Fort Hays

Fort Hays. A Silent Witness. The land on which Fort Hays is built was fought over on June 22, 1864, when the Union army first attempted to cut one of Lee’s vital rail supply lines, the Petersburg Railroad (usually called the Weldon Railroad) located about three miles west. While the Federals were unsuccessful then in what is known as the Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road, they did gain ground here and began entrenching. Fort Hays was constructed between August 26 and September 7 after Union victories on August 18-21 in the Second Battle of Weldon Railroad (Globe Tavern). The fort, built to handle ten field guns, held four cannons and a 300-man garrison., Most forts in the Federal siege lines around Petersburg were named posthumously for Union officers who either died in nearby fighting or during the preceding campaign. Fort Hays was named for Gen. Alexander Hays, a native of Pennsylvania, who graduated from West Point in the class of 1844. He served in the Mexican War and afterward became a construction engineer. When the Civil War began, he became colonel of the 63rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on September 29, 1862, after suffering a severe wound in the Second Battle of Manassas. Hayes rejoined the army in June 1863 and led a II Corps division at Gettysburg with conspicuous gallantry. He was killed on May 5, 1864, west of Fredericksburg in the Battle of the Wilderness near the intersection of Brock Road and Orange Plank Road. He is buried in Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh.