Upton Hays

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Upton Hays
March 29, 1832 – September 15, 1862
Place of birth Caldwell County, Kentucky
Place of death Newtonia, Missouri
Allegiance Confederate States of America
Years of service 1861–62
Rank Colonel
Battles/wars American Civil War
- Battle of Carthage
- First Battle of Independence
- Battle of Lone Jack

Upton Hays, sometimes spelled Hayes, (March 29, 1832 – September 15, 1862) [1] was a colonel of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.

Contents

[edit] Early life, career, and border warfare

Upton Hays was born in Caldwell County, Missouri. His father was Boone Hays and his great-grandfather was famed explorer Daniel Boone. Upton never received a formal education. [2] Boone Hays settled in Jackson County, Missouri, in 1837. Boone took his sons to California in 1850 during the gold rush, but died of pneumonia during the trip. The sons returned to Missouri, where Upton married Margaret Jane Watts on February 4, 1852, in Jackson County near Westport. There, he farmed and served as a wagonmaster / freight hauler. Upton owned one slave of his own and managed six others for his mother-in-law Elizabeth Watts. [3] He was associated with Border Ruffians including future guerrilla William Quantrill during the Bleeding Kansas border warfare. [4] He voted for John C. Breckenridge for president and Claiborne Fox Jackson for governor in the election of 1860. [5]

[edit] Civil War

At the outbreak of the war, Upton joined the Missouri State Guard as a captain of a cavalry company. He served in the Battle of Carthage. He and noted guerrilla Dick Yager conducted a raid against Gardner, Kansas, on October 2, 1861, as part of the cycle of cross border raids by Jayhawkers and Border Ruffians. By December, Upton Hays' home had been burned. [6] He was elected lieutenant colonel of the 1st Cavalry Regiment, VIII division, Missouri State Guard, in December 1861. [7]

In June of 1862, Hays led a recruiting detail back into Western Missouri. He skirmished with pursuing Federals and dislocated his shoulder forcing him to disperse his command for a time. [8] On July 30 Hays with bushwhacker Dick Yager and several others went to Westport looking for several northern informants. In Westport they killed a discharged German-American soldier and took the large United States flag that was in the care of a local resident. [9] [10] [11]

At the First Battle of Independence, Upton assumed command following the death of Brigadier General John T. Hughes and wounding of Colonel Gideon W. Thompson.

Colonel Hays led the main attack at the Battle of Lone Jack. There were some complaints by other commanders that his attack was unnecessarily delayed and therefore lost the crucial element of surprise.

Following the victory at Lone Jack, the Confederate forces withdrew closer to Arkansas for supplies. There around Newtonia, Missouri, on September 12 [12] or 15, Colonel Hays attempted to personally drive in some Union pickets and was killed instantly by a bullet to the head. According to one participant he had been elected colonel of his consolidated regiment the day before. [13]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Petersen, Richard C.; Lindberg, Kip A.; McGhee, James E.; & Daleen, Keith I.;Sterling Price's Lieutenants, Rev. ed., 2007, Two Trails Publishing, page 357, note 545, gives approx. date of death
  2. ^ Watts-Hays Letters 1849-1861
  3. ^ Watts-Hays Letters 1849-1861
  4. ^ Watts-Hays Letters 1849-1861
  5. ^ Eakin, Joanne Chiles, Battle of Independence, August 11, 1862, Two Trails Publishing, 2002, page 37
  6. ^ Watts-Hays Letters 1861-65
  7. ^ Petersen, Richard C.; Lindberg, Kip A.; McGhee, James E.; & Daleen, Keith I.;Sterling Price's Lieutenants, Rev. ed., 2007, Two Trails Publishing, page 357, note 545
  8. ^ Nichols, Bruce, Guerrilla Warfare in Civil War Missouri, 1862, McFarland & Company, 2004, page 109
  9. ^ Eakin, Joanne Chiles, Battle of Independence, August 11, 1862, Two Trails Publishing, 2002, page 107 (local newspaper account
  10. ^ | Watts-Hays Letter 40
  11. ^ Nichols, Bruce, Guerrilla Warfare in Civil War Missouri, 1862, McFarland & Company, 2004, page 152
  12. ^ http://www.wattshaysletters.com/letters/2-letters-61-65/hist-letters61-65.html Watts-Hays Letters 1861-65 interprets the date of death as September 12
  13. ^ Eakin, Joanne Chiles, Battle of Lone Jack, August 16, 1862, Two Trails Publishing, 2001, page 63-4, "Captured Guns of at Lone Jack, Missouri" by John S. Kritser

[edit] External Links