Milton Hanna (Medal of Honor)

Milton Hanna
Hanna in the 1860s
Born(1842-01-12)January 12, 1842
Etna Township, Ohio, U.S.
DiedJanuary 21, 1913(1913-01-21) (aged 71)
Minnehaha, Minneapolis, U.S.
Buried
Glenwood Cemetery
Mankato, Minnesota, U.S.
AllegianceUnited States of America
Branch
Union Army
Service years
1861–1865
Rank
 Sergeant
UnitCompany H, 2nd Minnesota Infantry Regiment
Conflicts
American Civil War
Awards Medal of Honor

Milton Hanna (January 12, 1842 – January 21, 1913) was an American soldier who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Hanna and 8 others from his company received the Medal of Honor for actions taken on February 15, 1863 during a skirmish with Confederate cavalry in Nolensville, Tennessee.

Early life

Hanna was born in Etna Township, Ohio on January 12, 1842 to parents James Hanna and Nancy (nee: Bowden) Hanna.[1][2] On May 13, 1853, his family moved to Minnesota Territory and settled in what is now Mankato, Minnesota in Blue Earth County.[1][2] After the death of his father in 1855, Hanna pursued a livelihood of farming before enlisting in the military.[1]

Military service

At the outbreak of the American Civil War Hanna, at 19 years old, volunteered for service in the Union Army, enlisting on June 22, 1861.[1][2][3] He was enrolled into the ranks of Company H of the 2nd Minnesota Infantry Regiment and fought with the regiment at the Battle of Mill Springs, the Battle of Shiloh, the Siege of Corinth, the Battle of Perryville, and the Battle of Stones River.[1][2][3][4]

Skirmish at Nolensville

Following Stones River on February 15, 1863, Hanna and 14 other soldiers of Company H of the 2nd Minnesota along with a 10-team wagon train were detailed to search the countryside near Nolensville, Tennessee for feed for the company's mules, under the command of then-Sergeant Lovilo N. Holmes.[3] The detachment consisted of Sergeant Holmes, Corporals Milton Hanna, William A. Clark and Samuel Wright, Privates James Flannigan, Samuel Leslie, Louis Londrash, Joseph Burger, Byron Pay, John Vale, Samuel Loudon, Charles Liscom, Nelson Crandall, Charles Kraus, and Homer Barnard.[5]

The detachment stopped at a plantation to load corn from a corn crib into their wagons when they were suddenly attacked by a Confederate cavalry force of 125 mounted soldiers of the 6th Alabama Cavalry Regiment.[1][3][5] Sergeant Holmes ordered the 15-man detachment to take cover inside the barn and corn crib and to hold their fire until he fired first.[3][5] A small skirmish between Holmes' detachment and the cavalry force ensued until reinforcements from the 2nd Minnesota came to Holmes' aid.[3][5] Holmes and his significantly smaller force were able to successfully defend themselves and their wagons from the Confederate assault.[3][5]

For their role in the defense of the wagon train, eight of the soldiers from the detachment were each awarded the Medal of Honor on September 11, 1897;[6] the recipients were Burger, Clark, Flannigan, Hanna, Holmes, Pay, Vale, and Wright.[5] Other recipients of the Medal of Honor who did not receive it because they had died before 1897 included Louden, who was killed at the Battle of Missionary Ridge in 1863, Barnard, who died in 1864, and Crandall and Kraus, who were both killed during the Chattanooga campaign in 1864.[5]

Later service

Hanna was seriously wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863, but re-enlisted in Company H on December 15, 1863.[1][2][7] He served the rest of his re-enlistment with the 2nd Minnesota and later took part in the Grand Review of the Armies before being mustered out of service with the rest of the regiment on July 11, 1865 in Louisville, Kentucky.[1][7][8]

Medal of Honor citation

Hanna's Medal of Honor citation states the following:

"The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Corporal Milton Hanna, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 15 February 1863, while serving with Company H, 2d Minnesota Infantry, in action at Nolensville, Tennessee. Corporal Hanna was one of a detachment of 16 men who heroically defended a wagon train against the attack of 125 cavalry, repulsed the attack and saved the train".[9]

Personal life and death

Hanna was married to Louise N. Purrier on November 1, 1869, and together they had two children.[1] The book History of Blue Earth County and Biographies of its Leading Citizens states that Hanna was a follower of Presbyterianism.[1] Following the war, Hanna was an active member in the Grand Army of the Republic and belonged to Wilkin Post No. 19 of the GAR.[1] He died on January 21, 1913[6][10] at the Minnehaha Soldiers' Home in Minneapolis.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Hughes, Thomas (1901). History of Blue Earth County and Biographies of its Leading Citizens. Chicago: Middle West Publishing Company. p. 419.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Milton Hanna MOH". victoriacrossonline.co.uk. July 2, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Schrader, Julie (January 26, 2014). "Blue Earth County's Milton Hanna was Civil War hero". Mankato Free Press. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Soldier Details". The Civil War (U.S. National Park Service). Retrieved 2026-04-06.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Schrader, Julie (March 5, 2020). "The Corn Crib Party – Civil War Heroes from Blue Earth County". MankatoLIFE. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Milton Hanna". Congressional Medal of Honor Society. January 21, 1913. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
  7. 1 2 Minnesota Adjutant General's Office (1866). Annual Report of the Adjutant General, of the State of Minnesota, for the Year Ending December 1, 1866, and of the Military Forces of the State from 1861 to 1866. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Pioneer Printing Company. p. 99.
  8. ↑ "Battle Unit Details". The Civil War (U.S. National Park Service). Retrieved April 6, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Milton Hanna". Hall of Valor: Medal of Honor. Retrieved 2026-04-06.
  10. ↑ "Hanna, Milton". The National Medal of Honor Museum. January 21, 2026. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
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