Generals in Gray: D. H. Hill

Daniel Harvey Hill

Hill led his division all through the Peninsular Campaign, under Joseph E. Johnston and then R. E. Lee, fighting from Yorktown and Williamsburg to Seven Pines and the Seven Days Battles. At Gaines' Mill his division struck a decisive blow on the enemy's right; then at Malvern Hill his gallant attack was undermined by a lack of support. Afterwards, Hill was sharply critical of the Malvern Hill debacle, calling the Confederate artillery “farcical” and the botched attack “not war—it was murder.” Later that year he performed splendidly at Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg. (At Antietam, where Hill’s division held the Confederate center, three horses were killed under him. At one point he picked up a musket and personally helped avert disaster at Bloody Lane.) In 1863 Hill again took charge of the Department of North Carolina. With his command extending to the James, he defended Richmond during Lee’s Gettysburg campaign. In July he was appointed lieutenant general and put in charge of two divisions in the Army of Tennessee, led by the irascible Braxton Bragg. Hill was a superb fighter with a brilliant mind and a razor-sharp tongue. After Chickamauga, he was relieved of command by President Davis for calling for Bragg’s removal. He served as a volunteer on Beauregard’s staff, helping defend Petersburg and later Charleston. He surrendered with Johnston near Durham, North Carolina. After the war, Hill was president of the University of Arkansas (1877-1884) and Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural College (1886-1889). During this time he resumed writing and editing various literary pieces. He died at Charlotte on September 24, 1889.

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Daniel Harvey Hill was born in York District, South Carolina, on July 12, 1821. He graduated from West Point in 1842 and served as a second lieutenant in the artillery corps in the Maine frontier. During the Mexican war he participated in nearly every important engagement and attracted notice by his conspicuous courage, winning two brevets. Hill served at Fortress Monroe from 1848 until the end of February 1849, when he resigned from the army to become a professor of mathematics at Washington College in Virginia. In 1854 he became a professor at Davidson College in North Carolina. In 1859, Hill accepted the position of commandant of the North Carolina Military Institute in Charlotte. During this period he authored several educational and theological works. When the Civil War erupted in 1861, Hill was commissioned colonel of the 1st North Carolina Infantry and sent to the Peninsula in Virginia, in command of the defense of Yorktown. There his regiment won a battle at Big Bethel on June 10, 1861; afterwards Hill was promoted to brigadier general and assigned responsibility for defending the Carolina coast. Early in 1862 he was called back to Virginia and appointed major general in March.

© 2003 David C. Hanson, HIS 269 - Civil War and Reconstruction, Virginia W. Community College

Daniel Harvey Hill
	Hill led his division all through the Peninsular Campaign, under Joseph E. Johnston and then R. E. Lee, fighting from Yorktown and Williamsburg to Seven Pines and the Seven Days Battles. At Gaines' Mill his division struck a decisive blow on the enemy's right; then at Malvern Hill his gallant attack was undermined by a lack of support. Afterwards, Hill was sharply critical of the Malvern Hill debacle, calling the Confederate artillery “farcical” and the botched attack “not war—it was murder.” Later that year he performed splendidly at Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg. (At Antietam, where Hill’s division held the Confederate center, three horses were killed under him. At one point he picked up a musket and personally helped avert disaster at Bloody Lane.) In 1863 Hill again took charge of the Department of North Carolina. With his command extending to the James, he defended Richmond during Lee’s Gettysburg campaign. In July he was appointed lieutenant general and put in charge of two divisions in the Army of Tennessee, led by the irascible Braxton Bragg. Hill was a superb fighter with a brilliant mind and a razor-sharp tongue. After Chickamauga, he was relieved of command by President Davis for calling for Bragg’s removal. He served as a volunteer on Beauregard’s staff, helping defend Petersburg and later Charleston. He surrendered with Johnston near Durham, North Carolina. After the war, Hill was president of the University of Arkansas (1877-1884) and Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural College (1886-1889). During this time he resumed writing and editing various literary pieces. He died at Charlotte on September 24, 1889. Generals >
Daniel Harvey Hill was born in York District, South Carolina, on July 12, 1821. He graduated from West Point in 1842 and served as a second lieutenant in the artillery corps in the Maine frontier. During the Mexican war he participated in nearly every important engagement and attracted notice by his conspicuous courage, winning two brevets. Hill served at Fortress Monroe from 1848 until the end of February 1849, when he resigned from the army to become a professor of mathematics at Washington College in Virginia. In 1854 he became a professor at Davidson College in North Carolina. In 1859, Hill accepted the position of commandant of the North Carolina Military Institute in Charlotte. During this period he authored several educational and theological works. When the Civil War erupted in 1861, Hill was commissioned colonel of the 1st North Carolina Infantry and sent to the Peninsula in Virginia, in command of the defense of Yorktown. There his regiment won a battle at Big Bethel on June 10, 1861; afterwards Hill was promoted to brigadier general and assigned responsibility for defending the Carolina coast. Early in 1862 he was called back to Virginia and appointed major general in March.
© 2003 David C. Hanson, HIS 269 - Civil War and Reconstruction, Virginia W. Community College