Hays Alexander was a Union Army general in the American Civil War. He also was an engineer engaged in bridge-building.
Background
Hays Alexander was born on July 8, 1819, at Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His father was Samuel Hays, a general in the Pennsylvania militia and a member of Congress, his mother was Agnes (Broadfoot) Hays.
Education
Alexander attended Venango Academy, Mercer Academy, and Allegheny College, but having developed an interest in military affairs, he left Allegheny College in his senior year in order to take advantage of an opportunity to enter West Point. At the Military Academy he graduated in 1844, in the class following that of General Grant.
Career
After leaving West Point, Hays served on frontier duty at Natchitoches, Louisiana, in the military occupation of Texas, and in the war with Mexico. For gallant conduct in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca-de-la-Palma, he was brevetted first lieutenant on May 9, 1846.
Following a period of recruiting duty, he returned to the Mexican conflict in 1847, serving until the end of the war. He resigned from the army April 12, 1848. Returning to civil life, he engaged in the iron industry at the Victory Forge near Franklin, Pennsylvania, but with little success.
When news came of the discovery of gold in California Hays forsook the Irksome routine of business and joined a party of Forty-niners in quest of gold. From Pittsburgh the party went by steamboat by way of St Louis to Independence on the Missouri River. Prom this point, a popular rendezvous for emigrants to the West, the party, regularly organized and officered, set out across the plains. The route lay by way of Fort Kearney, Fort Laramie, Salt Lake, and Sacramento. The journey from Independence to Sacramento required four months and six days. After typical experiences, described vividly in his surviving correspondence, Hays returned in 1851 to Pennsylvania. He then engaged in engineering and construction work, particularly bridge-building, for railroads and municipalities in western Pennsylvania.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Hays returned to the army with the rank of captain in the 16th Infantry. As colonel of the 63rd Pennsylvania, he served in the defense of Washington, D. C. , until March 1862, and later, in the Army of the Potomac, receiving a brevet of major for gallant and meritorious service in the battles of Fair Oaks, the Peach Orchard, and Glendale, Virginia. For his conduct in the battle of Malvern Hill he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, July 1, 1862. He was severely wounded in the battle of Manassas, but after a month s leave of absence he returned to the forces in defense of Washington.
In June 1863 Hays was given command of a division in the Army of the Potomac, and served successively in the Pursuit to Warrenton, in the Rapidan campaign, and in the Richmond campaign. He was killed in action on the second day of the battle of the Wilderness.
Achievements
Personality
Hays' character is revealed by his rigorous orders to his men to refrain from violence against civilians in enemy territory.
Connections
On February 19, 1846, Hays was married in Pittsburgh to Annie Adams McFadden.