Died 1903 (aged 61–62) Rank Sergeant major | Awards Medal of Honor Name William Hincks | |
Buried at Bridgeport, Connecticut Allegiance United States of America Battles/wars American Civil War
Battle of Gettysburg Unit 14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment Battles and wars American Civil War, Battle of Gettysburg | ||
Service/branch United States Army | ||
William Bliss Hincks (1841 – November 7, 1903) was a Union Army soldier in the American Civil War who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.
Hincks was born in Bucksport, Maine on and entered service at Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was awarded the Medal of Honor, for extraordinary heroism on July 3, 1863, while serving as a Sergeant Major with the 14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, at the Battle of Gettysburg. His Medal of Honor was issued on December 1, 1864.
He died at the age of 62, on November 7, 1903, and was buried at the Mountain Grove Cemetery and Mausoleum in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Medal of Honor citation
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Major William B. Hincks, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 3 July 1863, while serving with 14th Connecticut Infantry, in action at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. During the high-water mark of Pickett's charge on 3 July 1863 the colors of the 14th Tennessee Infantry C.S.A. were planted 50 yards in front of the center of Sergeant Major Hincks' regiment. There were no Confederates standing near it but several were lying down around it. Upon a call for volunteers by Major Ellis, commanding, to capture this flag, this soldier and two others leaped the wall. One companion was instantly shot. Sergeant Major Hincks outran his remaining companion running straight and swift for the colors amid a storm of shot. Swinging his saber over the prostrate Confederates and uttering a terrific yell, he seized the flag and hastily returned to his lines. The 14th Tennessee carried 12 battle honors on its flag. The devotion to duty shown by Sergeant Major Hincks gave encouragement to many of his comrades at a crucial moment of the battle.