John Porter Hatch - Civil War

Civil War

Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Hatch was ordered to the East and assigned to the cavalry of George B. McClellan. He was made a brigadier general of volunteers on September 28, 1861. In December, he was assigned command of a brigade of cavalry stationed at Annapolis, Maryland, serving under General Rufus King. Hatch's brigade made a series of daring raids on enemy positions near the Rapidan and Rappahannock rivers. These raids gained his brigade the Nickname Iron Brigade, which followed that brigade up until January 1863, long after Hatch had moved on.

In March 1862, Hatch assumed command of the cavalry of the V Corps under Major General Nathaniel P. Banks. He served in the Valley Campaign and fought at the First Battle of Winchester. In August of that year, after incurring the wrath of army commander John Pope for two failed cavalry raids, he was reassigned to the infantry. He commanded a brigade in the I Corps, assuming division command after Brig. Gen Rufus King fell ill with epilepsy the evening before Second Bull Run. Hatch led the division there and at the Battle of South Mountain, where he got shot in the leg. He was brevetted as a major general of volunteers and subsequently received the Medal of Honor for his gallantry under severe enemy fire.

Hatch was disabled until February 1863, when he returned to light administrative duties, serving as a judge on courts-martial and commanding the draft rendezvous at Philadelphia in July. He then commanded the cavalry depot at St. Louis during the late summer and early autumn. On October 27, 1863, he was promoted to the Regular Army rank of major of the 4th U.S. Cavalry.

In 1864, he was assigned to the Department of the South, where he had charge of the coast division. He was in charge of operations on John's Island, South Carolina, in July and led the Federal forces at the Battle of Honey Hill in November. He subsequently operated in cooperation with Major General William T. Sherman in the Georgia-Carolinas Campaign and took part in the attack on Charleston. Following the city's surrender, Hatch assumed military command of it from February to August 1865.

In the omnibus promotions following the war, he was brevetted from March 1865 both as a major general of volunteers dating and as a colonel in the Regular Army.