Alexander Hays Alexander Hays ( July 8 , 1819 – May 5 , 1864 ) was a Union Army general in the American Civil War , killed in the Battle of the Wilderness . Early life and career . Hays was born in Franklin , Pennsylvania , the son of Samuel Hays , a member of Congress and general in the Pennsylvania militia . He studied at Allegheny College and then transferred to the United States Military Academy in his senior year , graduating in 1844 , ranking 20th out of 25 cadets . Among his classmates were future Civil War generals Alfred Pleasonton and Winfield S . Hancock . He became a close personal friend of Ulysses S . Grant , who had graduated the year before . Hays was brevetted as a second lieutenant in the 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 Venango County , where he engaged in the manufacture of iron from 1848 – 50 before briefly leaving for the California gold fields to seek his fortune . Failing that , he returned home and became an assistant construction engineer for the railroad until 1854 . From 1854 through 1860 , Hays was a civil engineer for the city of Pittsburgh , helping plan several bridge building projects . Civil War . At the beginning of the Civil War , Hays re - entered the service as Colonel of the 63d Pennsylvania Infantry , also holding the rank of captain in the 16th U . S . Infantry in the regular army to date from May 14 , 1861 . His men knew him to be " as brave as a lion . " During the Peninsula Campaign , he was attached with his regiment to the first brigade of Kearny ' s division of Heintzelman ' s III Corps . He fought in the battles of 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 . 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 . Due to his seniority , after the reassignment of William H . French , Hays was assigned command of the third Division during the Gettysburg Campaign . ( Col . George L . Willard took command of Hays ' s brigade . ) During the Battle of Gettysburg , Hays ' s division defended the right of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge . The division held firm in the repulse of the Confederate attack on July 3 , 1863 , even counterattacking the left flank of the Confederate attacking force . Hays ' s passion and flair for the dramatic led to a notable incident as Confederate prisoners were being rounded up : " When the smoke cleared , Hays , who was unhurt but had had two horses shot out from under him , kissed his aide in the exhilaration of the moment , grabbed a captured Rebel battle flag and riding down the division ' s line dragged it in the dirt . . . " For his efforts at Gettysburg , Hays gained the brevet rank of colonel in the regular army . Later returning to divisional command before the Bristoe Campaign , he was engaged at Auburn and Mine Run . Hays ' s last major engagement as a division commander was at Morton ' s Ford on the Rapidan River in Virginia on February 6 , 1864 . A demonstration in force by II Corps became a bloody fiasco with Hays ' s division suffering 252 casualties . Stories about Hays being drunk on duty arose from that defeat by Confederates of Lt . Gen . Richard S . Ewell ' s corps . 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 . 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 Allegheny Cemetery ( Section 8 , Lot 149 ) in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . During a campaign stop in Pittsburgh during Ulysses S . Grant ' s run for the presidency , he visited Hays ' s grave and openly wept . Honors . Post # 3 of the Grand Army of the Republic in Pittsburgh was named for General Alexander Hays , as was Fort Hays in Kansas .