BIO CSA D.H. Hill

[jkBluesman]

Lieut. Gen. Daniel Harvey Hill, CSA (b. 1821, d. 1889) was a stubborn man, dreaded for his acid tongue and his temper that brought him often into trouble with his superiors. He had graduated from West Point in 1842 and served in the Mexican War. He resigned from the army in 1849 and became a professor of mathematics. In 1859 he was named superintendent of the North Carolina Military Institute. After NC had seceded, Hill organized the first instruction camp of the state. During the Seven Days’ battles the brother-in-law of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and West Point classmate of James Longstreet distinguished himself as divisional commander (appointed Brig. Gen. July 10, 1861and Maj. Gen. March 26, 1862). During the Maryland campaign Hill fought well at South Mountain (Turner’s Gap). At Sharpsburg D. H. Hill commanded the forces in the Confederate center, defending a Sunken Road, later called “Bloody Lane”. In Jackson’s corps Hill led a division at Fredericksburg, which formed the reserve. In December 1862 Hill was sent on request of President Jefferson Davis to oversee the defence of North Carolina. During this assignment Hill kept two veteran divisions from the Army of Northern Virginia, thus leaving George E. Pickett’s division under strength at Gettysburg. This strained the relations between Hill and Lee further; Hill still feeling ill-treated as Lee did not appoint him corps commander after Jackson’s death.
But as the need of good high ranking officers rose, Davis offered Hill a command in the Army of Tennessee. Hill agreed and was appointed Lieut. Gen. (July 11, 1863). In the West he took the command of the 2nd corps over from William J. Hardee who had been transferred at his own request to Mississippi. Hill had known the army commander Gen. Braxton Bragg from times in the old army. When he saw Bragg so “gloomy and despondent” as he wrote later, almost all his confidence in Bragg was gone. Their relationship got worse, especially after the Battle of Chickamauga, where Hill’s corps had the bad luck of facing the best Union commander of William S. Rosecrance’s army: George Thomas. The victory was won by Hill’s old commander from times in the Army of Northern Virginia. James Longstreet, who arrived with his forces from the East just in time to break the enemy’s battle line. But due to mismanagement of Leonidas Polk and especially of Bragg and due to Thomas heroic stand, the Union army survived and entrenched in Chattanooga. When the majority of corps and division commanders signed a letter that asked for Bragg’s relieve of command (officially due to his bad health), Bragg tried to get rid of his enemies. President Davis wanted to keep Bragg. Though he did not press charges against Longstreet, Polk, Hill and others, he had some of them transferred. Hill, being one of them, felt he was made the scapegoat but Davis had made up his mind. Thus the career of a good general was ruined. Davis even refused to submit his nomination as Lieut. Gen., which was thus never confirmed by the Confederate Senate. His last service was with Joseph E. Johnston with whom he surrendered in 1865. After the war Hill returned to teaching, became a publisher and was named president of the University of Arkansas.


As his nomination as Lieut. Gen. was never confirmed you might put him as Maj. Gen.. What did he get as teaches? "Shooters" maybe or at least "Disciplined" and "Organized"? When in future patches handling of artillery will be included, he should get a high rating as he fought with the artillery in Mexico and used his guns well at Sharpsburg.

[Gil R.]

Thanks -- looks good.

I've given him Shooters, Bulldogs, and Steady (twice). Giving a guy the same ability twice means that it's much more common among his men. I guess I could replace one with Disciplined or Organized, but I sort of like having him as a guy whose men are less likely to be disordered in fire fights, can't be flanked, and do more damage when firing.

[jkBluesman]

Sounds good. As he was a teacher the important thing is that he is teaching his troops in the game and "Steady" is great.
I think you are doing a superb job here and it is not an easy one as you want to have the commanders historical accurate without putting the game of the balance.

[Gil R.]

I finally finished with this one. I had to remove some minor details to shorten it, but also added the boldfaced passages. I'm pretty happy with it.


Maj. Gen. Daniel Harvey Hill (b. 1821, d. 1889). Hill was a stubborn and impatient man, dreaded for his acid tongue and a temper that often brought him into trouble with his superiors. A native South Carolinian, he had graduated from West Point in 1842 and served heroically in the Mexican War. Resigning from the army in 1849, he became a professor of mathematics and then a decade later the superintendent of the recently established North Carolina Military Institute. After North Carolina seceded, Hill organized the first training camp in the state, and was elected colonel of the 1st North Carolina Infantry, which he led on June 10 in the Battle of Big Bethel, the first significant engagement of the Civil War. Hill was commissioned as a brigadier general in Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s army on July 10, and given divisional command and a promotion to major general the following March 26. During the Seven Days Battles of June 25-July 1, 1862, this brother-in-law of Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson and West Point classmate of Gen. James Longstreet distinguished himself, especially at the Battle of Gaines’ Mill. During the Maryland Campaign, Hill fought well at South Mountain, holding off a much larger enemy force until Longstreet arrived with reinforcements, and at Antietam he commanded the forces in the Confederate center, defending the sunken road later known as the “Bloody Lane.” In February 1863 Hill was sent to oversee the defense of North Carolina. For this assignment Hill kept two veteran divisions from the Army of Northern Virginia, thus leaving Gen. George E. Pickett’s division under strength at the Battle of Gettysburg. This worsened the already strained relations between Hill and Gen. Robert E. Lee, with Hill feeling ill-treated because Lee had not appointed him corps commander after Jackson’s death earlier that year, and Lee resenting Hill for filing an official report that harshly criticized the conduct of the Maryland Campaign. But as the need for good high-ranking officers rose, on July 11, 1863 Davis offered Hill a corps command in Gen. Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee, with the provisional rank of lieutenant general. Taking over the command of II Corps from Gen. William J. Hardee, who had been transferred to Mississippi, Hill was reunited with Bragg, with whom he had previously served in the U.S. Army. (When would this have been? In Mexico? Or later on?) When he saw Bragg so “gloomy and despondent,” as he wrote later, almost all of his confidence in his commander was gone. Their relationship got worse, especially in the controversial aftermath of the Battle of Chickamauga. In this battle, Hill’s corps had the bad luck of facing the best Union commander of Gen. William S. Rosecrans’s army: Gen. George H. Thomas. The victory was won by Longstreet, who arrived with his forces from Virginia just in time to break the enemy’s line. But due to mismanagement of Gen. Leonidas Polk and especially of Bragg, as well as Thomas’s famous stand, the Union army survived and entrenched in Chattanooga. When the majority of senior commanders signed a letter that asked for Bragg to be relieved of command, Bragg tried to get rid of his enemies. As a friend of Davis, Bragg’s position was secure, so while he did not press charges against these officers, he did get some of them transferred, including Hill. Hill felt that he was being made a scapegoat, but Davis had made up his mind. Thus the career of a good, though frequently outspoken, general was ruined. Davis even refused to submit his nomination of Hill as lieutenant general, which therefore was never confirmed by the Confederate Senate. Despite this treatment, Hill continued to serve back east until the war ended. Hill later became a publisher and was named president of Arkansas Industrial University (later the University of Arkansas) and Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural College (later Georgia Military College). (Bio by Joern Kaesebier)

[Battleline]

One has to remember that D.H. Hill was a central figure in Lee's Order No. 191, more famously known as Lee's Lost Order. The copy found by the Federals was addressed to him, although he was able to produce his copy at a later date. At any rate, that added to the friction between him and superiors.
He also was a former teacher of Stephen Dodson Ramsuer, who later became a major general and ironically commanded what had been the D.H. Hill Division when he was killed at Cedar Creek.

[Gil R.]

I knew about the link to Order 191, but didn't realize that caused some of the friction with Lee. I'm not sure if there's room to mention it, though. Maybe by removing the names of the two universities at the end and just saying he was a university president twice.

[shenandoah]

Hill's copy that he produced later was a copy written by Stonewall Jackson. The lost order was Lee's headquaters copy that was sent to Hill but never got there.

[jkBluesman]

The book in which it is mentioned that Hill and Bragg knew each other from the "old army" gives no hint when and where they met. But as Hill left the army just one year after the Mexican-American War it is verly likely that they met there.
May I take "the other Hill" as well?

[Alex Gilbert]

I have to look this up to be sure, but I believe that Hill actually received both copies of special order 191 (first from Lee, and then from Jackson) but failed to make sure the duplicate was destroyed

[Gil R.]

Sure, A.P. Hill's yours.

Okay, I'll just leave the bio vague on how they knew each other. Consider the bio done, then.