Peter Conover Hains (July 6, 1840 – November 7, 1921) was a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in the

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, and a veteran of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

, and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He is best known for his engineering efforts, such as the creation of the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., and for laying out the

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Early life and career

Hains was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania. He was appointed to the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and graduated from West Point ranking 19th in the Class of June 1861. Among his classmates were

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

recipient

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

Alonzo Cushing Alonzo Hereford Cushing (January 19, 1841 – July 3, 1863) was an artillery officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was killed in action during the Battle of Gettysburg while defending the Union position on Cemetery Ridge again ...

, and

Major Generals Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

George Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

, USA, and

Pierce Manning Butler Young Pierce Manning Butler Young (November 15, 1836 – July 6, 1896) was an American soldier, politician, diplomat, and slave owner. He was a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, and after the war a four-t ...

CSA CSA may refer to: Arts and media * Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television * Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics * Crime Syndicate of Amer ...

Civil War

Commissioned and promoted

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

and

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

in the 2nd U.S. Artillery on June 24, 1861, Hains briefly commanded Battery M, 2nd U.S. Artillery, in the

U.S. Horse Artillery Brigade The Horse Artillery Brigade of the Army of the Potomac was a brigade of various batteries of horse artillery during the American Civil War. Made up almost entirely of individual, company-strength batteries from the Regular Army's five artillery ...

, until transferring to the

Corps of Topographical Engineers The U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers was a branch of the United States Army authorized on 4 July 1838. It consisted only of officers who were handpicked from West Point and was used for mapping and the design and construction of federal ...

on July 24, 1862. He won a

brevet promotion In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( or ) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. ...

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on May 22, 1862, for actions at Hanover Court House. Less than a year later, on March 3, 1863, Hains transferred again—this time into the Corps of Engineers. During the

Siege of Vicksburg The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Missis ...

, Hains was cited for meritorious conduct (serving as the acting/interim chief engineer of the XIII Corps), and was awarded a brevet promotion to major upon the capture of the city, July 4, 1863. Promoted to captain in the Engineers on July 18, he served out the remainder of the war, and received a brevet promotion to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

for his service during the war.

Postbellum career

Hains remained with the

regular army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregulars, irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenary, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the ...

following the war, and was promoted to major in September 1870. Much of his notable post-war service was in designing lighthouses for the U.S. Lighthouse Board. Among other accomplishments, Hains designed the

Morris Island Morris Island is an 840-acre (3.4 km²) uninhabited island in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, accessible only by boat. The island lies in the outer reaches of the harbor and was thus a strategic location in the American Civil War. The ...

and St. Augustine lighthouses. He was the chief engineer for the construction of The Morris Island Lighthouse at the entrance the harbor at Charleston South Carolina 1872-1876. He became a lieutenant colonel in 1886 and was promoted to colonel in August 1895. He designed the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., thus solving the drainage problems and foul smell of most of the Washington area marshlands. The tip of East Potomac Park is named

Hains Point Hains Point is located at the southern tip of East Potomac Park between the main branch of the Potomac River and the Washington Channel in southwest Washington, D.C.Map, National Mall Plan Study Area, Area of Potential Effect, United States Depart ...

in honor of Peter Conover Hains. Still in the Army during the

, Hains served as a brigadier general of volunteers from August to November 1898. He was promoted to brigadier general in the Regular Army on April 21, 1903. He successfully lobbied for the construction of the

site over one proposed in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

. Hains retired from active service in 1904, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 64.

Later life

On August 15, 1908, two of his three sons, Peter C. Hains II and Thornton Jenkins Hains, a well-known author of sea stories, were involved in the murder of William E. Annis at the Bayside Yacht Club, Long Island. The crime, and the subsequent separate trials for the brothers, became one of the notorious cases of its day, front-page news across the country.Appel, Jaco
Murder at the Regatta
''

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'', August 9, 2008. Thornton was acquitted in January 1909; Peter was convicted of manslaughter in May 1909 and sent to Sing Sing, but, on General Hains' appeal, was pardoned by the Governor of New York in 1911. The General spent much of his savings financing the defense of his sons. In recognition of his long and distinguished career, General Hains was promoted to major general on the retired list in 1916. He was recalled to active duty during the

, in September 1917, at the age of 77. He served as the chief engineer for the

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Harbor and River District and then as chief engineer for the Eastern Division of the Corps of Engineers. He left active duty in the fall of 1918. Hains was the oldest officer to serve on active duty since Major General John E. Wool retired in 1863 at the age of 79. (The oldest active duty officer in the history of the U.S. Army was Brevet Brigadier General John Walbach who died on active duty in 1857 at the age of 90.) He was also, probably, the only person to serve on active duty with the U.S. Army in both the American Civil War and the First World War. General Hains died at Walter Reed Hospital on November 7, 1921, and was buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

. His widow died in 1925 and was buried beside him. He was a member of the

Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), or simply the Loyal Legion is a United States patriotic order, organized April 15, 1865, by three veteran officers of the Army. The original membership was composed of members ...

and the

Military Order of Foreign Wars The Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States (MOFW) is one of the oldest veterans' and hereditary associations in the nation with a membership that includes officers and their hereditary descendants from all of the Armed Services. Memb ...

Honors

in Washington is named in memory of General Hains. The honor of oldest Army officer to serve belongs to Hains, who was in uniform at the age of 76. He was a classmate of George Armstrong Custer at West Point and ordered the first shot fired by the Union artillery at the Battle of Bull Run. He retired in 1904, was recalled to duty twelve years later for service during World War I, the only Civil War Officer to see duty in World War I.

Military family

His sons, John Power Hains and Peter Hains Jr., were both army officers. His grandson and namesake, Peter C. Hains, III, was also a major general in the U.S. Army. All are buried at

. Further, his greatgrandson, Peter C. Hains IV, COL USA and great-greatgrandson, John Power Hains II, MAJ USA served as Army officers while another great-greatgrandson, Paul Hains, LT. COL USA served as an Army National Guard officer.

Dates of rank

* Cadet, USMA – July 1, 1857 * 2nd Lieutenant – June 24, 1861 * 1st Lieutenant – June 24, 1861 * Brevet Captain – May 27, 1862 * Captain – July 18, 1863 * Brevet Major – July 4, 1863 * Brevet Lieutenant Colonel – March 13, 1865 * Major – September 22, 1870 * Lieutenant Colonel – September 16, 1886 * Colonel – August 13, 1895 * Brigadier General, Volunteers – May 27, 1898 * Discharged from Volunteers – November 30, 1898 * Brigadier General – April 21, 1903 * Retired – July 6, 1904 * Major General, Retired List – August 20, 1916''Official Register of Commissioned Offices of the United States Army''. 1918. p. 965.

Notes

References

Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia
* * ''Register of Graduates and Former Cadets of the United States Military Academy''. West Point, NY: West Point Alumni Foundation, Inc., 1970. * U.S. War Department
''The War of the Rebellion''
''a Compilation of the

Official Records The ''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion'', commonly known as the ''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies'' or Official Records (OR or ORs), is the most extensive collection of Americ ...

of the Union and Confederate Armies'', U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hains, Peter United States Army generals of World War I Union Army officers People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War People of the Spanish–American War Burials at Arlington National Cemetery 1840 births 1921 deaths United States Army generals United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Philadelphia