BenjamĂn G. Hill
BenjamĂn G. Hill | |
---|---|
Born |
Choix, Sinaloa | 31 March 1874
Died |
14 December 1920 46) Mexico City | (aged
Allegiance | Constitutionalist Army, Mexican Army |
Years of service | 1910 â 1920 |
Rank | General |
Battles/wars | Mexican Revolution |
Other work | Governor of Sonora, Secretary of National Defence |
Gen. BenjamĂn Hill (Choix, Sinaloa, 31 March 1874 â 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 Ălamos when the Treaty of Ciudad JuĂĄrez was signed. In 1912 he fought against the rebellion led by Pascual Orozco and, following the 1913 coup d'Ă©tat of Victoriano Huerta, he joined the northwestern corps of the Constitutionalist Army, which would ultimately be commanded by Gen. Ălvaro ObregĂłn, alongside whom he fought in the campaigns against Francisco "Pancho" Villa in the BajĂo. 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 ObregĂłn 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 ObregĂłn, which brought him into conflict with Interior Secretary Plutarco ElĂas Calles. A few days after his appointment in 1920, BenjamĂn Hill died in suspicious circumstances after attending a luncheon; poisoning, at the hands of Calles, has often been suspected.
The town of BenjamĂn Hill, Sonora, was named in his honour.