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    Daniel Harvey Hill And His Contribution To The Battle Of Chickamauga
    Daniel Harvey Hill And His Contribution To The Battle Of Chickamauga
    Daniel Harvey Hill And His Contribution To The Battle Of Chickamauga
    Ebook146 pages1 hour

    Daniel Harvey Hill And His Contribution To The Battle Of Chickamauga

    By Major Terrence W. Maki Jr.

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    This study investigates Major General Daniel Harvey Hill’s performance during the Chattanooga campaign, focusing specifically on the Battle of Chickamauga. Hill’s early life and performance in the Army of Northern Virginia are evaluated for character development. While Hill had proved himself a fearless division commander in the Army of Northern Virginia he nevertheless developed a reputation as an uncompromising, carping and sarcastic subordinate. When Hill arrived at Chattanooga in July 1863, relations between him and Braxton Bragg quickly began to sour. Hill’s failure to act promptly at McLemore’s Cove was a result of his distrust in Confederate cavalry and Bragg’s situational awareness. After the first day of the Battle of Chickamauga, Bragg decided to change his command structure by creating two Confederate Wing Commanders. James Longstreet would command the Left Wing and Leonidas Polk commanded the Right Wing. Bragg’s plan was for Hill’s Corps to initiate the Confederate attack at daylight on 20 September. Hill was not informed of the attack until well after daylight. The delay allowed Rosecrans’ Army to use precious daylight to fortify its positions. After the battle, Bragg relieved Hill of command. Though Hill’s performance at Chickamauga was lackluster it did not warrant his removal.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGolden Springs Publishing
    Release dateNov 6, 2015
    ISBN9781782899495
    Daniel Harvey Hill And His Contribution To The Battle Of Chickamauga

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      Daniel Harvey Hill And His Contribution To The Battle Of Chickamauga - Major Terrence W. Maki Jr.

      removal.

      INTRODUCTION

      The American Civil War was arguably the single most defining point in this nation’s history. It began on 12 April 1861, when Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. It lasted until 26 May 1865, when the last Confederate army surrendered. In a bloody and bitter struggle the Union army eventually defeated the Confederate army, but the cost was horrific. The war took more than 600,000 lives, destroyed $5 billion of property, freed four million slaves, and opened wounds that have not yet completely healed more than 125 years later.{1}

      The primary cause of the war was slavery. The eleven Southern states that formed the Confederacy depended on slavery to support their economy. Slave labor produced crops, namely cotton. Although slavery was illegal in the Northern states, only a small number of Northerners actively opposed it. The main debate between the North and the South prior to the war was whether slavery should be permitted in the Western territories recently acquired during the Mexican War. Opponents of slavery were concerned about its expansion, in part because they did not want to compete against slave labor.

      In the early days of the United States, loyalty to one’s state was common place, often taking precedence over loyalty to one’s country. A New Yorker or a Virginian would refer to his state as my country. Becoming a member of the Union was voluntary by sovereign states as long as it served their purpose. In the early years of the nation, no state had any strong sense of the permanence of the Union. For example, New England once thought of seceding from the Union because the War of 1812 diminished trade with England{2}.

      Although most historical accounts of the Civil War center on the Eastern theater, the struggle in the West had a great impact on the outcome of the war. In June 1863, this region was so important to the Confederacy that two divisions of the Army of Northern Virginia were sent to fight in the Battle of Chickamauga. The liberation of middle and east Tennessee increased Union morale and cost the Confederate army thousands of square miles of industrial and agricultural productivity. Chattanooga, a major Southern railroad hub, was the key objective of this region.{3}

      This thesis will examine the performance of Confederate General Daniel Harvey Hill at the Battle of Chickamauga. Specifically, it will analyze Hill’s personality and leadership abilities. Hill established a reputation in the Army of Northern Virginia during the first two years of the war as the best division commander in the army. However, his critical nature became a liability to the overall morale of the army. Continually at odds with Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, Hill was relegated to command the defenses of Richmond and Department North Carolina in January 1863. His exile was short-lived when Confederate President Jefferson Davis gave Hill a second chance in the Western Theater.

      Chapter 1 will develop Hill’s background before the Chattanooga Campaign. He was a West Point graduate who returned a hero from the Mexican War. After the Mexican War he got married, resigned his commission in the army, and became an educator. Hill spent these years preparing for what he considered the inevitable, civil war. When the Civil War began, Hill quickly volunteered to serve in the Confederacy and was appointed a colonel in the North Carolina militia. Again, he became an instant hero after the Battle of Big Bethel, the first land battle of the war. He was shortly thereafter promoted to major general and appointed a division commander. While his exploits of personal bravery as division commander were numerous, his critical and carping nature was considered a detractor. During his stint with the Army of Northern Virginia, he is probably most famous for his gallant stand at South Mountain, Maryland, September 1862. That nearly disastrous fight would scar his judgment a year later at McLemore’s Cove during the Chattanooga Campaign.

      Chapter 2 will introduce Hill to the Western Theater and the Army of Tennessee. Confederate President Jefferson Davis decided to promote Hill to lieutenant general and place him in charge of an entire corps. Hill’s new commander, Braxton Bragg, was a comrade of his from the Mexican War. Hill was excited about his opportunity to prove himself at the next level of responsibility, but his relationship with Bragg soon began to sour. The chapter culminates with the failed operation at McLemore’s Cove. As the Confederate army began to withdraw from Chattanooga, the pursuing Union army became overextended, presenting an opportunity for Bragg to defeat it in detail. Bragg’s plan called for a division of Hill’s Corps to join forces with another division and attack a lone Union division in a valley. Hill was slow to act because he was reluctant to trust Bragg’s assessment of the situation. Instead, he relied on his own judgment. His failure to seize this opportunity was the first in a series of complaints that Bragg would launch towards Hill after the Battle of Chickamauga.

      Chapter 3 will analyze Hill’s actions and judgment from 11 September to 19 September. It will continue to develop Hill’s relationship with Bragg and with his fellow general officers. Bragg’s indecisiveness in the face of the enemy further agitated Hill, thereby straining the already tenuous relationship between the two. Early on the nineteenth, Hill saw an opportunity to exploit gaps in the line on the Union’s southern flank. Bragg stubbornly held to his original plan of attacking the northern flank of the Union. The chapter concludes with Hill leading one of his divisions in a fruitless night fight. Though he did not order the ill-conceived fight, he actively participated. By this time, Hill was frustrated with his duties as a corps commander. During this fight, he reverted back to his forte, leading troops in close combat. In doing so, he temporarily neglected his duties at a critical time during the first day of the two-day Battle of Chickamauga. For while Hill was involved in a division fight, Bragg was formulating plans for the next day that hinged on a daylight attack from Hill’s Corps.

      Chapter 4 will focus on the confusing night of 19 September and the final day of the Battle of Chickamauga. On the evening of 19 September, Bragg decided to change the command structure of his army, dividing it into two wings. Lieutenant General James Longstreet had just arrived with his corps from Virginia to bolster Bragg’s numbers. Both Longstreet and Bragg’s senior organic corps commander, Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk, outranked Hill. Bragg put Longstreet in charge of the Right Wing and Polk the Left Wing. Hill was placed under Polk’s command. Bragg’s plan called for Hill’s Corps to initiate the attack. The responsibility to inform Hill of the daylight attack and of the change in command structure was bestowed upon Polk since he commanded the Right Wing. Through a comedy of errors, Hill did not receive the order to attack at daylight. As a result, the attack did not commence until nearly four hours after sunrise. The remainder of the chapter analyzes Hill’s actions on the battlefield. While Polk was the wing commander, Hill ran the tactical part of the battle. Hill became fixated on a gap that developed between his two divisions. His obsession with this gap caused undue delays and resulted in a piecemeal application of the Right Wing’s Reserve Corps. In spite of the difficulties and miscues, the Right Wing eventually launched a coordinated attack and succeeded in defeating its Union adversaries.

      Chapter 5 will examine the aftermath of the battle. Bragg was severely criticized for not pursuing the routed Federal army and allowing its occupation of Chattanooga. In essence, Bragg had won the battle, but lost the campaign. As his corps commanders began plotting to remove him, Bragg began a purge campaign of his own to rid himself of those officers he deemed incompetent or disloyal. In Bragg’s judgment, Hill fit both categories. Jefferson Davis was quick to agree with Bragg’s assessment. Despite Hill’s outward criticism towards him, Davis had promoted Hill to lieutenant general. Hill’s lack of appreciation towards Davis for his controversial promotion was a contributing factor to his being relieved of command. The chapter concludes with a synopsis of modem day lessons that can be learned from Daniel Harvey Hill’s strengths and weaknesses.

      CHAPTER 1 — BACKGROUND

      The Early Years

      Born in the York district of South Carolina on July 12, 1821, the youngest of eleven children, Daniel Harvey Hill did not have many fond memories of his childhood. His father died when he was four, leaving his mother with significant debts. In later years he remarked that he never had a normal youth. He described his mother as loving but that she also had extreme mood swings. She treated him with alternate harshness and tenderness that corresponded to her fluctuating moods. Of his childhood he remarked, I had always a strong perception of right and wrong, and when corrected from petulance or passion, I brooded over it, and I am afraid did not forget it.{4} He blamed many of his darker personality traits on his mother.

      Hill grew up with a proud tradition of service to country. As a young boy he listened to stories about his grandfathers and other Southern men who had fought valiantly in the

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