General Henry Hambright...The Civil War
There were over 80 Hambrights who were Union or Confederate soldiers in the Civil War. At Gettysburg, Chicamaugwa, and Atlanta they were on opposite sides of the battlefield. Pennsylvania was home to the majority of Hambright Union Soldiers. North and South Carolina was home to most of the Confederates.
Henry A. Hambright, the son of Major General Frederick Hambright and Elizabeth Shaeffer, was born in Lancaster PA on April 24, 1819. In 1846 the United States declared war on Mexico and Henry volunteered his services. He was a 1st Lieutenant of a company in the 2nd regiment of Pennsylvania volunteers. He served throughout the whole war in the Valley of Mexico, from Vera Cruz to Mexico City. After the return with the regiment to the United States he was mustered out of service in 1848, and resumed his business as a contractor on public works, and afterwards as an Efficient Officer of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Lancaster PA.
With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 Henry Hambright was commissioned a Captain and organized a regiment of volunteers from Lancaster. His Commission was signed by President Abraham Lincoln. He was promoted into the regular army and assumed the rank of Colonel. Hambright's regiment became known throughout the war as the valiant and highly decorated 79th Pennsylvania Regiment. During the Civil War this regiment lost a total of 268 men during service: 4 officers and 118 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 145 enlisted men died of disease.
Colonel Henry Hambright served as part of iconic Major General William Sherman's grand corps in the celebrated march to the sea. William Sherman was successful in taking the war to the Confederates in the Southern States, and winning. Some of the battles the 79th Pennsylvania was engaged in included: Battle of Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, the Siege of Atlanta, The March to the Sea, the surrender of General Johnston and his Confederate Army, March to Washington DC, and the Grand Review in Washington DC.
Colonel Hambright was wounded during the Siege of Atlanta. On the 7th say of June, 1865, "For meritorious services in the field," he was commissioned by President Andrew Johnson "Brevet Brigadier General of volunteers". Following the end the the Civil War General Hambright continued to serve in the army. He died in Lancaster PA February 19,1893.