John Porter Hatch John Porter Hatch ( January 9 , 1822 – April 12 , 1901 ) was a career American soldier who served as general in the Union Army during the American Civil War . He received a Medal of Honor for gallantry in action at the September 1862 Battle of South Mountain during the Maryland Campaign . Early life and career . Hatch was born in Oswego , N . Y . , a son of Moses Porter and Hannah ( Reed ) Hatch . He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1845 , ranking 17th in his class . He experienced his first active field service as a second lieutenant in the 3rd U . S . Infantry during the Mexican War . In May 1846 , he served under General Zachary Taylor at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma . He was transferred later to serve under Winfield Scott in the Mounted Rifles . He was brevetted as a first lieutenant for gallant service in the subsequent battles of Contreras and Churubusco , and captain for bravery at Chapultepec . When the war ended , Hatch was assigned to various posts on the frontier of the Old West , as well as in Oregon . He married Adelaide Goldsmith Burckle in 1851 ; the couple raised two children . In the next decade , Hatch participated in several expeditions against Native American tribes . He was promoted to the full rank of captain in October 1860 and served as the Chief of Commissary for the army ' s Department of New Mexico . 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 . Postbellum career . Hatch stayed in the regular Army following the war , reverting to his regular rank of major . For the next twenty - six years , he again served on the frontier , officering posts at Fort Concho in San Angelo , Texas , Indian Territory , Montana Territory , and finally in Washington Territory . He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1873 . Eight years later , he became colonel of the 2nd U . S . Cavalry . He retired on January 9 , 1886 , and moved to New York City . He received the Medal of Honor in 1893 in recognition for his service at South Mountain . Hatch was President of the Aztec Club of 1847 of New York and a member of the Oswego County Historical Society . John P . Hatch died in New York City in the spring of 1901 . He was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery .