Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill
Encyclopedia
General
Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill of Almaraz GCB
, GCH
(11 August 1772 – 10 December 1842) served in the Napoleonic Wars
as a trusted brigade, division and corps commander under the command of the Duke of Wellington
. He became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in 1829.
, Hill was commissioned into 38th Foot in 1790. He went on to serve at the siege of Toulon
in 1793 and also in Egypt
. He became a brigadier
in 1803 and a major-general in 1805.
and also at the Battle of Vimeiro
in 1808. He participated in Sir John Moore's 1808-1809 campaign in Spain, commanding a brigade at the Battle of Corunna
. While serving under Wellington at the Second Battle of Porto, units of Hill's brigade launched an impromptu assault across the Douro River that ultimately routed Marshal Nicolas Soult's French corps from Oporto.
Hill commanded the 2nd Infantry Division at the Battle of Talavera. The night before the battle, Marshal Claude Victor mounted a surprise attack, swept aside two battalions of the King's German Legion and seized a key elevation. As Hill later recounted, "I was sure it was the old Buffs, as usual, making some blunder." Nevertheless, he led a reserve brigade forward in the dark. In the short clash that followed, Hill was briefly grabbed and nearly captured by a Frenchman, but his troops recovered the summit. This is the first occasion on which Hill supposedly swore.
Still leading the 2nd Division during Marshal André Masséna
's 1810 invasion of Portugal, Hill fought at the Battle of Bussaco. In autumn 1811, Wellington placed Hill in independent command of 16,000 men watching Badajoz
. On 28 October he led a successful raid on the French at the Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos
. In May 1812, after the capture of Badajoz
, Hill led a second raid that destroyed a key bridge in the Battle of Almaraz
. While Wellington won the Battle of Salamanca
, Hill protected Badajoz with an independent 18,000-man corps, including the British 2nd Division, John Hamilton's Portuguese division and William Erskine
's 2nd Cavalry Division.
After the British capture of Madrid, Hill had responsibility for an army of 31,000 Anglo-Portuguese and 12,000 Spanish troops during the campaign that centered on the Siege of Burgos
. When the French massed superior forces against the British in the fall of 1812, Hill safely brought his army back from Madrid to join the main army under Wellington near Alba de Tormes.
Hill commanded the Right Column during the campaign and decisive British victory at the Battle of Vitoria
on 21 June 1813. Still in corps command, he fought in the Battle of the Pyrenees
. At Vitoria and in Wellington's invasion of southern France, Hill corps usually consisted of William Stewart
's 2nd Division, the Portuguese Division (under John Hamilton, Francisco Silveira or Carlos Le Cor) and Pablo Morillo's Spanish Division. He led the Right Corps at the Battle of Nivelle
on 10 November.
On 13 December 1813, during the Battle of the Nive
, Hill performed what may have been his finest work in his defence of St-Pierre d'Irube. With his 14,000 men and 10 guns isolated on the east bank of the Nive by a broken bridge, Hill held off the attacks of Marshal Nicolas Soult
's 30,000 soldiers and 22 guns. He fought the battle with great skill and "was seen at every point of danger, and repeatedly led up rallied regiments in person to save what seemed like a lost battle ... He was even heard to swear." Later, he fought at the Orthez
and Toulouse
. Wellington said, "The best of Hill is that I always know where to find him."
Nicknamed "Daddy Hill", he looked after his troops and was adored by his men. On one occasion, he provided a wounded officer who arrived at his headquarters with a lunch basket. Another time, a sergeant delivered a letter to Hill. Expecting nothing but a nod of thanks, the man was astonished when the general arranged for his supper and a place for him to stay for the night. The next day, Hill gave him food and a dollar for the rest of his journey.
He was also Member of Parliament
(MP) for Shrewsbury
from 1812 to 1814.
Hill commanded the II Corps
. He led the famous charge of Sir Frederick Adam
's brigade against the Imperial Guard
towards the end of the battle. For some time it was thought that he had fallen in the melee. He escaped unwounded, however, and continued with the army in France
until its withdrawal in 1818.
On 27 August 1815 the Dutch King William I made him a Commander of the exclusive Military Order of William. At the Coronation
of George IV
in 1821, Lord Hill bore the Standard of England in the procession from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey
. From 1828 to 1839, he succeeded the Duke of Wellington as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces.
A keen foxhunter, Rowland Hill was master of the North Shropshire Foxhounds until 1823. The pack exists to this day and hunts the north of the County, including the grounds of his birth place, Hawkstone Hall
. He later shared the Mastership with Sir Bellingham-Graham and Sir Edward Smythe, the hounds at this time being kennelled two miles south-east of Hawkstone Hall. Rowland Hill also formed the Hawkstone Otter Hunt around 1800, which was maintained and hunted by successive Lords.
He died at Hardwicke Grange, Hadnall, Shropshire on 10 December 1842. He is buried in the graveyard at Hadnall, Shropshire.
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill of Almaraz GCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, GCH
Royal Guelphic Order
The Royal Guelphic Order, sometimes also referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent . It has not been conferred by the British Crown since the death of King William IV in 1837, when the personal union of the...
(11 August 1772 – 10 December 1842) served in the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
as a trusted brigade, division and corps commander under the command of the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
. He became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in 1829.
Early career
Educated at a school in ChesterChester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, Hill was commissioned into 38th Foot in 1790. He went on to serve at the siege of Toulon
Siege of Toulon
The Siege of Toulon was an early Republican victory over a Royalist rebellion in the Southern French city of Toulon. It is also often known as the Fall of Toulon.-Context:...
in 1793 and also in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. He became a brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
in 1803 and a major-general in 1805.
The Peninsula
Hill commanded a brigade at the Battle of RoliçaBattle of Roliça
In the Battle of Roliça an Anglo-Portuguese army under Sir Arthur Wellesley defeated an outnumbered French army under General Henri Delaborde, near the village of Roliça in Portugal. The French retired in good order...
and also at the Battle of Vimeiro
Battle of Vimeiro
In the Battle of Vimeiro the British under General Arthur Wellesley defeated the French under Major-General Jean-Andoche Junot near the village of Vimeiro , near Lisbon, Portugal during the Peninsular War...
in 1808. He participated in Sir John Moore's 1808-1809 campaign in Spain, commanding a brigade at the Battle of Corunna
Battle of Corunna
The Battle of Corunna refers to a battle of the Peninsular War. On January 16, 1809, a French army under Marshal Soult attacked the British under Sir John Moore...
. While serving under Wellington at the Second Battle of Porto, units of Hill's brigade launched an impromptu assault across the Douro River that ultimately routed Marshal Nicolas Soult's French corps from Oporto.
Hill commanded the 2nd Infantry Division at the Battle of Talavera. The night before the battle, Marshal Claude Victor mounted a surprise attack, swept aside two battalions of the King's German Legion and seized a key elevation. As Hill later recounted, "I was sure it was the old Buffs, as usual, making some blunder." Nevertheless, he led a reserve brigade forward in the dark. In the short clash that followed, Hill was briefly grabbed and nearly captured by a Frenchman, but his troops recovered the summit. This is the first occasion on which Hill supposedly swore.
Still leading the 2nd Division during Marshal André Masséna
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
's 1810 invasion of Portugal, Hill fought at the Battle of Bussaco. In autumn 1811, Wellington placed Hill in independent command of 16,000 men watching Badajoz
Badajoz
Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain, situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana, and the Madrid–Lisbon railway. The population in 2007 was 145,257....
. On 28 October he led a successful raid on the French at the Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos
Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos
The Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos took place on 28 October 1811 during the Peninsula War. An allied force under General Rowland Hill trapped and defeated, a French force under General Jean-Baptiste Girard, forcing the latter's dismissal by the Emperor Napoleon...
. In May 1812, after the capture of Badajoz
Battle of Badajoz (1812)
In the Battle of Badajoz , the Anglo-Portuguese Army, under the Earl of Wellington, besieged Badajoz, Spain and forced the surrender of the French garrison....
, Hill led a second raid that destroyed a key bridge in the Battle of Almaraz
Battle of Almaraz
The Battle of Almaraz was a battle of the Peninsula Wars which took place on 18/19 May 1812, in which the British under Lord Hill destroyed a French pontoon bridge across the River Tagus. The bridge was protected by two French garrisons at either end.....
. While Wellington won the Battle of Salamanca
Battle of Salamanca
The Battle of Salamanca saw Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish armies under the Duke of Wellington defeat Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces among the hills around Arapiles south of Salamanca, Spain on July 22, 1812 during the Peninsular War....
, Hill protected Badajoz with an independent 18,000-man corps, including the British 2nd Division, John Hamilton's Portuguese division and William Erskine
Sir William Erskine, 2nd Baronet
Major-General Sir William Erskine, 2nd Baronet was an officer in the British Army, served as a member of Parliament, and achieved important commands in the Napoleonic Wars under the Duke of Wellington, but ended his service in insanity and suicide.He was the eldest son of Lieutenant-General Sir...
's 2nd Cavalry Division.
After the British capture of Madrid, Hill had responsibility for an army of 31,000 Anglo-Portuguese and 12,000 Spanish troops during the campaign that centered on the Siege of Burgos
Siege of Burgos
At the Siege of Burgos, from 19 September to 21 October 1812, the Anglo-Portuguese Army led by General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington tried to capture the castle of Burgos from its French garrison under the command of General of Brigade Jean-Louis Dubreton. The French repulsed every...
. When the French massed superior forces against the British in the fall of 1812, Hill safely brought his army back from Madrid to join the main army under Wellington near Alba de Tormes.
Hill commanded the Right Column during the campaign and decisive British victory at the Battle of Vitoria
Battle of Vitoria
At the Battle of Vitoria an allied British, Portuguese, and Spanish army under General the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, leading to eventual victory in the Peninsular War.-Background:In July 1812, after...
on 21 June 1813. Still in corps command, he fought in the Battle of the Pyrenees
Battle of the Pyrenees
The Battle of the Pyrenees was a large-scale offensive launched on 25 July 1813 by Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult from the Pyrénées region on Emperor Napoleon’s order, in the hope of relieving French garrisons under siege at Pamplona and San Sebastián...
. At Vitoria and in Wellington's invasion of southern France, Hill corps usually consisted of William Stewart
William Stewart (1774-1827)
Lieutenant-General Sir William Stewart, GCB was a British military officer who was the first Commanding Officer of the Rifle Corps, a Division Commander in the Peninsula and a Scottish Member of Parliament in the British Parliament...
's 2nd Division, the Portuguese Division (under John Hamilton, Francisco Silveira or Carlos Le Cor) and Pablo Morillo's Spanish Division. He led the Right Corps at the Battle of Nivelle
Battle of Nivelle
The Battle of Nivelle took place in front of the River Nivelle near the end of the Peninsular War . After the Allied siege of San Sebastian, Wellington's 80,000 British, Portuguese and Spanish troops were in hot pursuit of Marshal Soult who only had 60,000 men to place in a 20-mile perimeter...
on 10 November.
On 13 December 1813, during the Battle of the Nive
Battle of the Nive
The Battles of the Nive were fought towards the end of the Peninsular War. Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish army defeated Marshal Nicolas Soult's French army in a series of battles near the city of Bayonne.Unusually, for most of the battle, Wellington...
, Hill performed what may have been his finest work in his defence of St-Pierre d'Irube. With his 14,000 men and 10 guns isolated on the east bank of the Nive by a broken bridge, Hill held off the attacks of Marshal Nicolas Soult
Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult
Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia , the Hand of Iron, was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804. He was one of only six officers in French history to receive the distinction of Marshal General of France...
's 30,000 soldiers and 22 guns. He fought the battle with great skill and "was seen at every point of danger, and repeatedly led up rallied regiments in person to save what seemed like a lost battle ... He was even heard to swear." Later, he fought at the Orthez
Battle of Orthez
The Battle of Orthez saw the Anglo-Portuguese Army under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington defeat a French army led by Marshal Nicolas Soult in southern France near the end of the Peninsular War.-Preliminaries:...
and Toulouse
Battle of Toulouse (1814)
The Battle of Toulouse was one of the final battles of the Napoleonic Wars, four days after Napoleon's surrender of the French Empire to the nations of the Sixth Coalition...
. Wellington said, "The best of Hill is that I always know where to find him."
Nicknamed "Daddy Hill", he looked after his troops and was adored by his men. On one occasion, he provided a wounded officer who arrived at his headquarters with a lunch basket. Another time, a sergeant delivered a letter to Hill. Expecting nothing but a nod of thanks, the man was astonished when the general arranged for his supper and a place for him to stay for the night. The next day, Hill gave him food and a dollar for the rest of his journey.
He was also Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Shrewsbury was a parliamentary constituency in England, centred on the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire.It was founded in 1290 as parliamentary borough, returning two members to the House of Commons of England until 1707, then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and of the...
from 1812 to 1814.
Waterloo and later career
At the Battle of WaterlooBattle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
Hill commanded the II Corps
Corps
A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
. He led the famous charge of Sir Frederick Adam
Frederick Adam
General Sir Frederick Adam GCB GCMG was a Scottish major-general at the Battle of Waterloo, in command of the 3rd Brigade. He was the fourth son of William Adam of Blair Adam and his wife Eleanora, the daughter of Charles Elphinstone, 10th Lord Elphinstone.-Military career:At the age of fourteen...
's brigade against the Imperial Guard
Imperial Guard
The Imperial Guard was originally a small group of elite soldiers of the French Army under the direct command of Napoleon I, but grew considerably over time. It acted as his bodyguard and tactical reserve, and he was careful of its use in battle...
towards the end of the battle. For some time it was thought that he had fallen in the melee. He escaped unwounded, however, and continued with the army in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
until its withdrawal in 1818.
On 27 August 1815 the Dutch King William I made him a Commander of the exclusive Military Order of William. At the Coronation
Coronation of the British monarch
The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally crowned and invested with regalia...
of George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
in 1821, Lord Hill bore the Standard of England in the procession from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
. From 1828 to 1839, he succeeded the Duke of Wellington as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces.
A keen foxhunter, Rowland Hill was master of the North Shropshire Foxhounds until 1823. The pack exists to this day and hunts the north of the County, including the grounds of his birth place, Hawkstone Hall
Hawkstone Hall
Hawkstone Hall is a large early 18th century country mansion near Hodnet, Shropshire which is occupied as the pastoral centre of a religious organisation. It is a Grade I listed building....
. He later shared the Mastership with Sir Bellingham-Graham and Sir Edward Smythe, the hounds at this time being kennelled two miles south-east of Hawkstone Hall. Rowland Hill also formed the Hawkstone Otter Hunt around 1800, which was maintained and hunted by successive Lords.
He died at Hardwicke Grange, Hadnall, Shropshire on 10 December 1842. He is buried in the graveyard at Hadnall, Shropshire.