Colonel Edward Hatch
Commander 9th Cavalry
Col. Edward Hatch was selected to command the new 9th Cavalry Regiment. Hatch, who was a brevet Major General by the close of the Civil War, was an able and ambitious officer.
A little known fact is that George Armstrong Custer was also asked to command the new regiment, but refused.
Hatch was born in Maine, but was living in Iowa in 1861 when the Civil War broke out. He became Captain of the 2 Iowa Cavalry in August 1861.
At the Battle of Collierville (Shelby County, Tennessee, Nov 3, 1863), Colonel Hatch, although outnumbered three to one, surprised Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers, CSA with a cavalry charge that caused the Conferates to call off the battle. Col Hatch commanded a cavalry brigade while BG Chalmers commanded a division. Col. Hatch also commanded a Brigade and was gallant in action at Corinth, Mississippi and also as part of Grierson's Raid.
He was married to Evelyn M. or Emeline (nicknamed Hattie) Barrington ( she has been referenced as both Evelyn and Emeline - which name is correct is unknown). She apparently was always called Hattie. She was the daughter of Dr. Samuel Barrington, U.S. Navy. Hattie and the Colonel had two children; a son Barrington and a daughter Bessie. Hattie died in Washington, D.C. on October 1, 1881 at the home of her brother-in-law, E.D. Boyd.
Bessie was her father's idol. She married First Lieutenant Edgar Hubert, Eighth U.S. Infantry at Fort Robinson on November 27, 1888. He was from Georgia and a member of the West Point Class of 1880. He died in 1898. At the time of Bessie's wedding, Hatch's son Barrington was working for the railroad in or around Fort Robinson.
Hatch served admirably in U.S. Army until his death at Fort Robinson in April of 1889 following a buckboard accident in which he was severely injured. Sergeant Nathan Fletcher and a detachment of Ninth Cavalry troopers escorted Colonel Hatch's body to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for burial.
Burial party
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