ADDRESS 
 
 JHARACTER 
 
 lEUlbNANl UhNHRRL D. H. HILL, 
 
 MAY lOih, 1893. 
 
 HON. A. C. AVERY, 
 
 ^SSOClA\TE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 RALEIGB, N, C: 
 -S & Brouqhton. Power Printers and Binders. 
 
 189:5. 
 
 XXXZSZZZ3 
 
 EXZXXZZSXZZZZ: 
 
 sxzzzxsxzKzx: 
 
 EZZSZZZZSZV 
 
CI. 
 
 BH 
 
 TRINITY Ci 
 LIBRAlli 
 
 DURHAM : NORTH CAROLINA 
 
EMORIAL ADDRESS 
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 Lieutenant General D. H. HILL, 
 
 MAY 10th, 1893. 
 
 ^ Hon. A'^^Qir AVERY, 
 
 ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREmI^-'cO'JRT OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 RALEIGH, N. C: 
 
 Edavards & Brocghton, Power Printers and Binders. 
 
 1893. 
 
M 
 
 01 
 
 In Exchange 
 Duke University 
 - JUL I 2 1933 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Ladies of the Memorial Association, Comrades, Gentlemen: 
 
 Measured by the average length of human life, ahiiost a 
 generation has passed away since the tocsin of war was 
 sounded thirty years ago and aroused in conservative old 
 North Carolina such a furor of excitement as no pen can 
 portray and no tongue describe. As years have rolled by 
 the reaper has gathered and the angels have garnered the 
 ripened sheaves. One by one the spirits of our old heroes 
 have passed over the river to again rally around their sainted 
 leaders, Lee, Jackson and Hill, and join them in endless 
 pteans to the Prince of Peace for achieving the most sublime 
 of all great victories. Twenty years ago the space allotted 
 to the soldiers at these annual gatherings was filled for the 
 most part by comrades rejoicing in the exuberant vigor of 
 young manhood. The eye of your orator searches in vain 
 to-day among the silvered heads, that fill the space allotted 
 to the old soldiers, for the manly forms of those friends of 
 his boyhood and comrades of his young manhood, Basil 
 Manly, Richard Badger, Phil. Sasser and James McKimmon, 
 true and tried soldiers, who were as conspicuous for their 
 courage in the hour of danger as for their loyalty to the 
 sacred memories of the past when our banner had been for- 
 ever furled. 
 
 These object lessons constrain those of us who are now 
 distinctively known as old veterans, to remember that the 
 mention of the stirring days of sixty-one reminds the majority 
 of this audience of no such vivid scenes as pass in review 
 before the imaginations of the old soldier and the wives, 
 sisters and daughters whose hands in all these years have 
 trimmed the turf and whose tears have moistened the im- 
 mortelles that cover the resting places of our loved and 
 honored dead. 
 
 Seven States South of us had solemnly asserted their right 
 under the Constitution to sever their connection with the 
 Federal Union, and had, through their representatives in 
 convention, established the provisional government of the 
 new Confederacy, with Montgomery, Alabama, as its capital 
 city. But North Carolina, with characteristic conservatism, 
 still clung to the federative union of States, which was con- 
 
ceived in the patriotic resolves of Mecklenburg, and ulti- 
 mately established by the timely strategy and heroic valor 
 of her volunteer troops at Kings Mountain and Guilford 
 Court House. In 1789 she had awaited further assurance 
 and guaranty that her rights as a sovereign State would be 
 respected and protected before she w^ould agree to enter into 
 the more perfect union then formed. In 1861 she adhered 
 to that union and stood under the legis of the old flag till 
 those in whose custody the political revolution of the pre- 
 vious year had placed it, had alread}' broken the compact 
 and attempted tlie subjugation of her sister States. 
 
 The defiant answer of Governor Ellis to Lincoln's demand 
 for North Carolina's quota of Federal soldiers, and his 
 prompt call for volunteers to support oar kindred and man 
 our forts, went to the people on the wings of the wind. Tele- 
 grams, trains, single engines, pony express and runners were 
 so effectually employed as to reach every precinct and every 
 hamlet in three or four days. South Carolina had been 
 invaded and every voice demanded that the invader should 
 be resisted to the dea'h. The response of the clan to the 
 bearer of Vich Alpine's bloody croslet was not more ready 
 nor supported by a more determined coutage than was that 
 of the brave sons of our grand old State to the call of her 
 chosen chief. In a little while drums were beating, bands 
 were playing, girls were singing, boys were shouting, flags 
 were flying, orators were appealing, and stalwart men were 
 weeping. But behind all this the firm resolve of the volun- 
 teer to do or die found an echo even in the heart of the wife 
 and mother. The widow without a murmur committed her 
 only boy to the keeping of the orphan's God, as she proudly 
 imprinted a parting kiss upon his brow, while the woe of the 
 bride was tempered with that admiration which is the tribute 
 of beauty to bravery, as she gave a last embrace to one to 
 whom she had but yesterday plighted her faith. The stately 
 Southern dames and the petted damsels, whose soft hands had 
 seldom plied needle before, found their greatest pleasure 
 then in deftly working upon caps, haversacks and knapsacks, 
 as at a later day in cutting and stitching the coarse clothing 
 intended for our brave bo3'S. 
 
 The organized bodies of citizen soldiery from all parts of 
 the State, such as the Rowan Rifles, the Wilmington Light 
 Infantry and the Oak City Guards were sent hastily to the 
 unoccupied forts on our coast. As the other companies thus 
 hurriedly equipped rushed to the capital to tender their ser- 
 
vices, all eyes were turned to an adopted son of the State, 
 whose education at West Point and brilliant career in Mexico 
 bad placed bim easily at tbe bead of ber citizen soldiery — 
 and Daniel Harvey Hill was called to the command of her 
 first camp of instruction. 
 
 BIRTH AND EDUCATION. 
 
 He was born in York District in the State of South Caro- 
 lina on tbe 21st of July, 1821. He traced his descent neither 
 from the Cavaliers of England nor from tbe Huguenots of 
 France, but from tbe sturdy sons of liberty-loving Scotland, 
 who migrated to the north of Ireland and ultimately planted 
 colonies in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North and Soutb Caro- 
 lina, where they educated, elevated and dominated the people 
 with whom they came in contact. His paternal grandfather, 
 William Hill, a native of Ireland, bad landed in Pennsyl- 
 vania and moving South with the stream of Scotch-Irish 
 that populated the valley of Virginia and Western North 
 Carolina, built, with Colonel Hayne as bis partner, in 1770 
 an iron foundry in York District, which within the next 
 decade was the only point south of Virginia where cannons 
 were cast for the use of tbe colonial armies. He was Colonel 
 of a regiment in Sumpter's brigade and fought gallantly 
 under bim in many engagements. While Colonel Hill was 
 confined to bis home by a wound received in battle, a 
 detachment was sent from the British force at Charleston to 
 destroy bis foundry, and be barely escaped with bis life b}^ 
 biding under a large log and covering himself with leaves. 
 When the battle of Kings Mountain was fought, Colonel 
 Hill's command bad been disbanded, but be went to tbe field 
 as a volunteer and was honored by being invited to tbe 
 council held by Campbell, Sevier, McDowell, and other dis- 
 tinguished regimental commanders, to determine tbe plan of 
 attack. He made a number of suggestions that were adopted 
 and proved the value of bis opinion as a soldier. For twenty 
 years after tbe war Colonel Hill was tbe trusted representa- 
 tive of bis district in the State Senate of South Carolina and 
 was the intimate friend of Patrick Calhoun, the father of tbe 
 great statesman and orator, John C. Calhoun. General Hill's 
 mother was Nanc}' Cabeen, the daughter of Thomas Cabeen, 
 a native Scotchman, who was Sumpter's trusted scout and 
 "tbe bravest man in his command," as tbe General himself 
 often declared. Two uncles of General Hill were soldiers in 
 
6 
 
 the second war with England, and one of them was the 
 Adjutant of Colonel Arthur P. Hayne's regiment. Solomon 
 Hill, his father, died when his son Harvey was but four 
 years old, leaving him with four other children to be reared 
 by a mother who was noted for her piety, culture, common 
 sense and devotion to her children. Like all Scotch and 
 Scotch-Irish Presbyterians of the old school, she exacted of 
 her sons the most rigid observance of the Sabbath. Dr. 
 John Hill, a somewhat wayward brother of General Hill, 
 often declared, after he had reached middle age, that during 
 his boyhood he always " took the blues on Thursday morn- 
 ing because Sunday was coming." The boys were required, 
 each in his turn, to select and read a morning prayer when 
 the family assembled for breakfast. Some of General Hill's 
 heartiest laughs were 'provoked by the recollection of the 
 ludicrous mistakes made by this little brother in his efforts 
 to find and read the shortest petition in the book without 
 regard to its fitness for the occasion. 
 
 Sprung from a race of soldiers by the paternal as well as 
 the maternal line, it is not strange that the earliest ambition 
 of D. H. Hill led him to seek for a place at West Point and 
 to look forward to a military career. Under the rigid phys- 
 ical examination now prescribed for an applicant, he would 
 have been rejected without hesitation. He entered the insti- 
 tution in 1838, and but for feeble health, would have pressed 
 to the very front of a class of which Generals Longstreet, 
 A. P. Stewart, G. W. Smith, R. H. Anderson and Van Dorn 
 of the Confederate, and Rosecranz, Pope, Sikes, Doubleday, 
 Stone and Reynolds of the Federal array were members. 
 
 MEXICAN W'AR. 
 
 Graduating in 1842, he was still a Second Lieutenant when 
 he was ordered with his command into active service in 
 Mexico in August, 1845. During the three succeeding years 
 he participated in nearly every battle fought by our forces 
 under the command of either Scott or Taylor, and always 
 attracted the notice of his superior officers by his conspicu- 
 ous courage. He soon rose to the rank of First Lieutenant, 
 and for gallant conduct at Contreras and Cherubusco, was 
 breveted Captain. At Chepultepec he volunteered with the 
 storming party, and so distinguished himself among the 
 scores of brave men who participated with him in that des- 
 perate assault as to win for himself a second brevet as Major. 
 
He was one of the six officers in the whole force employed 
 in Mexico who were twice breveted for meritorious service 
 upon the field. Animosity, envy and a disposition to indulge 
 in carping criticism have led to many unjust reflections upon 
 General Hill, but the most unscrupulous of his detractors 
 never questioned his courage or his integrity. When the 
 legislature of his native State provided by law that three 
 swords should be awarded to the three bravest of her soldiers 
 who had survived the war with Mexico, many letters and 
 testimonials from the officers of the old army were volunta- 
 rily sent to the Chief Executive, naming D. H. Hill as among 
 the bravest soldiers in the arm}^ of the United States. Among 
 the few of these testimonials still extant is the letter from 
 the gallant Bee, who, in exclaiming a moment before he fell 
 at Manassas, " There stands Jackson like a stonewall," gave 
 to the great leader the pet name by which his soldiers called 
 him and the world knows him, and thereby made himself 
 immortal as its author. The letter addressed to General 
 Dunavant on the 26th of October, 1856, is as follows: 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to add my mite of praise to that which has 
 ah-eady been given to Mr. Hill by his military superiors. I had the 
 pleasure of knowing him intimately and serving with him in the storm- 
 ing party detailed from Twigg's division for the attack on Chepultepec. 
 I can bear full testimony to his gallantry and to his ardent desire to do 
 his duty well. In addition, I can testify to his State pride, evinced in 
 his going up under a heavy fire to congratulate and praise a member of 
 the Palmetto regiment, who was behaving under fire most gallantly. 
 For his services on that day he received honorable mention from his 
 immediate commanders and also from Colonel McGruder, commanding 
 a light battery, which battery Lieutenant Hill offered to support, when 
 it was menaced by a body of Mexican lancers. He received the brevet 
 appointment of Major and was considered a loss to the service when he 
 resigned. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 BERNARD BEE, 
 Captain U. S. Army. 
 
 From the scores of her surviving heroes of the Palmetto 
 regiment and in the regular army the committee appointed 
 by the State authorities selected Hill to receive one of the 
 three swords awarded, and it is still preserved by his family. 
 
 After the close of the late war a Federal soldier wrote to 
 General Joseph E. Johnston, asking the name of a Confed- 
 erate officer who, on the right of our army at Seven Pines, 
 had made himself most conspicuous for his daring and 
 indifference to danger. The only mark of distinction which 
 he could give General Johnston was that he thought the 
 
officer rode a white horse. General Johnston replied that he 
 supposed the officer referred to must have been General D. H. 
 Hill. In writing to General Hill about the matter, General 
 Johnston said : " I drew my conclusion that j^our horse might 
 very well have been taken for white and that no man was 
 more likely to expose himself than you. Do you know that 
 in Mexico the young officers called you the bravest man in 
 the army ?" 
 
 MARRIAGE AND LIFE AS TEACHER. 
 
 When the war with Mexico ended Major Hill resigned 
 his place in the army to accept the professorship of Mathe- 
 matics in Washington College at Lexington, Virginia. Before 
 assuming the duties of that place he was happily married, 
 November 2d, 1852, to Isabella, oldest daughter of Rev. Dr. 
 R. H. Morrison, and granddaughter of General Joseph Gra- 
 ham, who was a distinguished soldier of the Revolution and 
 the father of Governor William A. Graham. Six years later 
 he was invited to take the same professorship at Davidson 
 College, where for five years he was looked upon as the lead- 
 ing sjjirit amongst a corps of able and learned professors. 
 
 D. H. Hill was not a politician in the sense of aspiring to 
 office or attempting to mould public opinion ; but when he 
 saw that the leaders of the North had determined that no 
 Southernor should be allowed to take his slaves to the terri- 
 tory wrested from Mexico by the blood and treasure of the 
 South as well as the North, he believed that the irrepressible 
 conflict which Seward declared at a later day was being 
 waged had then begun, and would be settled only upon the 
 bloody field of battle and after a prolonged, sanguinary and 
 doubtful struggle. 
 
 Fully persuaded that the inevitable conflict was near at 
 hand, and that it was his solemn duty to prepare the rising 
 generation of his adopted State to meet it, he in 1859, gave 
 up his pleasant home and his congenial duties at Davidson 
 College for those of commandant and manager of the Mili- 
 tary Institute at Charlotte. 
 
 He harbored no unkind thought of the noble men and 
 women of the North who held opinions different from his 
 own. He respected even the honest fanatic, who fairly and 
 openly contended for his convictions; but he hated cant and 
 hypocrisy, despised duplicity and dishonesty, and leveled at 
 them his most effective weapons, ridicule and sarcasm. For 
 
9 
 
 that portion of our Northern brethren who came to the South 
 to drive hard bargains with our people and cheat them by 
 false pretences, he felt and expressed the most sovereign con- 
 tempt. For the men of the North who coveted the wealth 
 of the Southern planter, and the women who envied their 
 Southern sisters because of the ease and leisure incident to 
 the ownership of slaves, he made no attempt to conceal his 
 hatred and disgust. 
 
 Major Hill brought with him to Raleigh his three profes- 
 sors, Lee, Lane and McKinney, two of whom fell later at 
 the head of North Carolina regiment?, and one of whom was 
 the successor of the noble Branch as the commander of one 
 of our best and bravest brigades. He also brought with him 
 almost the whole corps of cadets, whose services proved inval- 
 uable as drill-masters of the ten thousand volunteers then in 
 the camp of instruction of which Hill took charge. For his 
 services in the camp of instruction. General Hill was allowed 
 to select twelve companies to compose the first regiment of 
 volunteers. The officers of these companies were all leading 
 and influential citizens, and the rank and file were among 
 the first young men in the State in intelligence, wealth and 
 social position. The service of six months proved a train- 
 ing-school for that splendid body of volunteers, that ulti- 
 mately placed them at the head of companies, regiments, 
 brigades and divisions. Among its original officers were 
 Major General Hoke, Brigadier Generals Lane and Lewis, 
 Colonels Avery, Bridgers, Hardy, W. W. McDowell, J. C. S. 
 McDowell, Starr, Pemberton, Fuller, and a score of others, 
 while a number from the rank and file fell at the head of 
 both companifs and regiments at later stages of the struggle. 
 
 In the outset of this discussion of the career of D. H. Hill 
 as a Confederate soldier, I lay down and propose to maintain 
 the proposition that from the time when he fought the first 
 fight of the war with North Carolina soldiers on Virginia 
 soil till the day he led the last attacking column of Confede- 
 rates east of the Mississippi and checked Sherman's advance 
 at Bentonsville, whatever may have been the general result 
 of an}^ engagement, the command of General L). H. Hill was 
 never found when the firing ceased at night in the rear of 
 the position it occupied when the signal of attack sounded 
 in the morning. Apparently reckless in the exposure of his 
 own person, no officer in our armies was more anxious about 
 the health, happiness and safety of his soldiers. His theory 
 was that spades were instruments of defensive, bayonets of 
 
10 
 
 offensive warfare, and whether the emergency demanded the 
 use of the one or the other, it was to he done with " might and 
 main." When his cadets had asked him whether they should 
 join South Carolina regiments before their own State seceded, 
 he had prophesied that the war would soon begin and would 
 continue long enough to give every Soutlierner an oppor- 
 tunity to displa}'' his manhood. He rested his ho[)e of suc- 
 cess upon the belief that every son of the South would rush 
 to the rescue ; that our armies would be supplied by the 
 labor of our slaves, and that we would thus be enabled to 
 throw a force into the field sufficient to meet every Northern 
 man, who would tender his services tc the Federal government. 
 Two important elements were wanting as a basis of his calcu- 
 lations — the Southern loyalist and the foreign substitute. 
 When, therefore. General D. H. Hill reported to Colonel J. B. 
 McGruder, then in charge of the Peninsula, and was assigned 
 to the command of the defences of Yorktown, he realized, in 
 a measure at least, the magnitude of the coming contest. 
 
 It has been said that a man who is himself born to com- 
 mand is c[uick to perceive in others the Cjualities that fit 
 them for leadership Colonel Hill seemed almost intuitively 
 to descry in the ranks the coolness, courage, judgment and 
 power of prompt decision which others recognized in his 
 favorites after they had led brigades and divisions to victory. 
 On assuming command at Yorktown he soon discovered that 
 the cavalry, which he looked upon as the " eye and the ear 
 of the army," was inefficient, because the force was composed 
 of a number of detached companies without a trained or effi- 
 cient commander. In this emergency an officer of the old 
 army, who had been commisiioned Lieutenant in the regular 
 army of the Confederate States, reported for duty. Marking 
 him as a man of promise. Colonel Hill at once caused an 
 order to be issued placing "Major John B. Hood" in com- 
 mand of all the cavahy, and waited for the War Department 
 to ratify the promotion and thus protect him in practicing a 
 pardonable ruse on the volunteers. That officer ultimately 
 succeeded Lieutenant General D. H. Hill as the commander 
 of a corps, and was still later placed in charge of the army of 
 Tennes;ee. The Providence that has provided homes for 
 his orphan children will in its own good time bring to light 
 all the facts, and then John B. Hood will stand vindicated 
 before the world as one of the best and bravest of all our 
 leaders. It was this same gift that enabled General Hill to 
 select from the lieutenants of his regiment Robert F. 
 
11 
 
 Hoke to be made Major of his regiment over ten com- 
 petent captains. It was this intuitive perception of persistent 
 pluck, dash and coohiess that prompted him to love and 
 honor George B. Anderson, William R. Cox, Bryan Grimes, 
 Stephen D. Ramseur and Robert D. Johnston, and led him 
 later to urge the advancement of Gordon, Colquitt and Doles, 
 of Georgia. In June, 180 1 (a few days after the fight at 
 Bethel), in a letter to his wife he said of Stonewall Jackson, 
 then a Colonel in command of a brigade, " I see that Jackson 
 has had an engagement and taken many prisoners. I have 
 predicted all along that Colonel Jackson would have a 
 prominent place in the war." 
 
 BATTLE OF BETHEL. 
 
 On the 6th of June, 1861, Colonel Hill, then at Yorktown, 
 was ordered to make a reconnoisance in force in the direc- 
 tion of Fortress Monroe, and moved down with his own regi- 
 ment and four companies of Richmond Howitzers under the 
 command of Major G. W. Randolph (afterwards Secretary of 
 War), to Little Bethel church. Receiving information that 
 Butler's forces were preparing to move up the Peninsula, 
 Colonel Hill fell back to Big Bethel church, where, with a 
 small branch of Black river on his front and right flank and 
 an almost impenetrable forest on his left, he used twenty-five 
 spades and several hundreds of bayonets during the night in 
 making an enclosed work. Ben. Butler had started 5,000 
 men in three columns, with the confident expectation that 
 two of the detachments would travel by roads passing north 
 and south of the position at Little Bethel and form a junc- 
 tion two or three miles in rear of it, where the roads traveled 
 by the two came together, while Duryea's regiment of 
 Zouaves would engage Hill in front till the other columns 
 should unite and then press him in the rear in his expected 
 retreat. Two of the detachments mistook each other in the 
 night and engaged in a skirmish in which two men were 
 killed and eight wounded. The Zouaves, instead of " fol- 
 lowing immediately upon the heels" of the fugitive rebels, 
 as contemplated by Butler, turned back and fled precipitately 
 on hearing the firing in front of their own reserve line. 
 
 On the next day they again moved forward and attacked 
 the force at Big Bethel, Colonel McGruder having mean- 
 time arrived with Carey's battalion of infantr}'. The whole 
 force engaged on the Confederate side was 800 North Caro- 
 
12 
 
 linians and 400 Virginians; on the Federal, 3,500 with 1,500 
 to 2,500 in reserve. After preliminary skirmishing lor about 
 two hours, and an attack that lasted two and a-half hours 
 longer, the enemy retreated in great confusion with a loss of 
 probably 50 killed and 300 wounded, and were so hotly pur- 
 sued by our cavalry that they scattered guns, haversacks and 
 knapsacks till they crossed a bridge and stopped the pursuit 
 by destroying it. The names of no soldiers of North Caro- 
 lina should be inscribed in a more prominent place on the 
 monument to be erected to her heroic dead than those of 
 Henry L. Wyatt, the first offering of the Sjuth to the Lost 
 Cause, and his three comrades, who rushed forward in a hail 
 of shot and shell to destroy a house where the sharpshooters 
 of the enemy had taken slielter. Judging of its importance 
 by the numbers engaged and the losses on both sides the 
 battle of Bethel scarcely rose above the dignity of a skirmish ; 
 yet few events in the early history of the war had a more 
 important influence upon the contests of the following year. 
 The splendid bearing of our soldiers sent a thrill of pride to 
 every Southern heart, and when the first battle of Manassas 
 was fought, less than a month later, our soldiers moved for- 
 ward in the confidence that Southern pluck would again 
 prevail over a foe that had shown so little dash and confi- 
 dence in this encounter. 
 
 There was on the Federal side at least one stout leader, 
 who displayed the spirit of a hero. When Major Theodore 
 Winthrop fell within fifteen feet of our line bravely leading 
 a regiment in the charge, even a generous foe felt that he 
 was worthy to bear the name of the two Winthrops by whose 
 courage and judgment Americans had first gained a foot- 
 hold in this country. 
 
 COMMITTED EVERYTHING TO GOD. 
 
 To know D. H. Hill as the soldier of iron nerve, who rode 
 unmoved in showers of shot and shell, or rebuked in scathing 
 terms a laggard or a deserter, was to understand nothing of 
 his true nature. When the battle of Bethel was over and 
 others were feasting or carousing. Hill had fallen ui)on his 
 knees and was returning thanks to Almighty God who, he 
 believed, directed the course of every deadly missile hurled 
 by the enemy with the same unerring certainty that ordered 
 the movements of the multitudes of worlds in the universe, 
 and into whose keeping he daily committed himself, his wife 
 
13 
 
 and little ones, his staff and his soldiers with the calm reli- 
 ance of a child, that as a kind father he would provide what 
 was best for him and them. 
 
 On the day after the fight at Bethel he wrote his wife : 
 " I have to thank God for a great and decided victory and 
 that I escaped with a slight contusion on the knee. * * It 
 is a little singular that my first battle in this war should be 
 at Bethel where I was baptized and worshipped till I was 
 sixteen years old, the church of mj mother. Was she not 
 a guardian spirit in the battle, averting ball and shell? Oh 
 God, give me gratitude to Thee, and may we never dishonor 
 Thee by weak faith !" Still later he wrote his wife : " I look 
 for a battle about the first of October. Pray for me that I 
 may be well. (He was then in delicate health.) * * We are 
 in the hands of God and as safe on the battlefield as any- 
 where else. We will be exposed to a heavy fire, but the arm 
 of God is mightier than the artillery of the enemy." 
 
 After the battle Governor Ellis issued a commission of 
 Brigadier General to him, as Governor Letcher had done at 
 an earlier date in the case of Jackson, but President Davis 
 delayed giving him the appointment till September, 1861. 
 'The response to a letter from his wife written during this 
 interval in which she complained of the delay, shows how 
 little the outer world understood his character or his motives. 
 "You must not be concerned about my commission (he 
 wrote). I feel too distrustful of my own skill, coolness and 
 judgment. I have never coveted and always avoided posi- 
 tions of trust and responsibility. The offices that I have 
 held have not been of my seeking." 
 
 ASSIGNED TO COMMAND IN NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 Upon receiving his commission as a Brigadier in Septem- 
 ber, 1861, the first work assigned to him was the command 
 of the coast of North Carolina with the duty, as far as possi- 
 ble, of constructing fortifications wherever necessary. Hope- 
 less as was the task assigned General Hill, he brought all of 
 his energies to bear upon it, and during the few months that 
 he remained in North Carolina did so much to strengthen 
 our forts and improve the discipline and spirit of the troops 
 that the public men of the State asked for his return in every 
 time of peril, until it became the custom of the General com- 
 manding to send him to his department south of the James 
 when all was quiet on the Potomac, and recall him to the 
 
14 
 
 command of his division in the field when active operations 
 were resumed. 
 
 ORDERED TO NORTHERN VIRGINIA — FRIENDSHIP FOR 
 GENERAL STONE. 
 
 His first connection with the army of Northern Virginia 
 was when, early in December, 1861, he was ordered to report 
 to General Johnston at Manassas, and was assigned to com- 
 mand at Leesburg on the left of the line. While he was sta- 
 tioned there an incident occurred which evinced the strength 
 and warmth of General Hill's affection for his early friends, 
 even in the Federal army. General Stone was in charge 
 of the force on the opposite side of the river, and after writing 
 an official letter sent under flag of truce. General Hill ap- 
 pended a postscript to the effect, that, if the fortunes of war 
 should place his old academy chum in his custody, he should 
 feel more inclined to take him into his own tent than to con- 
 sign him to prison. This led to the interchange of several 
 kind messages appended to similar communications. Un- 
 fortunately Stone was a pronounced Democrat and, like 
 McClellan, was unwilling to recant or repent. Seizing upon 
 this excuse Stanton arrested him on a charge of disloyalty 
 and gave him no opportunit}'' to vindicate himself till the 
 close of the war, when he resigned and spent his last days 
 in command of the army of the Khedive of Egypt. 
 
 On the night of the battle of Gaines' Mill, Major Glitz and 
 General Reynolds, old army comrades of General Hill, were 
 brought as prisoners to his quarters. He received both very 
 kindly and sent for a surgeon to dress Major Clitz's wound, 
 while he comforted Reynolds, who was mortified at being 
 caught asleep, by reminding him that his gallant conduct 
 in Mexico and on the border would protect his good name 
 from a shade of suspicion. Both were placed in an ambu- 
 lance, paroled to report to General Winder at Richmond, and 
 furnished with the address of a friend of General Hill's who 
 would honor their drafts for money. These incidents are 
 reproduced because they bring to view traits of General Hill's 
 character of which the w^orld generally knows so little, his 
 warm sympathy for suffering and his lasting and unswerving 
 fidelity to his friends. 
 
15 
 
 WILLIAMSBURG. 
 
 From the moment when Johnston placed Hill, then a 
 Major General, at the head of a division in March, 1862, till 
 the last shock of arms at Bentonsville, Hill's position on 
 every march and in every battle, with scarcely a single 
 exception, was the post of danger and honor. Plis was the 
 first division of Johnston's army to enter Yorktown and the 
 last to leave it and pass with his command through the 
 reserve line. When the vanguard of the enemy led by Han- 
 cock rushed upon our rear at Williamsburg, it was Basil C. 
 Manly, of Ramseur's Battery, who seeing that a section of 
 the enemy's light artillery might beat him in the race to 
 occupy an earthwork midway between the two, unlimbered 
 on the way and by a well directed shot disabled the enemy 
 in transitu, and quick as thought limbered up again and ran 
 into the fortifications. It was the regiment of Duncan K. 
 McRae, of D. H. Hill's Division, that extorted from the gen- 
 erous and gallant Hancock that memorable declaration, "The 
 Fifth North Carolina and Twenty-fourth Virginia deserve 
 to have the word immortal inscribed on their banners." It 
 was this charge which Early describes as "an attack upon 
 the vastly superior forces of the enemy, which for its gal- 
 lantry is unsurpassed in the annals of warfare." 
 
 SEVEX PINES. 
 
 When McClellan moved his army over Bottom's bridge, 
 threw a heavy column across the Chickahominy and extended 
 his line towards the north of Richmond, General R. E. Lee 
 was then acting as advisory commander of all of the armies 
 of the Confederacy. He concurred with Mr. Davis in the 
 opinion that McClellan should be attacked on the other side 
 of the Chickahominy before he matured his preparations for 
 a siege of Richmond (1 Rise and Fall, p. 120). When General 
 Lee communicated their views to General Johnston he told 
 General Lee that his plan w^as to send A. P. Hill to the right 
 and rear of the enemy and G. W. Smith to the left Hank 
 with orders to make simultaneous attacks for the'purpose of 
 doubling up the army, and sending Longstreet to cross at 
 Mechanicsville bridge and attack him in front. McClellan's 
 line on his right was not then well fortified, and the general 
 disposition of the Federal forces was more favorable for a 
 Confederate advance than a month later, when General Lee 
 
16 
 
 concentrated a heavy force on the left and turned it. After 
 McDowell's movement to Hanover Court House, when his 
 vanguard was checked by Branch, the blows stricken by 
 Jackson in such rapid succession in the valley had excited 
 apprehension so grave in the mind of Mr. Lincoln that 
 despite McClellan's protest, he ordered the withdrawal of that 
 command to Fredericksburg for the protection of AVashington 
 City. For reasons that were unsatisfactory to the President, 
 General Johnston after marching and countermarching G. W. 
 Smith's and Longstreet's divisions, abandoned his first plan 
 of operations and ordered the troops to assume substantially 
 their original positions. President Davis in his work "The 
 Rise and Fall of the Confederacy," takes the ground that 
 after wailing a week and giving McClellan the opportunity 
 to fortify, operations should have been delayed another day 
 till the Chickahominy had risen high enough to sweep away 
 the bridges and till Huger had had time to move up his 
 artillery from his position near Richmond. 
 
 Tiie popular impression that the bridges across the Chicka- 
 hominy had alread}^ been swept away when the fight at 
 Seven Pines began on the 30th of May, 1861, is totally 
 unfounded. The corps of Heintzelman and Keyes were then 
 south and that of Sumner north of the Chickahominy. The 
 plan outlined V)y General Johnston was, briefly, that Huger 
 should move from his camp near Richmond early on that 
 morning down the Charles City road and vigorously attack 
 the enemy's right, and Longstreet and Hill moving on the 
 same road should attack the center and left of the force south 
 of the bridge, while G. W. Smith's corps should advance on 
 the Nine Mile road and turn the left; of Heintzelman and 
 Keyes if Sumner should not have arrived, or engage and pre- 
 vent the junction of his with the other corps, if he should 
 cross. Longstreet and Hill were in position to attack at an 
 early hour, but waited till ten o'clock for the arrival of 
 Huger, whose division except two regiments of Rhodes (which 
 created a diversion by a vigorous attack on the right) did 
 not arrive in time to participate in the action. Our failure 
 to destroy an enemy who, by a concerted movement in the 
 forenoon, would have been utterly routed and driven from 
 the field or captured, was, as is universally conceded, one of 
 the most palpable blunders of the war, but the question, 
 upon whose shoulders the blame rests, still confronts us. 
 No engagement of the war has given rise to more acrimoni- 
 ous censure and crimination than Seven Pines. Mr. Davis, 
 
17 
 
 General Johnston, General Longstreet, General Smith and 
 General Huger, have each in turn discussed the conduct of 
 both the active and passive leaders of that memorable day. 
 
 The future historians who shall make up for posterity their 
 verdict upon the controverted points as to the battle of Seven 
 Pines will find one fact admitted by all of the disputants: 
 that D. H. Hill was the hero of the occasion, and with his 
 own gallant division, aided by two of Longstreet's brigades, 
 drove the enemy in confusion from the breastworks and 
 turned their own guns upon them as they retreated. Long- 
 street, who was in command on the right, generously said in 
 his report: "The conduct of the attack was left entirely to 
 Major General Hill, The success of the affair is sufficient 
 evidence of his ability, courage and skill." Commenting 
 upon the language of Longstreet, President Davis said: 
 "This tribute to General Hill was no more than has been 
 accorded to him by others who knew of his services on that 
 day, and was in keeping with the determined courage, vigi- 
 lance and daring exhibited by him on other fields." 
 
 General Johnston's language was not less unequivocal in 
 according to Hill the credit of making a very gallant and 
 the only successful attack upon the enemy's works, when he 
 said in his report: "The principal attack was made by Major 
 General Longstreet with his own and Major General D. H. 
 Hill's division — the latter mostly in advance. Hill's brave 
 troops, admirably commanded and most gallantly led, forced 
 their way through the abattis which formed the enemy's 
 external defences and stormed their entrenchments by a 
 most determined and irresistible rush. Such was the man- 
 ner in which the enemy's first line w^as carried. The opera- 
 tion was repeated with the same gallantry and success as our 
 troops pursued their victorious career through the enemy's 
 successive camps and entrenchments. At each new position 
 they encountered fresh troops and reinforcements brought 
 from the rear. Thus they had to repel repeated efforts to 
 retake works which they had carried, but their advance was 
 never successfully resisted." 
 
 LEE ASSUMES COMMAND — SEVEN DAYS BATTLE. 
 
 On the 31st of Ma}'', 1862, General R. E. Lee was assigned 
 
 to the command of the army in place of General Johnston, 
 
 who had been painfully wounded on the previous day, and 
 
 immediately addressed himself to the arduous task of pre- 
 
 2 
 
18 
 
 paring for the decisive encounter, which could not be long 
 delayed. His "exhibition of grand administrative talent 
 and indomitable energy in bringing up that army in so short 
 a time to that state of discipline which maintained aggrega- 
 tion during those terrible seven days fight around Rich- 
 mond " (says Colonel Chilton) was " his greatest achievement." 
 The order of battle in the memorable seven days fight 
 required A. P. Hill, when Jackson should pass down in rear 
 of Mechanicsville, to cross at Meadow's bridge and drive the 
 enemy so as to enable D. II. Hill to pass over the bridge at 
 that village. 
 
 MECHANICSVILLE. 
 
 In obedience to messages from General Lee and President 
 Davis, General Hill, after crossing, went forward with the 
 brigade of Brigadier General Ripley to co-operate with the 
 Division of General A. P. Hill. At the request of Brigadier 
 General Pender, Hill directed Ripley just at dark to act in 
 concert wdth that dashing officer in the effort to turn the 
 enemy's position at Ellison's Mill and drive him from it. 
 
 The desperate charge across an open field in the face of a 
 murderous fire, in which that brave soldier and nobleman, 
 Colonel Montford S. Stokes of the First North Carolina Regi- 
 ment, fell mortall}^ wounded, was neither planned by General 
 Hill nor executed under his directions. (Official Records, 
 Series l,Vol. XI, Part 2, p. 623.) The suggestion that General 
 Hill deliberately and unnecessarily rushed those gallant men 
 into danger is unfounded and unjust. The galling fire that 
 had broken Pender's left called for immediate action, and in 
 the hurry of the moment it became necessary to develop 
 the strength of the enemy's position by assault instead of 
 reconnoissance, but under the orders of General Lee and the 
 President, not of General Hill. 
 
 GAINES' MILL. 
 
 When, on the second day, Jackson, had effected a junction 
 with Lee, Hill w^as selected to relieve his tired troops by 
 passing rapidly to his left and turning the extreme right of 
 the enemy. A. P. Hill, Longstreet, Whiting and Jackson 
 had successively moved upon the double lines of infantry 
 and artillery posted on a range of hills behind Powhite 
 creek from the McGehee to the Gaines house. The approach 
 
19 
 
 of the attacking columns of A. P. Hill and Whiting was in 
 part over a plain about 400 yards wide and was embarrassed 
 by abattis and ditches in front of the first line. The strug- 
 gle along the front of these divisions and that of Longstreet 
 had become doubtful, and almost desperate, when the troops 
 of Jackson and Hill created a diversion by engaging the 
 extreme right of the enemy. The first of the lines of en- 
 trenchments had been taken, and Longstreet, Hood, Laws 
 and other brave leaders, were moving on the last stronghold 
 in the enemy's center, when the victorious shouts of Gar- 
 land's and G. B. Anderson's brigade of Hill's division were 
 followed by the rapid retreat of the enemy, and the surren- 
 der first of the ridge at the McGehee house and then of their 
 whole line. Thus did it fall to the lot of Hill once more to 
 strike a decisive blow at a critical moment. But claiming 
 for him this distinction among a host of heroic commanders, 
 it is proper that I should rely on the evidence of the lamented 
 Garland, who sealed his devotion to the cause with his 
 heart's blood at South Mountain, and the corroborating 
 accounts of Hill's superiors from Jackson to President Davis, 
 not upon my own assertion. 
 
 " The effect of our appearance at this opportune moment 
 upon the enemy's flank, cheering and charging (said Gar- 
 land in his report), decided the fate of the day. The enemy 
 broke and retreated, made a second stand, wdiich induced 
 m}^ immediate command to halt undercover of the roadside 
 and return the fire, when charging forward again we broke 
 and scattered them in every direction." This discomfiture 
 uncovered the left of the fortified line and left no obstacle 
 between Hill and the McGehee house. (Series 1, Vol. XI, 
 Part 2, p. 626, of Oflficial Records.) 
 
 General Jackson's language is not less unmistakable: 
 "Again pressing forward the Federals again fell back, but only 
 to select a position for more obstinate defence, when at dark — 
 under the pressure of our batteries, which had then begun 
 to play with marked effect upon the left, of other concurring 
 events of the field and of the bold and dashing charge of Gen- 
 eral IliWs injaniry, in which the troops of Gen. C. S. Winder 
 joined — the enemy yielded the field and fled in confusion." 
 Of the part taken by Hill, General Lee said in his report 
 (Series 1 , Vol. XI, part 2, p. 493, Official Record), " D. H. Hill 
 charged across the open ground in his front, one of his regi- 
 ments having first bravely carried a battery whose fire enfi- 
 laded his advance. Gallantly supported by the troops on his 
 
20 
 
 rigid, who pressed forward with unfaltering resolution, he 
 reached the crest of the ridge (above the McGehee house), and 
 after a sanguinary struggle broke the aiemj/s line, captured 
 several of his batteries and drove him in confusion towards the 
 Chickahominy until darkness rendered further inir suit impossi- 
 ble:' As Mr. Davis (2 Rise and Fall, C. G., p. 138) adopts 
 the exact language of General Lee, it is needless to repro- 
 duce it a second time. General McClellan refers to the 
 report of Fitz John Porter, who was in command, for a 
 detailed account of the affair at Gaines' Mill. Porter admits 
 that the withdrawal of his line was caused hy the retreat on 
 his right, but insists that the demoralization was due entirely 
 to the stampede of the Federal cavalry, who were mistaken, 
 as they fell back on the infantry line, for rebels. More candid 
 or better informed than General Porter, the French Princes, 
 who served on his staff on that day, admit that the charge 
 of Hill and the discomfiture of the enemy's right necessita- 
 ted the abandonment of their line of entrenchments. If to 
 double the right flank of an ai my suddenly back so as to expose 
 to an enfilade the flank of his last and strongest line of en- 
 trenchments is to make his position untenable, then Hill's 
 charge was indeed decisive of the struggle at Gaines' Mill. 
 
 Crossing the Chickahominy on the night of the 29th in 
 the advance of Jackson's corps, D. H. Hill passed Savage 
 Station where he took 1,000 prisoners, exclusive of 3,000 in 
 and connected with the Federal hospital. The progress of 
 Jackson was arrested by obstructions and the stubborn resist- 
 ance at White Oak swamps, and he failed to effect a junction 
 with Longstreet till after the fight at Frasier's farm. 
 
 MALVERN HILL. 
 
 D. H. Hill was again the first to reach and occupy the 
 position which he was ordered to assume preparatory to a 
 general advance on Malvern Hill. The other parts of the 
 line were not formed till a much later hour in the day. 
 General Lee S'lys in his report of the battle (Series 1, Vol. 
 XI, part 2, p. 496, of Official Records): " Orders were issued 
 for a general advance at a given signal, but the causes 
 referred to prevented a proper concert of action among the 
 troops. D. H. Hill pressed forward across the open field and 
 engaged the enemy gallantly, breaking and driving back his 
 first line; but a simultaneous advance of the other troops not 
 taking place, he found himself unable to maintain the ground 
 
21 
 
 he had gained agaiust the overwhelming numbers and 
 numerous batteries of the enemy. Hill was therefore com- 
 pelled to abandon a part of the ground he had gained after 
 sall'ering severe loss and inflicting heavy damage upon the 
 enemy." 
 
 Prompt, vigilant and obedient, he was always at his post 
 at the appointed hour, and with the true conception of sol- 
 dierl}'^ duty moved upon order or signal of his superiors with- 
 out waiting to count the cost. At Malvern Hill, as at Seven 
 Pines, he charged the enemy under orders from the com- 
 manding General. The persistent pluck of his brave men, 
 developed to the highest degree by his own unequalled cool- 
 ness and courage, enabled him again to take and hold much 
 of the enemy's outer line till after the last gun was fired. 
 
 When Pope had twice been punished by Jackson and 
 driven back upon the supposed stronghold at Manassas, the 
 transfer of troops from the Federal army on the Peninsula 
 made it necess iry for General Lee to move with the bulk of 
 his army to the support of his dashing Lieutenant, who had 
 already twice defeated an enemy much stronger numerically 
 than himself. D. H. Llill, recalled from the command of his 
 department south of the James, including his own State, 
 and placed at the head of his old division, was ordered to 
 watch and check the movements of McDowell's command, 
 which was still occupying Fredericksburg, and consequently 
 took no part in the second battle of Manassas. 
 
 SOUTH MOUNTAIN. 
 
 Crossing over the Potomac with Longstreet to Frederick- 
 town, Maryland, when our forces moved from that point 
 south. General Hill was ordered to occupy and hold a pass 
 in the South Mountains, which, if gained by McClellan, 
 would have enabled him to relieve Harper's Ferry and possi- 
 bly to prevent the junction of our scattered army and destroy 
 the divisions in detail, or drive them precipitately south of 
 the Potomac with great loss of artillery and transportation. 
 
 General Lee's object in crossing the Potomac east of the 
 Blue Ridge, afterwards avowed (Series 1, Vol. XIX, part 1, 
 p. 145), was to induce the enemy, by threatening Washington 
 and Baltimore, to evacuate Martinsburgand Harper's Ferry, 
 to establ'sh his own line of communication through the val- 
 ley, and then by advancing towards Pennsylvania to draw 
 the enemy away from his own base of supplies General 
 
22 
 
 Lee had not contemplated making a stand at South Moun- 
 tain — probably not at Sharpsburg, or at any point north of 
 the Potomac. But the continued occupation of Martinsburg 
 and Harper's Ferry made it necessary to move directly upon 
 the former place and to invest the latter, where both garri- 
 sons ultimately united. In consequence of the delay in 
 reducing the garrison it became esseatial to the safety of 
 Lee's army that McClellan's entire force should be held in 
 check for a whole day at the pass in the South Mountains 
 by Hill's depleted division, now numbering only 4,000, as a 
 glance at the map with a knowledge of the disposition of 
 Lee's different divisions will show. 
 
 Longstreet with his whole force, estimated at 4,000, was at 
 Hagerstown, while Jackson had disposed his own command, 
 including McLaws' and A. P. Hill's divisions, either with a 
 view to an attack on Harper's Ferry or to cutting off the 
 retreat of the force occupying it. Three days later McClellan, 
 according to his own report, advanced to the attack at Sharps- 
 burg with 87,000 men. Of this vast army probably 33,000 
 were in the force actually engaged in the assault upon the 
 little Spartan band of D. H. Hill for five hours without cessa- 
 tion before Longstreet's advance brigade arrived at 3:30 and 
 was followed by others coming up from that time till dark. 
 The late Justice Ruflin, the Colonel of the 13th North Caro- 
 lina, standing by the side of the gallant Garland when he 
 was instantly killed, discovered a moment later that the 
 other regiments of the brigade had retired, leaving his com- 
 mand surrounded by the enemy. Facing to the rear in an 
 instant he ordered his regiment to charge, and embarrassed by 
 a painful wound, performed the desperate feat of cutting his 
 way through the serried ranks of the enemy. A few moments 
 later that gallant officer was astonished to hear his intrepid 
 commander express his delight at the discovery that McClel- 
 lan's whole army was approaching his front. (2 Battles and 
 Leaders of the Civil War, p. 564.) The explanation after- 
 w'ards given was one that could have been safely disclosed 
 only to a kindred spirit, such as Ruffin had shown himself 
 to be. Hill then said that he had at first feared the move- 
 ment upon his front was a feint, and that the main body of 
 the enemy had passed through another gap and might be 
 thrown between Jackson and Lee. The situation was still 
 further embarrassed by the fact that General Stuart had at 
 daylight in the morning withdrawn his command, except 
 the single regiment of Rosser, which afterw^ards did its duty 
 
23 
 
 so nobl}'^, under the impression that but a small force was in 
 General Hill's front. 
 
 It was " with the stern joy " of an intrepid warrior waiting 
 for the coming contest, that from an elevated pinnacle of the 
 mountain he saw the four advance corps of the grand army 
 of the Potomac, one of which was forming at the foot of the 
 mountain. The hour and the man had met when Lee 
 entrusted to Hill the duty of holding the approach against 
 that army with his little band of 4,000. From Seven Pines 
 to Malvern Hill they had never turned their backs upon the 
 foe. They believed that their leader would require them to 
 endure no sacrifice or face no danger that was not demanded 
 b}'' the inevitable exigencies of the situation. With God's 
 help, Hill determined to save the army, as his chief ordered 
 him to do at any sacrifice, and, if the emergency had demanded 
 his own life, he would have met death, not as the decree of 
 fate but as the Providence of God, who had brought him face 
 to face with a desperate duty. Captain Seaton Gales, the 
 gallant Adjutant General of George B. Anderson on that 
 memorable day, has summarized the important results of 
 this battle so clearly that I prefer to reproduce his language 
 rather than use an extract from report or history or to make 
 a vain attempt to improve upon it myself. 
 
 Of this battle " it may be safely said that in its conse- 
 quences, in the accomplishments of pre-determined objects, 
 and in the skilful disposition of small numbers to oppose 
 overwhelming odds, it is without a parallel in the war. The 
 division, unaided until a late hour in the afternoon, held in 
 check the greater portion of McClellan's vast army, endeavor- 
 ing with battering-ram impetus to force its way through the 
 narrow gap, and thereby afforded time for the concentra- 
 tion of our various corps dispersed in strategic directions in 
 season for the bloody issue at Sharpsburg." 
 
 THE LOST ORDER. 
 
 Imbued with an earnest devotion to the cause, which rose 
 on occasion to the height of enthusiasm, Hill did not hesi- 
 tate to denounce in unmeasured terms those who evaded 
 duty in our armies, when the conditions were such as to 
 plainly demand the active service of every able-bodied son 
 of the South. One of his random shots at the bomb-proofs 
 of the Confederacy wounded a gentleman who, having done 
 nothing in the war worthy to he written, determined to write 
 something in the vain hope that it would be read by future 
 
24 
 
 generations. Prompted by petty revenge, he recklessly 
 asserted that General D. H. Hill had thrown a copy of a 
 general order upon the ground in his camp at Frederick 
 City, which being afterwards picked up and handed to Mc- 
 Clellan, gave him an idea of the movements and location of 
 the different portions of Lee's army. 
 
 If this order had been literally carried out, it will appear 
 from an inspection of its contents that on the day when Mc- 
 Clellan attacked Hill at South Mountain, he had reason to 
 believe, and must have thought, that Longstreet was occu- 
 pying the mountains, suj>ported by Hill. But we are not 
 left to conjecture on that subject. McClellan wrote General 
 Franklin from Frederick City- on the 14th. just after he had 
 read the " Lost Order" (Series 1, Vol. XIX, part 1, p. 45, of 
 Official Records), that Longstreet was to move to Boons- 
 borough and there halt wi;h D. H. Hill, and directed Franklin 
 to make his dispositions with an eye both to the relief of the 
 garrison at Harper's Ferry and the capture of Longstreet and 
 Hill. The plan outlined in the letter is predicated upon 
 the supposition that Longstreet and Hill were together and 
 constituted the main body of an army, which he estimated 
 in another report to General Halleck at 120,000. If it were 
 not manifest from this letter that McClellan was misled by 
 the order, and his opinion corroborated by the skilful dispo- 
 sition of Hill's troops (?ee 2 Battles and Leaders of Civil 
 War, pp. 559 to 581), his report proves beyond all question 
 that he thought the force in his front was 30,000 strong, 
 composed of Hill's division, 15,000, with Longstreet's and a 
 portion of Jackson's command. (Report of McClellan, Series 
 1, Vol. XIX, part 1, p. 55, of Official Records.) The skill of 
 Hill, then, and the order combined to mislead McClellan by 
 causing him to overestimate our strength, and the cautious 
 and dilatory movement, which gave Longstreet time to come 
 up in the afternoon, enabled Hill to escape with his little 
 band, leaving the whole army of the Potomac deployed 
 before him. 
 
 The order issued by Lee and sent out from army head- 
 quarters was as follows (Series 1, Vol. XIX, part 2, p. (iOi): 
 
 Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia, 
 
 Septfinber 9, 186'2. 
 Special Orders, No. 191. 
 
 I. The citizens of Fredericktown being unwilling, while overrun by 
 members of this army, to open their stores, in order to give them confi- 
 dence, and to secure to officers and men purchasing supplies for benefit 
 of this command, all officers and men of this army are strictly prohibited 
 
25 
 
 from visiting Fredericktown except on business, in which case they will 
 bear evidence of this in writing from division commanders. The Provost 
 Marshal in Fredericktown will see that his guard rigidly enforces this 
 order. 
 
 II. Major Taylor will proceed to Leesburg, Va. , and arrange for trans- 
 portation of the sick and those unable to walk to Winchester, securing 
 the transportation of the country for this purpose. The route between 
 this and Culpeper Court House east of the mountains being unsafe will 
 no longer be traveled. Those on the way to this army already across 
 the river will move up promptly, all others will proceed to Winchester 
 colUciively and under command of officers, at which point, being the 
 general depot of the army, its movements will be known and instruc- 
 tions given by commanding officers regulating further movements. 
 
 III. The army will resume its march to morrow, taking the Hagers- 
 townroad. GeneralJackson's command will form the advance, and, after 
 passing Middlecown, with such portion as he may select, take the route 
 to Sharpsburg, cross the Potomac at the most convenient point, and by 
 Friday morning take possession of the Baltimore and Ohio Kiilroad, 
 capture such of them as may be at Martinsburg, and intercept such as 
 mav attempt to escape from Harper's Ferry. 
 
 IV. General Longstreet's command will pursue the main road as far 
 as Bjonsborough, where it will halt, with reserve, supply and baggage 
 trains of the army. 
 
 V. General McLaws, with his own division and that of General R. H. 
 Anderson, will follow Gr>neral Longstieet. On reaching Middletown will 
 take the route to Harper's Ferry, and by Friday morning possess him- 
 self of thp Maryland Heights and endeavor to capliue the enemy at 
 Harper's Ferry and vicinity. 
 
 VI. Gent^ral Walker, with his division, after accomplishing the object 
 in which he is now engaged, will cross the Potomac at Cneek's Ford, 
 ascend its right bank to Lovettsville, take possession of the Loudoun 
 Heights, if pAicticable, by Friday morning. Key's Ford on his left, and 
 the road between the end of ihe mountain and ihe Potomac on his light. 
 He will, as far as practicable, co-operate wiih General M'Liws and 
 Jackson and intercept retreat of the enemy. 
 
 VII. General D. H. Hill's division will form the rear guard of the 
 army, pursuing the road taken by the main body. The reserve artillery, 
 ordnance and supply trains, etc., will precede General Hdl. 
 
 VIII. General Stuart will detach a squadron of cavalry to accompany 
 the commands of Generals Longstreet, Jackson and McLaws. and with 
 the main body of the cavalry, will cover the route of the army, bringing 
 up all the stragglers that may have been left behind. 
 
 IX. The commands of Generals Jackson, McLaws and Walker, after 
 accompli-hing the objects for which they have been detached, will join 
 the main body of the army at Boonsborough or Ilagerstown. 
 
 X. Each retiiment on the march will habitually carry its axes in the 
 regimental ordnance wagons, for use of the men at their encampments, 
 to procure wood. etc. 
 
 By command of General R. E. Lee. 
 
 R II CHILTON, 
 Assi.stant Adjutant General. 
 
2G 
 
 On page 42, part 1, Vol. XIX, Series 1, of Official Records, 
 McClellan says, ''The following is a copy of the order re- 
 ferred to " : 
 
 Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia, 
 
 September 9, 1862. 
 Special Orders, No. 191. 
 
 The army will resume its march to morrow, taking the Hagerstown 
 road. General Jackson's command will form the advance, and after 
 passing Middletown, with such portion as he may select, take the rcute 
 to Sharpsburg, cross the Potomac at the most convenient point, and by 
 Friday night, take possession of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, cap- 
 ture such of the enemy as may be at Martinsburg, and intercept such as 
 may attempt to escape from Harper's Ferry. 
 
 General Longstreet's command will pursue the same road as far as 
 Boonsborough. where it will halt with reserve, supply and baggage 
 trains of the army. 
 
 General McLaws. with his own division and that of General R. H. 
 Ander.-on, will follow General Longstreet. On reaching Middletown he 
 will take the route to Harper's Ferry, and by Friday morning possess 
 himself of the Maryland Heights and endeavor to capture the enemy at 
 Harper's Ferry and vicinity. 
 
 General Walker, with his division, after accomplishing the object in 
 which he is now engaged, will cross the Potomac at Cheek's Ford, 
 ascend its right bank loLovettsville. take possession of Loudoun Heights, 
 if practicable, by Friday morning, Key's Ford on his left, and the road 
 between the end of the mountain and the Potomac on his right. He 
 will, as far as practicable, co-operate with General McLaws and General 
 Jackson, in intercepting the retreat of the enemy. 
 
 General D. H. Hill's division will form the rear guard of the army, 
 pursuing the road taken by the main body. The reserve artillery, 
 ordnance, supply trains, etc , will precede General Hill. 
 
 General Stuart will detach a squadron of cavalry to accompany the 
 commands of Generals Longstreet, Jackson and McLaws, and with the 
 main body of the cavalry will cover the route of the army and bring up 
 all stragglers that may have been left behind. 
 
 The commands of Generals Jackson, McLaws and Walker, after accom- 
 plishing the objects for which they have been detached, will join the 
 main body of the army at Boonsborough or Hagerstown. 
 
 Each regiment on the march will habitually carry its axes in the regi- 
 mental ordnance wagons, for use of the men at their encampments, to 
 procure wood, etc. 
 
 By command of General R. E. Lee. 
 
 R. H. CHILTON, 
 Assistant Adjutant General. 
 
 If Pollard's malignant charge, made to detract from the 
 honor and glory of an achievement so brilliantly executed 
 and so fruitful of benefit to the cause, were not shown by the 
 most direct proof fro4n the most honorable men to be false 
 and unfounded, the marked discrepancy between the order 
 published in the Official Records as No. 191, copied from 
 General Lee's book of general orders, and that which McClel- 
 lan declared in his report to be a copu of the order sent by 
 
27 
 
 him to Washington, suggests to a legal mind a solution of 
 the dispute which corroborates in the strongest possible 
 manner the sworn testimony of Major James W. Ratchford, 
 Adjutant General of Hill's Division, that the custody of such 
 papers was a part of his exclusive duty at that time, and 
 that no such order was delivered to him, with the solemn 
 statement of General Hill that he never saw or read a copy 
 of the order in question, except one purporting to have been 
 sent through General Jackson, to whose corps he was attached 
 when it was issued, and which he still preserved among his 
 private papers in 1886. It will be observed that the fir^t of 
 the two paragraphs, omitted in what purports to be the copy 
 of the order that fell into the possession of the enemy, forbade 
 the troops stationed around Frederick City from entering 
 that town without permission, and the second directed that 
 the sick and disabled of the army should be removed to Win- 
 chester. Halleck's correspondence with McClellan on the 
 sime day, September 13, 1862 (Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 
 XIX, part 1, p. 41), evinces the greatest apprehension that 
 the movement of the army was aimed at Washing!on City, 
 and the demonstrations higher up the Potomac were intended 
 to distract attention from the real design. Was it not more 
 important that the chief officer of all the armies should know 
 that Lee's sick and disabled soldiers were to be moved to 
 Winchester as the "general depot of the army," and that 
 all recruits returning, or coming for the first time to the 
 army were to rendezvous at \N'inchester, than to learn from 
 the last paragraph of the copy sent him that Lee's troops 
 were to habitually carry in their regimental wagons axes to 
 cut wood, &c? The second paragraph seemed plainly to 
 indicate that Lee's purpose was what he afterwards declared 
 in his report to have been his plan — to establish his base of 
 operations by way of the valley of Virginia and invade or 
 threaten Pennsylvania, not Washington, after taking Har- 
 per's Ferry. (Official Records, Series 1, Vol. XIX, part 1, p. 
 145.) This was McClellan 's own idea of Lee's design, and 
 if he could have convinced Halleck of the correctness of his 
 views, there would have been no reason for further hesita- 
 tion about weakening the garrison of the Capital City to 
 swell the effective force in tiie field. McClellan d d not get 
 the whole order and omit a portion of it in his correspond- 
 ence at the time because it tended to sustain his view against 
 Halleck. He did not send his chief the full copy of his 
 order, and omit in his report, written after his removal from 
 
28 
 
 command, a section which proved that he (not Halleck) hid 
 divined Lee's purpose from the beginning. The two para- 
 graphs would not have been omitted in a copy intended for 
 Hill, because it was Hill's troops that at the time were sta- 
 tioned nearest to Frederick City, «nd were prohibited from 
 entering it. It is evident that General Lee must have sent 
 the whole order to Hill, therefore, and it is equally m mifest 
 that McClellan had every reason for inserting a full copy in 
 his report if he received it. 
 
 Tne explanation which readily suggis^.s itself, therefore, 
 is that ths original drafc of the order contained only the 
 p3rLion b?ginning with the third section and was signed in 
 that shape by Colonel Chilton, but was afterwards modified 
 so as t) preti.x: the two first paragraphs before it was issued. 
 " T.i'e lost order'" was found by an Indiana soldier wrapped 
 around three cigars. (2 Battles and Leaders of the Civil 
 War, p. 603.) The first paper drawn would have become 
 useless after the material additions made to it, and might 
 well have b^en wrapped around cigars by some one at Gen- 
 eral Lee's headquarters with the purpose of using it to light 
 them and then lost before cigars or paper were disp^seil of 
 asiii^eided. It will b 3 more readily believed that a clerk 
 or assistant in the office at army headquarters might have 
 been guilty of carelessness than that Ratchford swore, and 
 Hill told, a falsehood. If their positive stitemenls are 
 believed, but the one order addressed as though sent through 
 General Jackson's headquarters was received by General 
 Hill. When Lee and Hill were encamped in sight of each 
 other near Fredeiicktown, and General Lee was then and 
 afterwards (as at South Moun'ain) habitually sending orders 
 direct to General Hill, it does not seem probable that Lee, 
 whose forte was the power of readily mobilizing his army, 
 would have tolerated such circumlocution as making one 
 courier ride across the Potomac to Jackson with an order, 
 which was to be sent back by another messenger to a camp 
 in sight of its starting point on the next day. It would have 
 been a fair compromise between extreme official courtesy 
 and that common sense which always characterized the con- 
 duct of our great leaders, if he had recognized General Jack- 
 son's authority by addressing the order as though transmitted 
 through him, while conforming his conduct to the condiiions 
 which demanded that Hill should know at the earliest pos- 
 sible moment of his proposed plan of operation, and of the 
 prohibition apjTying to his own and Longstreet's divisions 
 
29 
 
 only against entering the neighboring town without a permit 
 from division headquarters, by ordering its delivery direct 
 to him. 
 
 The direct testimony bearing upon the dispute in refer- 
 ence to the lost order was the sworn statement of Major 
 James W. Ratchford, Adjutant General, that but the single 
 copy of the order reached him, which was preserved by Gen- 
 eral Hill till his death, and the solemn statement of Hill 
 that he himself received no other copy. Leaving out of 
 view the difference between the original paper recorded in 
 Lee's book and the supposed copy delivered to McClellan, 
 there is nothing to contradict the testimony of one of the 
 bravest and truest officers in the army of Virginia and the 
 word of D. H. Hill. The attention of these two officers had 
 been called to the loss of the paper within a few months 
 after it passed into McClellan's hands, when all that had 
 occurred in Maryland was still fresh in their memories, and 
 they then made the same statement that the one reiterates 
 to-day and the other published in 1886. Lee himself charged 
 no particular person with the loss of the dispatch. While 
 he possibly magnified (says Longstreet in his article in the 
 Ctntury Magazine) its effect upon the Maryland campaign, 
 he was inclined to attribute its loss to the fault of a courier. 
 (2 Battle and Leaders of the Civil War, p. 674.) In his 
 report of the operations in Maryland, he said (Official Records, 
 Series 1, Vol. XIX, part 1, p. 145), " The small command of 
 General Hill repelled repeated assaults of the Federal army 
 and held it in check for five hours." The only contradict- 
 ing testimony comes from Major Taylor of General Lee's 
 s'aff, and being negative in its character, is not entitled to 
 the weight that should be attached to the positive evidence 
 of gentlemen of equal reputation for veracity. The substance 
 of his statement is, that it was his habit during that cam- 
 paign to send such orders directly to the headquarters of 
 Hill's division as well as through Jackson to Hill. But he 
 neither recalls the fact of sending the particular paper in 
 question, nor names any officer or courier who attests its 
 actual delivery. Admiiting the high character of Taylor, as 
 well as Ratchford, the verdict of history, under the most 
 familiar rules of evidence, must unquestionably acquit Hill 
 of negligence, and accord to him the high honor of saving 
 the army of Lee by his strategy, coolness and courage. 
 
30 
 
 SHARPSBURG. 
 
 At Sharpsburg,tlie last, as in every previous engagement, 
 in which D. H. Hill participated with that army, no figure 
 was more conspicuous and no line firmer than his. As usual 
 he was the first to open and the last to quit the fight. General 
 Lee said in his report (Series 1, Vol. XtX, part 1, pp. 249, 
 150): "The attackr'on our left was speedily followed by one 
 in heavy force on the center. This was met by part of 
 Walker's division and the brigades of G. B. Anderson and 
 Rhodes of D. H. Hill's command, assisted by a few pieces of 
 artillery. The enemy were repulsed and retired behind the 
 crest of a hill, from which they kept up a desultory fire. At 
 this time, by a mistake of orders, General Rhodes' brigade 
 was withdrawn from its position during the temporary 
 absence of that officer at another part of the field. The 
 enemy immediately passed through the gap thu5 created and 
 G. B. Anderson's brigade was broken and retired. General 
 Anderson himself being mortally wounded. * * * Xhe 
 heavy miss3s of the enemy again moved forward, being 
 opposed by only four pieces of artillery, supported by a few 
 hundred men belonging to different brigades, rallied by 
 General D. H. Hill and other officers, and parts of Walker's 
 and R H. Anderson's commands, Colonel Cooke of the 27th 
 North Carolina regiment, of Walker's brigade, standing 
 boldly in line without a cartridge." At this critical moment, 
 when the enemy was advancing on Cooke, says General 
 Longstreet, "A shot came across the Federal front plowing 
 the ground in a parallel line, then another and another, each 
 nearer and nearer their line. This enfilade fire was from a 
 battery on D. H. Hill's line, and it soon beat back the attack- 
 ing column." (2 Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, p. 670.) 
 
 On the right General Lee was stationed in person, and with 
 Toombs' brigade (says General Longstreet) held the enemy 
 in check till A. P. Hill's division rushed to the rescue with 
 Pender on the right and Branch on the left of his line, and 
 aided by well directed shots from a battery planted by D. H. 
 Hill on his front, drove them back in confasion. (2 Battles 
 and Leaders of the Civil War, p. 670). Generals Lee, Long- 
 street and D. H. Hill, concluded during a short suspension 
 of musketry fire to reconnoiter the position of the enemy 
 from the crest of a ridge in front of the Confederate line, 
 which was formed behind a fence. Lee and Longstreet giving 
 General Hill a sufficiently wide berth, went out on foot, while 
 
ai 
 
 Hill rode. In a few moments, says Longstreet, he was 
 making vain and rather ludicrous efforts to dismount from 
 the third horse killed under him in that engagement, the 
 legs of the animal having been cut off at the knees by a 
 cannon ball. When Major Ratchford, who himself was never 
 known to quail in the face of the foe, but whose affection for 
 his friend was unbounded, said to him on this occasion: 
 "General, why do you expose yourself so recklessly? Do you 
 never feel the sensation of fear?" General Hill replied, that 
 he would never require his men to go where he did not know 
 the ground or would not go himself, and that, he had no fear 
 of death, if he met it in the line of duty. His friend then 
 inquired if he would not rather live than die. "Oh, yes," 
 said General Hill, "when I think of my wife and babies I 
 would ; but God will take care of them if he allows anything 
 to happen to me." 
 
 When, in November, 18G2, Hill's division was ordered to 
 take the lead in the march to Fredericksburg to meet Hooper, 
 a large UAimber of his men had been barefooted since the 
 return of the army from Maryland, yet he accomplished the 
 unusual feat of marching 200 miles in twenty days without 
 leaving on the way a single straggler. One of the remark- 
 able features of the battle of December 13th, 18G2, near 
 Fredericksburg, which followed this sudden transfer of the 
 seat of war, was the fact that D. H. Hill's division, Jubal A. 
 Early's and most of John B. Hood's, were in the reserve line. 
 It was evidence of an easy victory, that the services of three 
 such fighting men were not needed in front. 
 
 ADVANCE ON WASHINGTON, N. C, AND DEFENSE OF RICHMOND. 
 
 In February, 1863, Hill bade a final adieu to his old divi- 
 sion, when he was ordered to assume command in the State 
 of North Carolina. Before the campaign opened in the fol- 
 lowing Spring, Hill had made a demonstration against New- 
 bern, followed by an advance upon Washington in this 
 State, which would have resulted in the capture of the latter 
 place but for Lee's order to send a portion of his command 
 to Virginia. 
 
 Later in the Spring of 1863 Hill was ordered to remove 
 his headquarters to Petersburg, and placed in command of 
 the department extending from the James to the Cape Fear. 
 When Lee invaded Pennsylvania, the citizens of Richmond 
 and the heads of the various departments became greatly 
 
32 
 
 alarmed for the safety of the place. The officers in charge 
 of the defences of the city and of the Peninsula had failed to 
 inspire confidence in their vigilance, efficiency or capacity. 
 When the troops of Dix began to move up the Peninsula 
 from Yorktown and West Point, General Hill was ordered 
 by the President to transfer all available troops from the 
 south of the James and assume command of the forces gath- 
 ered for the defence of the capital city. With the brigades 
 of Cooke and M. W. Ransom, and a few other regiments, 
 General Hill met the army of Dix near Bottom's Bridge, 
 drove them back without serious difficulty in the direction 
 of West Point, and in two or three days restored perfect con- 
 fidence on the part of the panic-stricken people of the cit3^ 
 
 .JOINS WESTERN ARMY — CHICKAMAUGA. 
 
 About the 10th of July, 1863, President Davis called at 
 General Hill's quarters three miles east of Richmond, and 
 after many kind and complimentary comments ,g.ipon his 
 conduct as an officer during the preceding year, informed 
 him that he was appointed a Lieutenant General, and would 
 be ordered to report forthwith to General Joseph E. Johnston 
 near Vicksburg, Mississippi. Orders having been issued 
 accordingly, on the 13th of July General Hill with his staff 
 set out immediately for his new field. When he reached his 
 home in Charlotte he was notified that his destination had 
 been changed, and he would report fjr duty to General 
 Braxton Bragg at Chattanooga. 
 
 Lieutenant General I). H. Hill found the army of Bragg 
 encamped along the Tennessee river in and around the small 
 town which has since assumed tlie proportions of a city. 
 Colonel Archer Anderson, chief of Hill's staff, in his able 
 address upon the batUe of Chickamauo;a, says : " The corps of 
 Hardee had lately gained as a commander a stern and daunt- 
 less soldier from the army of Northern Virginia in D. H. 
 Hill, whose vigor, coolness and unconquerable pertinacity in 
 fight had already stamped him as a leader of heroic temper. 
 Of the religious school of Stonewall Jackson, his earnest con- 
 victions never chilled his ardor for battle, and in another 
 age, he would have been worthy to charge with Cromwell at 
 Dunbar with the cry, ' Let God arise and let his enemies be 
 scittered.'" 
 
 Hill received from Bragg the warm welcome of a comrade 
 who had seen his metal tried on the hard-fought fields of 
 
33 
 
 Mexico. Not less cordial was the greeting of his old class- 
 mate, A. P. Stewart, and of the plucky Pat. Cleburne, who 
 seemed from the first to feel that he had found a soldier- 
 affinity in the congenial spirit of Hill. When at last the 
 scattered hosts had concentrated and confronted each other 
 on the Chickamauga, it was not till after the night of the first 
 day that Bragg made public his purpose to give the entire 
 management of the riglit wing to Polk and the control of the 
 left to Longstreet. If the enemy's left under the stalwart 
 Thomas could be driven from the Lafayette road, the com- 
 munication with Chattanooga would be cut oft' and the 
 retreat and ruin of the enemy inevitable. To accomplish 
 this end Bragg seemed more intent on hurried than concen- 
 trated effort. That grand man, officer and statesman, John 
 C. Breckenridge, at his own request was allowed to take the 
 extreme right, flanked by Forrest and supported in this for- 
 ward movement b}^ Cleburne on the left. Stewart, having 
 been transferred to Buckner, these two divisions constituted 
 Hill's corps. In rear of the line from which Breckenridge 
 and Cleburne moved to the attack, at nine in the morning, 
 on the last decisive day, was the corps of the old veteran 
 known as "Fighting Bill" Walker, and as eager for the fi ay 
 as a school-boy for frolic. His command was composed of 
 his own and Liddell's divisions, embracing six brigades led 
 by such dashing soldiers as Ector, Gist and Walthall. But 
 the first lesson learned b}' a staff officer, who went from the 
 east to the west, was that even an old war-horse like Walker 
 dared not to fire a gun or move an inch, acting upon his own 
 best judgment, without an order brought with due formalit}^ 
 through all of the regular channels. The Virginia Brigadier 
 struck his blows where opportunity offered and reported to 
 his superior that he was striking. The western Brigadier lost 
 his opportunity to strike waiting for permission to do so. Still 
 behind Walker stood Frank Cheatham with his splendid 
 division, like their leader, chafing under restraint. 
 
 Such were the dispositions in Hill's rear when the impetu- 
 ous charge of Breckenridge's two right brigades broke the 
 left of Thomas and crossed the fateful road. With 2,000 
 infantry and a battery of artillery Breckenridge swung his 
 line around at a right angle to that of the enemy and started 
 to sweep down upon their flank ; but the left of Breckenridge 
 had encountered an earthwork, as had Cleburne's whole 
 line, and their western foe standing firm, one or two brigades 
 gave w^ay. Another advancing line to fill the gap and the 
 3 
 
34 
 
 day would be won before noon, and the enemy driven across 
 the Tennessee or captured before night. In vain might Hill 
 plead or Walker swear, when no orders came and no chief 
 could be found to give them. Chafed and disappointed the 
 grand Kentuckian found himself for want of support at last 
 exposed to destruction or capture, and slowly and stubbornly 
 both he and Cleburne fell back and reformed, but much 
 nearer to the enemy than the line from which they advanced. 
 Scarcely had the decimated forces of Hill reformed, when, all 
 too late, Walker went forward with another single line, to be 
 hurled back by the fresh troops that the enemy was rapidly 
 massing on his left to meet the design now developed by our 
 ill-managed movement. Cheatham, meanwhile, was not 
 allowed to budge an inch or fire a gun. Thus was the plan 
 frustrated and the attacking force driven back and cut to 
 pieces in detail for want of a present, active-moving head to 
 strike with the two arms of the right wing at one time. The 
 fierce onslaught of Hill failed, as did the no-less impetuous 
 charge of Walker, because as a chain is no stronger than its 
 most defective link, so a single advancing line is no stouter 
 than its weakest point. 
 
 The splendid conduct of our troops on our right and the 
 dread inspired by Breckenridge's bold charge of the morn- 
 ing, bore fruit, however, in a way entirely unexpected, when 
 it led the enemy to mass so much of his force behind Thomas. 
 This was the occupation of the enemy while Hill and Forrest 
 were riding up and down in front of our line and drawing 
 the fire of the enemy upon the young troop who followed at 
 their heels, and when there was a temporary lull in front of 
 Longstreet on the left and left center. 
 
 At last the thunder of artillery and the roar of musketry 
 again burst upon us from along the whole front of the Vir- 
 ginia Lieutenant, while Hill in vain sent messenger after 
 messenger to beg that three lines be formed and a general 
 advance ordered on the right as well as on the left. Just 
 before night General Polk permitted Hill to take charge of 
 the forward movement of the three lines. Walker in front, 
 his own corps composing the second and Cheatham the third. 
 The advance of our attacking column on the left, before that 
 time steady, now became impetuous, and with a momentary 
 wavering of a brigade on the right, we rushed over the 
 breastworks of Thomas and caught 5,000 prisoners in the 
 angle, where Longstreet and Hill met, as they had on many 
 hard-fought fields before, to discuss the events of that day 
 
35 
 
 and prepare, as tliey had hoped, for a still more eventful one 
 that was to follow. But a short time had elapsed when they 
 were joined by Forrest impatient for orders to pursue the 
 flying foe. When some hours had been passed in the vain 
 effort to learn where the headquarters of the commanding 
 general were located, Longstreet and Hill agreed to divide 
 the responsibility of ordering the immediate pursuit by 
 Forrest, with an assurance that they would ask the privilege 
 of pushing forward to his support at early dawn. 
 
 Unable by tiie most diligent inquiry to open communica- 
 tion with Bragg till the next afternoon, they failed to secure 
 for Forrest the inftintry support that would have swept the 
 single division, of Thomas out of the gap on Missionary 
 Ridge, or flanked and captureii,it without another obstruc- 
 tion in the road to Chattanooga and on to Nashville. Such 
 might have been the fruits of our victory, which being lost 
 by delay, the last hope of the tottering Confederacy to regain 
 the prestige and restore the confidence lost at Gettysburg 
 and Vicksburg was gone forever. 
 
 THE PETITION FOR BRAGG's REMOVAL. 
 
 Scattered along tlie face of Missionary Ridge, waiting for 
 the enemy to make Chattanooga impregnable, and then 
 uniting the forces of Grant and Sherman with the reor- 
 ganized army of Thomas to overwhelm them, were the dis- 
 heartened Confederates, daily growing weaker from the 
 desertion of men whose homes were exposed to devastation 
 by the Federals. 
 
 It was at this juncture that Buckner drew, and Polk, Long- 
 street, Hill, Buckner, Cleburne, Cheatham, Brown and other 
 Generals signed and sent to the President, a petition stating 
 that the Commanding General had lost the confidence of the 
 army, and asking that he be transferred to another com- 
 mand and replaced by a more acceptable leader. Hill was 
 the last of the Lieutenant Generals consulted, but, unfor- 
 tunately for his future, his headquarters were located at a 
 central point, on the line and the paper was left there to be 
 signed. Cheatham and Cleburne met at that point and put 
 their names to the paper at the same time. After the battle 
 at Murfreesboro, Bragg had addressed letters to the chiefs of 
 divisions in his army, asking whether he retained the confi- 
 dence of the troop?, and intimating a willingness to resign 
 if he had lost it. Breckenridge, Cleburne, and one or two 
 
36 
 
 others, promptly answered that they thought he couhl no 
 longer be useful in the position he occupied. The corre- 
 spondence led to an open breach between Bragg and Breck- 
 enridge and a newspaper controversy, in which each charged 
 upon the other the responsibility of our failure at Murfrees- 
 bjro. Ganeral Breckenridge, in a conversation with the 
 speaker, stated that his reason for declining to sign the paper 
 was, tint his opinion of the Commanding General was known, 
 and, as their relations were already unfriendly, his motives 
 might be misconstrued. 
 
 No better illustration of the prevailing opinion among the 
 higher officers, as well as the rank and file of the army, in 
 reference to the efficiency of the Commanding General can 
 be given than the substance of a conversation between Cheat- 
 ham and Cleburne, as they joined in a social glass after 
 signing the petition. " Here are my congratulations upon 
 your recovery from your bad cold," said Cleburne. " I have 
 had no bad cold," said Cheatham. "Let me tell you an old 
 fable," replied Cleburne. "The report had been circulated 
 among the beasts of the forest that the lion had a bad breath ; 
 whereupon, as king, the lion summoned all to appear and 
 admitted them to his presence one by one. As each would 
 answer upon smelling his breath that it was bad, the lion 
 would devour him. When at length the fox was brought 
 in, he replied to the question that he had a bad cold and 
 esc.iped. You had a bad old when you wrote Bragg after 
 the battle of Murfreesboro that you didn't know whether he 
 still retained the confidence of the army. You hsive at last 
 recovered." 
 
 Hill cherished no unkind feeling toward Bragg, and at 
 the time reluctantly reached the conclusion that it was his 
 duty to join his comrades in urging his removal, hoping that 
 it might still be within the range of possibility to find a 
 leader like Jackson, who could overcome superior numbers 
 by vigilance, celerity and strategy. 
 
 Mr. Davis was induced to believe that Hill was the origi- 
 nator and most active promoter of the plan to get rid of 
 Bragg as a chief, and both the President and General Bragg 
 determined to visit the whole sin of the insubordination of 
 the inferior officers of that army on him. His name was not 
 sent to the Senate for confirmation as Lieutenant General, 
 and the repeated efforts of Johnston, backed by many of his 
 subordinates, to have Hill returned to the command of a 
 corps, were refused up to the last campaign of Johnston in 
 North Carolina. In response to repeated demands made 
 
37 
 
 upon Bragg and the Adjut:mt for a court of inquiry to report 
 upon any ciiarge or crilicisni that the latter might make, 
 Hill at last received the answer that there were no charges 
 to be investigated. 
 
 But it is due to the memory of General Hill that the world 
 should know how thoroughly he retained the confidence, 
 respect and admiration of the officers and men of the army, 
 which Bragg left after the next fight, never to rejoin till he 
 found Hill on the soil of his own State leading its reduced 
 regiments in their last forlorn charge against their old foe. 
 
 The following letters, for which he did not ask, but which 
 he treasured as testimonials of his relations to his troops to 
 the day of his death, are submitted for the first time for the 
 vindication of his memory against the suspicion of negli- 
 gence, inefficiency, incompetency or infidelity to his trust as 
 commander of a corps : 
 
 Headquarters Cleburne's Division. 
 Mission Ridge, October 9, 1863. 
 
 General — In your departure from the army of Tennessee, allow me to 
 offer you my grateful acknowledgments for the uniform kiodness that 
 has characterized all your official intercourse with my division. Allow 
 me also to express to you the sincere regard and higli confidence with 
 which in so sliort a time you succeeded in inspiring both myself and, I 
 believe, every officer and man in ray command. 
 
 It gives me pleasure to add that now though your connection with this 
 army has ended you still retain undiminished the love, respect and con- 
 fidence of Cleburne's division. 
 
 Respectfully your friend, 
 
 P. R. CLEBURNE. 
 Major General. 
 
 Dear General— 1 have just learned officially that you have been relieved 
 from command in this army and ordered to report to Richmond. 
 
 I cannot see you go away without sending you, in an unofficial and 
 friendly note, the expression of mv sincere regret at our separation. It 
 has the merit of at least being disinterested. I saw you for the first 
 time on my way to this array from Mississippi, when my division became 
 a part of your corps, and I have had more than one occasion to express 
 my admiration for your fidelity to duty, your soldierly qualities and your 
 extraordinary courage on the field. 
 
 It may gratify you to know the opinion of one of your subordinates, 
 and to be assured that, in his opinion, they are shared by his division. I 
 am, General, 
 
 Very truly your friend. 
 
 JOHN C. BRECKENRIDGE. 
 Major General. 
 
oii 
 
 Headquarters Corps Army of Tennessee, 
 
 October 15, 1863. 
 
 ■ My Dear General — Your note of to-day is received. I am surprised 
 and grieved to learn that you have been relieved from duty with this 
 army. We have stood side by side in so many severely contested battle- 
 fields that I have learned to lean upon you vrith great confidence. 
 
 I hope and trust that you may find some other position vphere your 
 services may be as useful as they can be here. * * * 
 Very truly and sincerely yours, 
 
 J. LONGSTREET. 
 
 Headquarters Clayton's Brigade, 
 Near Chattanooga, 3 November, 1863. 
 
 Lieutenant General D. H. Hill — Returning to my command a few 
 days ago, I regretted to learn that you had left the command of our 
 corps, and that I had not the opportunity of telling you farewell. 
 
 I have been in the military service since the 6th of February, 1861, 
 and I have never been lyider a commander to whom I and my command 
 formed so strong an attachment in so short a space of time. In the camp 
 we were not afraid to approach you, and on the field you were not afraid 
 to approach us and even go beyond us. This feeling was universal 
 among privates as well as otficers and to a greater degree than I have 
 ever known towards anyone except perhaps General Stuart. Those who 
 have been in the military service and been frozen to death by a different 
 class of officers alone know how fully to appreciate this. 
 Your friend and obedient servant, 
 
 [Signed.] H. D. CLAYTON. 
 
 Headquarters Polk's Brigade. 
 October 16, 1863. 
 
 General— In behalf of myself and brigade, allow me to express to you 
 our high appreciation of your uniform kindness in all of your official 
 intercourse with us, and to say to you that although you have not been 
 long with us, you have gained our love, confidence and respect. And 
 that it was with great regret that we heard of your being taken away 
 from us. And in being so taken away our confidence in you as a soldier, 
 gentlemen and patriot has not been in the least diminished. We part 
 with you, General, with the greatest regret, and hope some new field 
 may be given you for the display of that generalship that led us to vic- 
 tory at Chickamauga. 
 
 Respectfully your friend, 
 
 [Signed.] L. E. POLK, 
 
 Brigadier General. 
 
 Headquarters Low^ry's Brigade, 
 Mission Ridge, October 16, 1863. 
 Dear General— Paragraph 2, Special Order No. 33, from Army Head- 
 quarters, relieving you from duty in this department has just been 
 received by me. I take this opportunity to express to you my deep 
 regret at this change. So far as I have heard an expression from the 
 officers and men of this corps, your service with us has been most satis- 
 factory. In the camp and on the march your orders were received and 
 obeyed with the most cordial approval and with the greatest pleasure. 
 The warm devotion that has been created in so short a time will not die 
 while memory lives.. In behalf of my brigade permit me to express our 
 regret on account of your sepiration from us, and the kin ie:3t wishes for 
 
39 
 
 your pi-osperity and happiness. For myself the memories of our short 
 acciuaintance will be warmly cherished m a devoted heart of friendship, 
 and the guidance and protection of the unseen hand invoked on you 
 wherever your lot may be cast. 
 
 May the glory of victorious fields form a wreath around your name in 
 all time to come, and the memory of your deeds of gallantry and patriot- 
 ism be cherished in the hearts of a grateful and free people. 
 Respectfully, General, your obedient servant, 
 [Signed.] M. P. LOWRY, Brigadier General. 
 
 (Since Governor of Mississippi.) 
 
 Long after the war General J. E. Johnston addressed the 
 following letter to General Hill, from which it will appear 
 that the influence of Bragg, who was at the elbow of the 
 President as his military adviser, was still omnipotent after 
 he was transferred from the west to Richmond : 
 
 WashingtOxN, D. C, September 22, 1887. 
 General D. H. Hill : 
 
 Dear General — Your conduct at Yorktown and at Seven Pines gave 
 me an opinion (of you), which made me wish for your assistance in every 
 subsequent command that I had during the war. When commanding the 
 army uf Tennessee, I applied for your assignment to a vacancy * * 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 J. E. JOHNSTON. 
 
 It is but just to President Davis, as well as to General Hill, 
 to state that there was good reason to believe that the former, 
 in his last days, became convinced that General Hill was 
 not the author of the petition, or the principal promoter of 
 the plan for Bragg's removal, and that it dawned upon the 
 great chieftain that the retention of Bragg w^as the one mis- 
 take of his own marvellous administration of the govern- 
 ment of the Confederacy. When Johnston and others criti- 
 cised the President, General Hill, then editing a magazine 
 that was read by every Confederate, indignantly refused to 
 utter one reproachful word, even in his own vindication, 
 because, as he said, the time-servers who had turned their 
 backs on the Lost Cause were making him the scapegoat to 
 bear the supposed sin of a nation. 
 
 RETREAT BEFORE SHERMAN — LAST CHARGE AT BENTOXS- 
 
 VILLE. 
 
 Misjudged, deprived of command and made to stand inac- 
 tive in the midst of the stirring scenes of the last days of the 
 Confederacy, Hill was not a man to sulk in his tent. Vol- 
 unteering successively on the staff of his old friends, Beau- 
 
40 
 
 regard and Hoke, who appreciated his advice and assistance, 
 he showed himself ever ready to serve the cause in any 
 capacity. 
 
 The repeated and urgent requests of both Johnston and 
 Beauregard that Hill should be restored to command, re- 
 sulted at last in his assignment to duty at Charleston, from 
 which place he fell back with our forces to Augusta. 
 
 When the remnant of the grand army of Tennessee reached 
 Augusta in charge of Gen. Stevenson, Johnston ordered Hill 
 to assume command and move in front of the vast and vic- 
 torious hosts of Sherman. The greeting given him by the 
 little bands of the old legions of Cleburne and Breckenridge 
 now left, was a fitting tribute to an old commander whom 
 they loved and admired. Hoping against hope, Hill was the 
 leader above all others to infuse new spirit into the forlorn 
 band devoted to this desperate duty. At every stream and 
 on every eminence in his native State he disputed the ground 
 with Sherman's vanguard till he developed a force that made 
 it madness to contend further. Hill's reputation as a soldier, 
 depends in nowise upon successful running. This final 
 retreat was the first and last in which he took a leading part. 
 When once more his foot was planted upon the soil of North 
 Carolina, it w^as eminently fitting that he who heard the first 
 victorious shouts of her first regiment in the first fight in 
 Virginia, should lead her brave sons in the last charge of 
 the grand army of the great west within her own borders. 
 Again, as in the last onset of Cox at Appomattox, North 
 Carolina soldiers stood the highest test of the hero by facing 
 danger in a gallant charge when they knew that all hope of 
 success was gone forever. 
 
 LAST YEARS— TRUE CHARACTER. 
 
 The last years of General Hill's life were devoted to jour- 
 nalism and to teaching. As the editor of The Land ive Love, 
 and subsequently of T]ie Southern Llome, he wielded a trench- 
 ant pen and was a potent factor in putting down the post- 
 hellmn statesmen who proposed to relegate to the shades of 
 private life the heroes and leaders of the Lost C; ise. As a 
 teacher, he soon placed himself in touch with his pupils and 
 won their love and confidence, as he did that of the soldiers 
 led by him to battle. 
 
 His opinions, whether upon political, religious \>c scientific 
 subjects, were always the result of thought and study, and 
 
4) 
 
 were expressed in terse and clear language. As a Christian, 
 he constantly recurred to the cardinal doctrines of Christ's 
 divinity and His complete atonement He wrote two religi- 
 ous works, which evince at once his grace and force as a 
 writer, and his unbounded trust in these fundamental truths. 
 The subject of the one was The Sermon on the Mount; of 
 the other, The Crucifixion. 
 
 Unmoved in the presence of danger, schooled to hide his 
 emotion for suffering in tlie critical time of battle, and forced 
 by a sense of duty t > show his bitter scorn for cowardice 
 and treachery, it was the exclusive privilege of his family, 
 his staff and his closest friends to fathom the depths of his 
 true nature. The soldiers who saw him on camp or field 
 could as little conceive of the humble Christian who, in the 
 long hours of the night, plead with his God to spare their 
 lives and save their souls, as they could of the affectionate 
 father, the loving husband, the sympathizing friend, and the 
 bountiful benefactor of the poor and helpless, known only to 
 the favored few. A writer who in his last days was admitted 
 to the inner circle of his friends, has so beautifully expressed 
 his idea of his true character that I cannot do better than 
 reproduce it as not an overdrawn picture from the stand- 
 jDoint of one who served on his staff, had free access to his 
 home circle, and observed and studied his motives arid con- 
 duct: 
 
 "Fancy a man in whom the grim determination of a vete- 
 ran warrior is united to a gentle tenderness of manner which 
 would not be niappropriaite to the most womanly of women; 
 * * * ■ affix a pair of eyes that possess the most indisputa- 
 bly honest and kindly expression; animate him with a mind 
 clear, deep and comprehensive, and imbued with a humor 
 as rich as.it is deep and effective; infuse man a,nd mind with 
 a soul which in its lofty views compels subordination of the 
 material to the spiritual, and holds a supreme trust in the 
 ■\,^isdom and goodness of the Almighty — is zealous in the dis- 
 charge of duty, and looks with scorn on all that is mean and 
 sinful. Add to all these a carriage that is indomitable, and 
 a love of truth and honor which is sublime, and you have 
 the earthly embodiment of D, H. Hill." 
 
LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiini 
 
 013 700 320 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 013 700 320 A