John Porter Hatch

(1822 - 1901)
Home State: New York
Command Billet: Commanding Division
Branch of Service: Infantry
Unit: 1st Division, I Corps

see his Battle Report

Before the Antietam Campaign:
General Hatch graduated from West Point in 1845 and was commissioned in the Infantry.

At tbe begining of the Mexican War he served under General Zachary Taylor at Palo Alto, May 8, 1846, and Resaca de la Palma, May 9. He was then transferred to the Mounted Rifles for service under General Winfield Scott. At Contreras and Chirubusco, August 19-20, 1847, he won a brevet to First Lieutenant and at Chapultepec on September 13 another brevet to Captain.

After the war, he served on the frontier, taking part in numerous Indian engagements, receiving promotion to Captain, USA in October 1860.

In September 1861 he was appointed Brigadier General of Volunteers in command of a Cavalry Brigade. He executed a series of daring raids on the Rapidan and Rappahannock Rivers and between March and August 1862 commanded the Cavalry of the V Corps under General Banks in the Shenandoah Valley.

In the Antietam Campaign:
He was then assigned to the Infantry and for a week was in command of General Joseph Hooker's I Corps until he was wounded at South Mountain, Maryland, on September 14. He said it was a "painful, though not dangerous, wound".

For gallantry there, he was breveted Major General of Volunters and received the Medal of Honor.

The remainder of the War:
He did not return to the field until October 1863, after which time he commanded various departments in the South. He was in charge of operations on John's Island, South Carolina, in July 1864 and at Honey Hill in November and then cooperated closely with General William T. Sherman in the Georgia-Carolinas Campaign.

After the War:
By the end of the war he had been breveted Colonel and Brigadier General of regulars, but he reverted to Major on being mustered out of the volunteer service and for the next 26 years served again on the Western frontier. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1873 and to Colonel of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry in June 1881. He retired from the Army in 1886.

Birth Date: 1/9/1822    Place of Birth: Oswego, NY
College: US Military Academy, West Point, NY    Graduating Year: 1845
Death Date: 4/12/1901    Death Place: New York City, NY    Burial Place: Arlington National Cemetery, VA

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