Daniel Harvey Hill
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Daniel Harvey Hill (July 12, 1821 – September 24, 1889) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War and a Southern scholar. He was known as an aggressive leader, and as an austere, deeply religious man, with a dry, sarcastic humor. He was brother-in-law to Stonewall Jackson, a close friend to both James Longstreet and Joseph E. Johnston, but disagreements with both Robert E. Lee and Braxton Bragg cost him favor with Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Although his military ability was well respected, he was underutilized by the end of the Civil War. Daniel Harvey Hill is usually referred to as D. H. Hill in historical writing, in part to distinguish him from A. P. Hill, who served with him in the Army of Northern Virginia.
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[edit] Early life
D. H. Hill was born in York district, South Carolina. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1842, ranking 28 out of 56 cadets, and was appointed to the 1st United States Artillery. He distinguished himself in the Mexican-American War, being brevetted captain for bravery at the Battle of Contreras and Churubusco, and brevetted major for bravery at the Battle of Chapultepec. In February 1849, he resigned his commission and became a professor of mathematics at Washington College (now Washington and Lee University), in Lexington, Virginia. In 1854, he joined the faculty of Davidson College, North Carolina, and was, in 1859, made superintendent of the North Carolina Military Institute of Charlotte.
[edit] Civil War
At the outbreak of the Civil War, D. H. Hill was made colonel of a Confederate infantry regiment, at the head of which he won the Battle of Big Bethel, near Fort Monroe, Virginia, on June 10, 1861. Shortly after this, he was promoted to brigadier general.
He took part in the Yorktown and Williamsburg operations that started the Peninsula Campaign in the spring of 1862, and as a major general, led a division with great distinction in the Battle of Seven Pines and the Seven Days Battles. He took part in the Second Bull Run campaign in August-September 1862, and in the Maryland Campaign, the stubborn resistance of D. H. Hill's division in the passes of South Mountain enabled Robert E. Lee to concentrate for battle. Hill's division saw fierce action in the infamous sunken road ("Bloody Lane") at Antietam, and he rallied a few detached men from different brigades to hold the line at the critical moment. He had three horses shot out from under him during the battle.
D. H. Hill's division was held in reserve at the Battle of Fredericksburg. At this point, conflicts with Lee began to surface. On the reorganization of the Army of Northern Virginia after Stonewall Jackson's death, Hill was not appointed to a corps command. He was detached from Lee's Army and sent to his home state to recruit troops. In 1863, he was sent to the newly reorganized Army of Tennessee, with a provisional promotion to lieutenant general, to commanded one of Braxton Bragg's corps. In the bloody and confused victory at Chickamauga, Hill's forces saw some of the heaviest fighting. Afterwards, Hill joined several other generals openly condemning Bragg's failure to exploit the victory. President Jefferson Davis came to personally resolve this dispute, all in Bragg's favor. The Army of Tennessee was reorganized again, and Hill was left without a command. Davis then refused to confirm Hill's promotion, effectively demoting him back to major general.
After that, D. H. Hill commanded only as a volunteer in smaller actions away from the major armies. Hill was division commander when he, along with Joseph E. Johnston, surrendered on April 26, 1865.
[edit] Post-War
From 1866 to 1869, Hill edited a magazine, The Land We Love, at Charlotte, North Carolina, which dealt with social and historical subjects and had a great influence in the South. In 1877, he became the first president of the University of Arkansas, a post that he held until 1884, and, in 1885, president of the Military and Agricultural College of Milledgeville, Georgia. General Hill died at Charlotte and is buried in Davidson College Cemetery.
[edit] In memoriam
The large library at North Carolina State University is named after Daniel Harvey Hill, Jr. (1859 – 1924), the son of Gen. D. H. Hill.
[edit] References
- R. V. Johnson and C. C. Buel, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, 1887-88
- Clement Anselm Evans (editor), Confederate Military History, 1899
- Dr. Dan L. Morrill, Daniel Harvey Hill: The Formative Years
- Ed Churchill, Daniel Harvey Hill -- His Own Worst Enemy
- Civil War Biographies
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
