gilsa Graham Greene Gregg Hancock Harrow Hays Hooker Howard Humphreys Hunt Kilpatrick Krzyżanowski Lincoln Meredith Merritt Newton Nolan Paul Pleasonton Reynolds Rice Robinson Rowley Ruger Schimmelfennig Schurz Sedgwick Sickles Slocum Stannard Starr Steinwehr Sykes Tilton Tyler Vincent Wadsworth Ward Warren Weed Webb Willard Williams Zook
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