Soldiers in the White House: Rutherford B. Hayes Quiz

Answer: Major

Hayes was comissioned as a major in the 13th Ohio Volunteer regiment, and spent most of the summer of 1861 learning the basics of command and military strategy.

Answer: False

Hayes was wounded five times, most seriously while leading his regiment at the Battle of South Mountain, Virginia, on September 14, 1862. He was shot in the arm leading his men at Fox's Gap, and collapsed on the field of battle from loss of blood. For a while, he was trapped in "No Man's Land" as the battle raged around him.

It was a wound that kept him out of service for almost 4 months, and troubled him to the day he died.

Answer: John Hunt Morgan

Hayes helped lead a detachment to oppose Morgan when he invaded southern Ohio in 1863.

Answer: False

Hayes ALWAYS felt that the defining time of his life was the four years he spent with his men, fighting in the Civil War. Afterward, he was active in many veterans organizations, including the Grand Army of the Republic.

Answer: General George Crook

Crook was Hayes' divisional commander for ten months (Feb - Dec, 1864), and Hayes considered Crook to be the best general he ever served under and knew. Their friendship lasted beyond the War. Hayes, in fact, served as a pallbearer at Crook's funeral in 1890.

After the War, Crook made a name for himself serving on the Western frontier, humanely dealing with the Native Americans. Hayes' son, George Crook Hayes, was never a healthy baby and died before his 2nd birthday in 1866.

Answer: Brevet Major General

Although never actively seeking promotion, despite his friends urging that he use his political connections, Hayes was extremely proud when he was recognized on merit. He never desired to be a general at the expense of his men or his ideals. In his own words, Hayes would rather "be one of the good colonels" than "one of the poor generals."

Answer: False

Hayes never fought at Gettysburg, or many of the other major battles of Tha Army of the Potomac. Most of his campaigns were confined to the Kanawah River Valley in Virginia, which became West Virginia during the War. He did participate in significant conflicts, like the aforementioned Battle of South Mountain in September of 1862, as well as the Battle of Cedar Creek in 1864, where Gen. Phil Sheridan inspired his fleeing troops to turn and fight Lt. Gen. Jubal Early's Confederates in their last-gasp attempt to take Washington, D.C.

Answer: William McKinley

McKinley was a favorite of Hayes' wife, Lucy. Both Harrison and Garfield rose to the rank of general during the Civil War. Cleveland never fought in the Civil War, preferring to pay someone else to take his place, a perfectly legal option under Abraham Lincoln's conscription decree.

Answer: He was the brother of Hayes' wife, Lucy

One of the few times Hayes used the power of his position to help advance a relative, he secured Dr. Webb's appointment as regimental surgeon at the urging of Lucy (and Dr. Webb!). RBH's streak of nepotism did not, however, extend to the White House, as he refused to submit Webb as his choice for Surgeon General.

This led to a falling out between the two men that was never resolved before Webb's death in 1880.

Answer: True

Hayes, as governor of Ohio after the War, generally did all he could to assist Grant and campaigned for his re-election in 1872. In his memoirs, Grant praised Hayes' conduct during the Shenandoah Valley campiagn of 1864. Grant's kind words deeply moved Hayes, and he wrote in his diary, "I am more gratified by friendly reference to my war record than by any other flattery. Of course I know that my place was a very humble one - a place utterly unknown in history."