Hamilton and his regiment took part in the Battle of Monterrey, and received compliments from his superior officers in their report of the battle.[2] He was then active in the Siege of Veracruz and the Battle of Cerro Gordo, and was promoted to first lieutenant on June 30, 1847.[3] He distinguished himself again at the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, and was given an honorary brevet to captain. But he was severely wounded at the Battle of Molino del Rey.[3] He was shot through the shoulder and remained in the hospital six months recuperating.[2]
After recovering from his wound, Hamilton was assigned to the recruiting service at Rochester, New York, for two years. He returned to battle in 1850, commanding companies in Texas and Mississippi in campaigns of the Comanche Wars.[2]
He resigned from the Army on April 30, 1853, and moved his family to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. There he settled a farm and established a linseed oil mill.[1]
Civil War service
Photo taken between 1861 and 1862
At the outbreak of the American Civil War, few men in the state of Wisconsin had any formal military experience. A friend of Governor Alexander Randall showed him a record of Captain Hamilton's service in the Mexican War, and informed the governor that Hamilton was residing at Fond du Lac. Governor Randall immediately summoned Hamilton to Madison, Wisconsin, to assist in organizing Wisconsin's volunteer regiments.[2]
In the Fall and Winter of 1861, Hamilton's brigade was engaged in securing the Union defensive line along the Potomac River in western Maryland and Northern Virginia. After the Union defeat at Ball's Bluff, Hamilton was tasked to survey crossing points along the river.[4]: 399 In March 1862, Hamilton's brigade was sent to engage in reconnaissance-in-force to Stonewall Jackson's camp at Winchester, Virginia. He successfully occupied the city on March 13, but found that Jackson and his corps had escaped the day before.[4]: 746 That same day, General George B. McClellan ordered Hamilton to take command of the 3rd division of III Corps for his planned Peninsula Campaign.[4]: 748
Hamilton in his major general's uniform
He led this division during the Siege of Yorktown, but drew the ire of George B. McClellan for insubordination. Ignoring the fact that shelving Hamilton would create powerful political enemies, McClellan relieved Hamilton on April 30, 1862, without explanation. When Lincoln pointed out the impropriety of McClellan's action, McClellan claimed "You cannot do anything better calculated to injure my army ... than to restore Gen. Hamilton to his division."[5] Before the month-long siege preparations were complete, Hamilton was transferred to the Western Theater where he commanded the 3rd Division in the Army of the Mississippi at the battles of Iuka and Corinth. Following Corinth in October 1862, he was promoted to major general, effective from September 19, 1862.[3]
During his brief military service in the conflict, Hamilton served in both the eastern and western theaters. He commanded divisions, "wings"[6] and corps of the Army of the Potomac, the Army of the Mississippi, as well as in the Army of the Tennessee.[3]
During the months of January and February 1863 Hamilton was in simultaneous command of the Dist. of West Tennessee, Dist. of Corinth, the Left Wing of XVI Corps, and XVI Corps. While in command at Corinth, he began intriguing for higher command against Generals Hurlbut and James B. McPherson, which drew Grant's ire. When Grant ordered him to Vicksburg to serve under General John Alexander McClernand, Hamilton offered his resignation from the U.S. Army on April 13, 1863.[3] Grant gladly accepted the resignation, forwarding several pages of documentation to Washington to support his case.
Later years
After his army service Hamilton became a U.S. marshal and a paper manufacturer. He died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1891 and is buried there in Forest Home Cemetery.[3]
Personal life and family
Charles Hamilton was a son of Zeyn Alasman Hamilton and his wife Sylvania (née Putnam).
He married Sophia Jane Shepard on February 9, 1849, in Chicago, Illinois.
