Lebanon in Wilson County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Site of Robert H. Hatton Home
Early Casualty of the War
Hatton joined the Whig Party and was elected to the state legislature in 1855. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1857. He was elected to the Thirty-sixth U.S. Congress in 1858 and chaired the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Navy. Although he opposed secession and believed that the Union should be preserved, after President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers following the attack on Fort Sumter, Hatton reversed his position. He organized a volunteer company for State service, the Lebanon Blues (soon part of the 7th Tennessee Infantry). Hatton was elected the regiment’s colonel at Camp Trousdale in Sumner County, Tennessee, and was sent to western Virginia in July 1861.
On May 23, 1862, Hatton was promoted to brigadier general of the Tennessee Brigade, 1st Division, Army of Northern Virginia. Eight days later, he was killed while leading his brigade at the Battle of Seven Pines in Virginia. His body was returned to Tennessee, but because Federal troops occupied Middle Tennessee, he was temporarily interred in Knoxville. On March 23, 1866, Hatton was reburied in Lebanon’s Cedar Grove Cemetery. His statue is atop the Confederate monument erected on Lebanon’s town square in 1912.
(Inscription under the photo in the upper left side)
Gen. Robert H. Hatton-Courtesy of Library of Congress.
(Inscription under the photo in the bottom right side)
Seven Pines Battlefield, Virginia, 1912. Hatton was killed late in the afternoon of May 31, 1862, while leading his brigade in an attack on a Union position in a “low ditch” in a wooded area like this one.-Library of Congress
Erected by Tennessee Civil War Trails.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Tennessee Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical month for this entry is March 1780.
Location. 36° 12.533′ N, 86° 17.933′ W. Marker is in Lebanon, Tennessee, in Wilson County. Marker is at the intersection of West Main Street and Hatton Road, on the right when traveling west on West Main Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Lebanon TN 37087, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. City of Lebanon Memorial on the War Against Terrorism (approx. 0.2 miles away); Caruthers Hall (approx. 0.2 miles away); Robert Looney Caruthers (approx. 0.2 miles away); McClain Circle (approx. ¼ mile away); Cumberland University Founded in 1842 (approx. ¼ mile away); Cumberland University Headquarters Tennessee Maneuvers (approx. 0.3 miles away); The WWII Years at Cumberland (approx. 0.3 miles away); The Reverend Dr. Winstead Paine Bone (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Lebanon.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on September 4, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 670 times since then and 41 times this year. Last updated on May 12, 2015, by J. Makali Bruton of Accra, Ghana. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 4, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.