John H. Haight (July 1, 1841 - April 8, 1917) was a United States soldier who fought with the Union Army during the American Civil War as a member of the 72nd New York Infantry. He was recognized with his nation's highest honor for valor, the U.S. Medal of Honor, for the extraordinary heroism he displayed in 1862 during the Battle of Williamsburg, Manassas Station Operations, and Second Battle of Bull Run. Formative years Born in Westfield, New York on July 1, 1841, John H. Haight was a son of Henry A. Haight (1799–1845) and Nancy (Griffin) Haight (1806–1898). He and his siblings, Ashley (1826–1852), Charles Edward (1832–1894), Oscar (born c. 1835), Sarah M. (1836–1912), Frances (born c. 1838), and George (1843–1862), spent their formative years with their parents in Chautauqua County, New York — years which were marked by two major transitions: the death of their father in 1845, and the remarriage of their mother, six years later, to Albert Scott, a farmer in Westfield. Civil War John H. Haight and his younger brother, George, became two of New York's earliest responders to President Abraham Lincoln's call for volunteers to defend Washington, D.C. following the mid-April 1861 fall of Fort Sumter to Confederate States Army troops. After his brother mustered in for a three-year term of service as a private with Company E of the 72nd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment on June 20, 1861, John Haight then also enlisted, at the age of 22, for a three-year term on July 17, 1861 in Westfield, New York. Also officially mustering in with the 72nd New York Infantry, John Haight did so on July 24 as a private with the regiment's G Company. He was then promoted to the rank of corporal on September 1. Initially under the command Colonel Nelson Taylor, the Haight brothers and their regiment were transported to Washington, D.C., where they assisted in the defense of the city before participating in the Union Army's expedition to lower Maryland (September 15–October 2, 1861). They were then reassigned with Sickles' Brigade to the U.S. Army of the Potomac in October as part of the division commanded by Brigadier-General Joseph Hooker. Their next significant deployment came as part of the U.S. Army's Third Corps, Second Division when they engaged in the Union Army's advance on Manassas, Virginia (March 10, 1862), the expedition from Dumfries to Fredericksburg, capture of stores