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Corporal · U.S. Army

Martin Jones Hawkins

Corporal Martin Jones Hawkins, Army, received the Medal of Honor for actions in April 1862 in Georgia during the Civil War.

U.S. Civil War April 1862

Corporal Martin Jones Hawkins was a soldier in the U.S. Army who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in April 1862 in Georgia during the Civil War. At the time he was serving with Company A, 33d Ohio Infantry. Hawkins was about 32 years old.

The medal was presented on September 1863. He later rose to the rank of First Lieutenant.

Hawkins was born in 1830 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. His Medal of Honor is credited to Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio. Hawkins died on February 7, 1886 in Quincy, Illinois, at the age of about 56. He is buried at Woodland Cemetery in Quincy, Illinois.

Hawkins is one of 1,525 Medal of Honor recipients from the Civil War and one of 256 credited to Ohio.

Official Medal of Honor citation

One of 19 of 24 men (including two civilians) who, by direction of Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchell, penetrated nearly 200 miles south into enemy territory and captured a railroad train at Big Shanty, Ga., in an attempt to destroy the bridges and track between Chattanaooga and Atlanta.

Citation text: U.S. Government, public domain.

Battles and campaigns

Also served in: American Civil War.

Places

  • Born: Mercer County — map
  • Buried: Illinois — map

Veteran resources, cemeteries and meeting places in Ohio →

Timeline

  1. 1830
    Born in Mercer County, Pennsylvania
  2. April 1862
    Act of valor — Georgia
    Age about 32. Company A, 33d Ohio Infantry
  3. September 1863
    Medal of Honor presented
  4. February 7, 1886
    Died in Quincy, Illinois
    Age about 56.
  5. Resting place
    Woodland Cemetery
    Quincy, Illinois

Biography

Martin Jones Hawkins (1830 – February 7, 1886) was a Union Army officer in the American Civil War who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor. Hawkins was born in Mercer County, Pennsylvania in 1840 and entered service at Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio. He was awarded the Medal of Honor, for extraordinary heroism shown in April 1862 during the Great Locomotive Chase, at Big Shanty, Georgia while serving as a corporal with Company A, 33rd Ohio Infantry. His Medal of Honor was issued in September 1863. Hawkins died at the age of 55, on February 7, 1886, and was buried at Woodland Cemetery in Quincy, Illinois.

From the Wikipedia article “Martin J. Hawkins”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full article →

Further reading

More Civil War recipients from Ohio

George Green Corporal · Army Civil War · 1863 John Cook Bugler · Army Civil War · 1862 LR Lewis A. Rounds Private · Army Civil War · 1864 John Alfred Wilson Private · Army Civil War · 1862 Wager Swayne Lieutenant Colonel · Army Civil War · 1862 SL Smith Larimer Corporal · Army Civil War · 1865
Sources. Service and award details compiled from the recipient record of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Wikidata and Wikipedia. The narrative summary is generated from these records. Spotted an error? Send a correction.