Hillsborough (NC) Recorder

July 3, 1861

Page 1

 

                                                      DANIEL H. HILL

            This able and distinguished officer, the gallant and skillful commander of the First Regiment of North Carolina Volunteers, which fought so bravely in the recent battle at Bethel Church, is destined to win enviable laurels in the present great struggle.  If we are permitted to judge his future by the past, we certainly must accord to him great renown, for surely no man ever laid a stronger basis for a great and brilliant reputation.  Graduating at West Point with honor when about the age of twenty-two, he entered the United States Army and remained in it until after the close of the Mexican War.  He was in the army under General Scott from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico, and greatly distinguished himself in some of the hard fought battles of that campaign.  At the storming of Chepultepec he was the second man on the American side that mounted the ramparts.  For his meritorious services in this war he was promoted to the rank of Major, which he afterwards resigned to accept the chair of Mathematics in Davidson College, North Carolina.

            He discharged the duties of his new position with great zeal and fidelity.  Notwithstanding the arduous labors that now devolved on him, he found time to write and have published a large work on Algebra, which was favorably received.  This work excited some remark at the time, on account of the intense Southern spirit which breathes in some of its problems.  In 1858, when the North Carolina Military Institute was established at Charlotte, Col. Hill was appointed to the first place in it Faculty, and devoted himself with his accustomed energy and ability to the instruction of young soldiers for the Old North State.

            Upon the commencement of hostilities between Abraham Lincoln and the Confederate States, he was appointed by Governor Ellis to the command of the camp of instruction at Raleigh.  When the First Regiment of North Carolina Volunteers was organized, he was almost unanimously elected it Colonel.

            Col. Hill has not devoted all his talents and genius to military science.  He is the author of two Theological works, viz: “The Sermon on the Mount,” and “The Crucifixion.”  These works were published two or three years ago, by the Presbyterian Board of Publication, and were well received in the Christian literary world.  Col. Hill is a truly Christian man, and if we mistake not, is an Elder in the Presbyterian Church at Charlotte.

            In person, Col. Hill is about medium height, and well proportioned.  He has dark eyes and hair, which is becoming slightly tinged with grey.  He is about forty-two years old, has a serious military bearing, and is a very rigid disciplinarian.

                                                --Petersburg Express--