Position at Antietam
Commander, “Light Division,” Army of Northern Virginia (Age 36 at the battle)
Personal
1825-1865 Virginia
Nickname: Little Powell
Born in Culpeper, Virginia. Youngest child of Thomas Hill, a merchant and politician. Engaged to Ellen Marcy who broke off the engagement to marry George McClellan; In 1858 he married Kitty “Dolly” Morgan McLung, sister of John Hunt Morgan, a famous Confederate cavalry raider in Kentucky; two daughters, Francis and Lucy
Education
West Point. Originally a member of the Class of 1846; Contracted gonorrhea in the summer of 1844 and had to repeat his second year. Graduated with the class of 1847, ranked 15th of 38. Classmates: Orlando Willcox, A.P. Hill, John Gibbon, and Henry Heth; One year behind George McClellan and Stonewall Jackson. Commissioned in the First Artillery.
Mexican War
Arrived in Mexico too late to participate in major fighting; Briefly served with “Stonewall” Jackson.
Other military career highlights
Duty in Florida during the Third Seminole War; Coast Survey, 1855-1861.
Civilian career highlights
N/A
Civil War
Colonel, 13th Virginia; Commander of the Light Division from June 1862 to May 1863; Seven Days, Second Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville; Assumed command of the Second Corps upon the mortal wounding of Jackson; Promoted to Lieutenant General May 30, 1863 and took command of Third Corps; Fought at Gettysburg, Mine Run, Overland Campaign, and Siege of Petersburg where he was killed in action April 2, 1865.
Postwar
N/A
Death
Killed in action near Petersburg, Virginia on April 2, 1865, one week before Lee surrendered. Age 39
Quotes
“At the critical moment A.P. Hill was always at his strongest. … Again A.P. Hill, as at Manassas, Harper’s Ferry, and elsewhere had struck with the right hand of Mars.” Henry Kyd Douglas describing Hill at the Battle of Antietam
“Next to these two officers, [Longstreet and Jackson] I consider General A.P. Hill the best commander with me. He fights his troops well and takes good care of them.” Robert E. Lee, October 2, 1862
“The superior nerve and enthusiasm of our men will ever drive [the enemy] back when the bayonet is resorted to.” A.P. Hill describing his attack at Williamsburg, May 5, 1862
[a Virginia colonel – A.P. Hill – who unexpectedly] “came in and sat down with us [privates] and talked to us in as friendly a way as if we had been his equals in rank.” A member of 1st Maryland Infantry
“A gallant, good soldier. There was a good deal of ‘curled darling’ and dress-parade about Hill.” James Longstreet
“…of a very high-strung, sensitive nature.” a member of Hill’s staff Hill: “If you take command of my troops in my presence, take my sword also.” Jackson: “Put up your sword and consider yourself in arrest.” September 4, 1862, Stonewall Jackson arrests A.P. Hill at the start of the Maryland Campaign
“General Hill, charge and give them the bayonet.” Stonewall Jackson ordering Hill to attack at Harpers Ferry, September 15, 1862
“I remember seeing him visiting, as was his custom, his field hospitals, looking after the comfort of his wounded, and with his own hands lifting some of the poor fellows into more comfortable positions.” A Confederate chaplain
“Gen Hill is a brave officer but perhaps too quick to resent seeming overstepping [sic] of authority.” Jedediah Hotchkiss