Benjamín G. Hill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Benjamín G. Hill | |
|---|---|
| 31 March 1874 – 14 December 1920 | |
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| Place of birth | Choix, Sinaloa |
| Place of death | Mexico City |
| Allegiance | Constitutionalist Army, Mexican Army |
| Years of service | 1910 – 1920 |
| Rank | General |
| Battles/wars | Mexican Revolution |
| Other work | Governor of Sonora, Secretary of National Defence |
Gen. Benjamín Hill (Choix, Sinaloa, 31 March 1874 – Mexico City, 14 December 1920) was a military commander during the Mexican Revolution.
Following the call of Francisco I. Madero he joined the revolution in 1910. He was briefly imprisoned in the city of Hermosillo, Sonora, during 1911. Following his release, he took up arms and raised a volunteer army that took Navojoa and was marching on Álamos when the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez was signed. In 1912 he fought against the rebellion led by Pascual Orozco and, following the 1913 coup d'état of Victoriano Huerta, he joined the northwestern corps of the Constitutionalist Army, which would ultimately be commanded by Gen. Álvaro Obregón, alongside whom he fought in the campaigns against Francisco "Pancho" Villa in the Bajío. He served as Governor of Sonora from August 1914 to January 1915.
Following the victory of Venustiano Carranza he was promoted to Divisional General. In 1920 he was one of the main proponents of the Plan of Agua Prieta, fighting in the military rebellions that ensued.
When Obregón assumed the presidency on 1 December 1920, he appointed Hill as his Secretary of War and the Navy. He was seen as a potential presidential successor to Obregón, which brought him into conflict with Interior Secretary Plutarco Elías Calles. A few days after his appointment in 1920, Benjamín Hill died in suspicious circumstances after attending a luncheon; poisoning, at the hands of Calles, has often been suspected.
The town of Benjamín Hill, Sonora, was named in his honour.
