Daniel Harvey Hill
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General Daniel Harvey Hill |
Daniel Harvey Hill (
July 12th,
1821 –
September 24th,
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.
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 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.
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.
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 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.
* 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
