John H. Hays - Misplaced Pages

American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient

John H. Hays
Hays in 1895
Born	(1844-08-04)August 4, 1844 Jefferson County, Ohio
Died	January 27, 1904(1904-01-27) (aged 59) Troy, Idaho
Buried	Moscow Cemetery, Moscow, Idaho
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	United States Army
Rank	Private
Unit	Company F, 4th Iowa Volunteer Cavalry Regiment
Battles / wars	Civil War Battle of Columbus
Awards	Medal of Honor
Spouse(s)	Nancy Cox (m. 1868)

John Henry Hays (4 August 1844 – 27 January 1904) was a veteran of the American Civil War and recipient of the Medal of Honor.

Biography

Hays was born in Ohio, but moved to the state of Iowa at the age of fifteen. He worked on his family's farm for the next three years. In 1862, Hays volunteered to join the Union Army. He was injured multiple times throughout the war, surviving a gunshot wound to his left thumb and being struck by debris from a falling bridge.

Battle of Columbus

On April 16, 1865, seven days following the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House, Hays marched on Columbus, Georgia to secure the city's naval yards, weapons factories and supply depots. During the ensuing battle, Hays stormed a bridge over the Chattahoochee River and helped to capture a fort guarding it. During the battle for the fort, Hays captured the flag and the flag bearer of an Austin Battery stationed there. He received the Medal of Honor for this act.

Citation

Capture of flag and bearer Austin's Battery (C.S.A.).

Later life

Hays returned to his family farm following the conclusion of the Civil War. However, he left to open a blacksmith shop in Greenfield, Iowa in 1868. He later moved to Troy, Idaho in 1888 and opened a new blacksmith shop. The shop was ultimately destroyed in a fire. Hays began prospecting following the destruction of his shop and experienced some success at mining for silver. In 1894, Hays was appointed City Marshall of Troy.

Death

On January 27, 1904, Hays attempted to arrest Paine Sly, an infamous locally known criminal, for domestic disturbance. Sly killed Hays in the ensuing shoot-out. Although fatally wounded, Hays returned fire and was able to injure Sly. Sly was later convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Notes

^ "Pvt. John Henry Hays". State Historical Society of Iowa. Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
"HAYS, JOHN H." Home of Heroes. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
"Marshal John Henry Hays, Troy Police Department, Idaho". The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc. Retrieved 14 December 2021.

External links

"John H. Hays". Claim to Fame: Medal of Honor recipients. Find a Grave. Retrieved 14 December 2021.

American Civil War

Origins

Origins	Timeline leading to the War Bleeding Kansas Border states Compromise of 1850 John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry Kansas-Nebraska Act Lincoln–Douglas debates Missouri Compromise Nullification crisis Origins of the American Civil War Panic of 1857 Popular sovereignty Secession South Carolina Declaration of Secession States' rights President Lincoln's 75,000 volunteers
Slavery	African Americans Cornerstone Speech Crittenden Compromise Dred Scott v. Sandford Emancipation Proclamation Fire-Eaters Fugitive slave laws Plantations in the American South Positive good Slave Power Slavery in the United States Treatment of slaves in the United States Uncle Tom's Cabin
Abolitionism	Abolitionism in the United States Susan B. Anthony James G. Birney John Brown Frederick Douglass William Lloyd Garrison Lane Debates on Slavery Elijah Parish Lovejoy J. Sella Martin Lysander Spooner George Luther Stearns Thaddeus Stevens Charles Sumner Caning Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad

Combatants
Theaters
Campaigns
Battles
States

Combatants

Union	Army Navy Marine Corps Revenue Cutter Service
Confederacy	Army Navy Marine Corps

Theaters

Major campaigns

Major battles

Involvement

States and
territories

Cities

Leaders

Confederate

Military	R. H. Anderson Beauregard Bragg Buchanan Cooper Early Ewell Forrest Gorgas Hill Hood Jackson A. S. Johnston J. E. Johnston Lee Longstreet Morgan Mosby Polk Price Semmes E. K. Smith Stuart Taylor Wheeler
Civilian	Benjamin Bocock Breckinridge Davis Hunter Mallory Memminger Seddon Stephens

Union

Military	Anderson Buell Burnside Butler Du Pont Farragut Foote Frémont Grant Halleck Hooker Hunt McClellan McDowell Meade Meigs Ord Pope D. D. Porter Rosecrans Scott Sheridan Sherman Thomas
Civilian	Adams Chase Ericsson Hamlin Lincoln Pinkerton Seward Stanton Stevens Wade Welles

Aftermath

Constitution

Reconstruction Amendments

Reconstruction

Post-
Reconstruction

Monuments
and memorials

Union	List Grand Army of the Republic memorials to Lincoln
Confederate	List artworks in Capitol memorials to Davis memorials to Lee Removal

Cemeteries

Veterans

Related topics

Military	Arms Campaign Medal Cavalry Confederate Home Guard Confederate railroads Confederate revolving cannon Field artillery Medal of Honor recipients Medicine Naval battles Official Records Partisan rangers POW camps Rations Signal Corps Turning point Union corps badges U.S. Balloon Corps U.S. Home Guard U.S. Military Railroad
Political	Committee on the Conduct of the War Confederate States presidential election of 1861 Confiscation Act of 1861 Confiscation Act of 1862 Copperheads Diplomacy Emancipation Proclamation Habeas Corpus Act of 1863 Hampton Roads Conference National Union Party Politicians killed Radical Republicans Trent Affair Union Leagues U.S. Presidential Election of 1864 War Democrats
Music	Battle Hymn of the Republic Dixie John Brown's Body A Lincoln Portrait Marching Through Georgia Maryland, My Maryland When Johnny Comes Marching Home Daar kom die Alibama
By ethnicity	African Americans German Americans Irish Americans Italian Americans Native Americans Catawba Cherokee Choctaw Seminole
Other topics	Baltimore riot of 1861 Battlefield preservation Bibliography Confederate war finance Confederate States dollar Espionage Confederate Secret Service Great Hanging at Gainesville Great Revival of 1863 Gender issues Juneteenth Naming the war New York City Gold Hoax of 1864 New York City riots of 1863 Photographers Richmond riots of 1863 Salt Supreme Court cases Tokens U.S. Sanitary Commission Women soldiers
Related	List of films and television shows about the American Civil War

This article about a person of the American Civil War is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

Categories: