GDG- DH Hill

[Teej Smith]

> Esteemed GDG Member Mike Peters Contributes:

>
> "You were, as you always are, open and outspoken, made no secret of your
> opposition to him and you were looked on as the head and front of the 
> coalition
> against Bragg. I have no doubt but that all your sarcastic remarks ... 
> were
> repeated to General Bragg, and that he personally aggrieved at your 
> conduct."

   I don't doubt that someone couldn't wait to tattle to Bragg and I think 
it's safe to say, given Bragg's personality, the "aggrieved" part probably 
was an understatement. Hill didn't have a lot of faith in Bragg to begin 
with and what he saw after Chattanooga did nothing to change his opinion. 
Bragg wasn't the only one Hill managed to alienate during his tenure with 
the AoT. One of the first things he did was issue an order making it a 
serious offense for officers to use enlisted men as personal servants. 
Altogether, approximately 600 men were returned to the ranks in the wake of 
Hill's edict.
>
> And as Teej explained, Daniel Harvey Hill may have been the only General
> that R. E. Lee openly disliked. D. H. Hill was, to use a cliche, his  own 
> worse
> enemy. He was a general with unlimited potential, but one who  was lacking 
> the
> necessary people skills.

    Hill was plagued with unremitting back pain and anyone who has suffered 
with that problem knows what effect it has on one's personality. However, I 
get the feeling being outspoken and critical was just part of Harvey's 
nature. When Lee promoted A.P. Hill over D.H. he actually by-passed 
seniority, something that was not lost on D.H.  Lee told Jefferson Davis 
that Harvey Hill was a good division commander but was not an independent 
thinker nor could he handleanything larger than a division.  However, as Hal 
Bridges, Hill's biographer, pointed out Lee had not observed Hill acting 
essentially as a corps commander at Seven Pines nor had he observed Hill's 
"lone stand" at South Mountain.  Harvey wrote his wife, Isabella Morrison 
Hill, "I am so unlike other folks that you could not understand my feelings 
if I tried to explain them for a week." IMO, if ever a CW personality 
deserved a more indepth study it's Daniel Harvey Hill.

Regards,
Teej
>