Hiram Burnham
| Hiram Burnham | |
|---|---|
Colonel Hiram Burnham, ca. 1862
|
|
| Born | 1814 Narraguagus, Maine |
| Died | September 29, 1864 (aged 49–50) Richmond, Virginia |
| Place of burial | Pine Grove Cemetery, Cherryfield, Maine |
| Allegiance |
United States of America Union |
| Service/branch |
United States Army Union Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1864 |
| Rank |
 Brigadier General
|
| Commands held |
6th Maine Infantry Light Division, VI Corps |
| Battles/wars | |
| Other work | Coroner, lumberman, county commissioner |
Aroostook War
American Civil War
Hiram Burnham (1814 – September 29, 1864) was an officer in the Union Army who commanded a regiment and then a brigade in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. He was killed in battle while assaulting Confederate positions near Richmond, Virginia, during the Battle of Chaffin's Farm.
Hiram Burnham was born in Narraguagus, later Cherryfield, Maine, in 1814. He formed and led a militia company as its captain in the Aroostook War of 1839. He subsequently worked as a lumberman and owned a sawmill. Active in local politics, he held public office as a county commissioner and a coroner. Burnham is described as a burly man with a strong voice, able to make himself heard on a battlefield. He was born in Machias, Maine the son of John & Elizabeth (Libby) Burnham. He moved to Cherryfield in the early 1830s.
Early in the war Burnham became lieutenant colonel of the 6th Maine Infantry on July 16, 1861. He was promoted to the rank of colonel on December 12 of that year. He served with the Army of the Potomac in the Peninsula Campaign, starting out in Brig. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's brigade in a division of the IV Corps under Brig. Gen. William F. Smith. This division later became part of the VI Corps. At the Battle of Crampton's Gap and the Battle of Antietam, Burnham led his regiment in the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps under Hancock. He led the same regiment under Brig. Gen. Calvin E. Pratt at the Battle of Fredericksburg, where the brigade was only lightly engaged.
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