Hayes attended private schools in Ohio and Connecticut, and then went to Kenyon College, where he graduated first in his class in 1842. He studied law in Ohio for a year before entering Harvard Law School. After graduation, Hayes began practicing in Lower Sandusky, Ohio. In 1849 he moved to Cincinnati, where he became a successful defense lawyer and gained a reputation for defending fugitive slaves. It was here that Hayes married Lucy Ware Webb. She was a graduate of Cincinnati’s Wesleyan Women’s College, making Lucy Hayes the first President’s wife to graduate from college. Hayes was almost forty years old and the father of three children when the Civil War began with the attack on Fort Sumter. He convinced members of his Literary Club to volunteer with him, and he was appointed to the rank of major in the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Though Hayes had no military experience, he became a respected leader. He was wounded many times and his wife, Lucy, a nurse, went to the battlefield to care for the Major. She became known as “Mother Lucy,” because of her care for Hayes’ fellow soldiers. Hayes was eventually promoted to the rank of brevet major general.