Hannibal Day was born in Montpelier, Vermont on February 15, 1804, the son of Dr. Sylvester Day (1778-1851), a career United States Army surgeon, and Avis (Bliss) Day (1780-1859).[1] He was educated in various locations as his father's work took the family from one military post to another.[2]
During the War of 1812, Sylvester Day and the garrison of Fort Michilimackinac, Michigan, including Hannibal Day, were taken prisoner by the British Army.[2] The British held the prisoners at Fort Detroit during July and August 1812, then transported them by boat to Fort Erie, Ontario, where they were released on parole while British and American commanders negotiated a prisoner exchange.[2] Later that year, army and United States Navy forces under the command of Jesse Elliott effected a rescue of the prisoners, who were carried by boat from the fort to Elliott's ships on Lake Erie.[2]
After the war, Hannibal Day was raised and educated in Vermont.[2] In 1818, he was appointed to the United States Military Academy.[2] Ill health caused him to delay his enrollment until 1819.[2] He graduated in 1823, ranked 23rd in a class of 35.[2]
Day joined the Army of the Potomac on June 28, 1863.[3] He served as commander of First Brigade, Second Division, V Corps under Brigadier General Romeyn B. Ayres, which included combat at the Battle of Gettysburg.[3] His brigade sustained several casualties when it was attacked during deployment into the Wheatfield on July 2, 1863.[3] The attack was executed by the brigade of Brigadier General William T. Wofford, and it cost Day's brigade 382 killed and wounded.[4] Afterwards, Day's brigade was combined with that of Sidney Burbank, serving under Burbank in the Bristoe Campaign and the Mine Run Campaign.[5] They were later made part of a brigade under Ayers in General Charles Griffin's First Division, V Corps.[5]
Day was one of the oldest officers commanding at Gettysburg; only his classmate George S. Greene was older.[6] He was officially retired on August 1, 1863, but recalled for continued service.[3] Day left the Army of the Potomac on August 22, 1863 and commanded Fort Hamilton in New York from August 1863 until June 8, 1864.[3] He served on military commissions and courts martial from July 25, 1864 until his final retirement on June 15, 1869.[3] On March 13, 1865, he received promotion to the brevet rank of brigadier general in recognition of his many years of service.[3]
Death and burial
Day died in Morristown, New Jersey on March 26, 1891.[3] He was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Leominster, Massachusetts.[3] At the time of his death, he was the third-oldest living West Point graduate, with only Colonel William C. Young (Class of 1822) and Major General George S. Greene (class of 1823) having lived longer.[6]
Family
In 1831, Day married Anna Maria Houghton (1808-1891), the daughter of Colonel Thomas Houghton and Mary Legate (Chase) Houghton.[6][7] Their children included:
Russell Hamilton Day (1845-1882), an Army officer who died at Fort Thornburgh, Utah while on active duty[6]
Murray Simpson Day (1845-1878), a United States Navy officer who died at sea.[6] He was married to Anna Mary Greene, the daughter of Major General George S. Greene.[7]
Lavinia Day (1847-1933), the wife of Army surgeon John Van Rensselaer Hoff[6]
Newell, Clayton R., and Charles R. Shrader, Of Duty Well and Faithfully Done: A History of the Regular Army in the Civil War, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2011.
