Biography

Mentioned in 18480114FMS_AHS1. Civil War Union Brigadier General. Born in Detroit Barracks, Michigan, which was the military outpost there, he was the son of Samuel Wellington Hunt, an infantry officer. He was named for his uncle, who was the second Mayor of Detroit. He attended West Point where he became interested in service with the new light artillery, graduating 19th in his class in 1839. On the eve of civil war, he held the rank of Major, and had served on a board to revise light artillery tactics. He was considered one of the foremost authorities on artillery. Under fire at First Bull Run, he acted coolly and competently, using his artillery to turn back a Confederate assault on the left flank that might have finished the beaten Federals. When Major General George B. McClellan took command of the Army of the Potomac, he demonstrated his faith in him by promoting him to Colonel and putting him in charge of the Artillery Reserve, an idea he had masterminded. He returned the favor by continued loyalty to "Little Mac" long after it became politically inappropriate. He served notably on the peninsula, where his Artillery Reserve smashed General Robert E. Lee's assault on Malvern Hill. Promoted to Brigadier General and Chief of Artillery on September 15, 1862, he led his guns into battle at Antietam harassed by uncooperative infantry commanders. At Fredericksburg his 147 guns were used to destroy the town but were unable to push the Confederates off Marye's Heights. In 1863 Major General Joseph Hooker chose to lessen his authority, then suffered a defeat caused in part by the ineffective artillery support of an arm reduced to chaos. Restored to his command by Major General George G. Meade at Gettysburg, he mustered the 70 Cemetery Hill guns that threw back Pickett's Charge. This action proved to be the height of his career. Under Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant he remained Chief of Artillery until 1864, when he was put in command of siege operations at Petersburg. Throughout the war his attempts to make the artillery an independent branch were hampered by infantry commanders who bitterly attacked him, feeling they should have complete control of the artillery. Though brevetted a Major General, he reverted to the rank of Colonel at war's end. He served with the Regular Army and after retirement became governor of the Soldiers' Home in Washington D.C., where he later died and now rests.