Gen. Benjamin J. Hill

Benjamin Jefferson Hill, nicknamed the "Lion of Ben Lomond" for nearby Ben Lomond Mountain where he lived as a boy, drew on his affection for home in the battle cry, "Come on Boys, recollect the mountains." He became a merchant, operated McMinnville's Warren House Hotel, and served in the Tennessee State Senate in the 1850s. After the war began, he entered Confederate service as colonel of the 5th, later 35th, Tennessee Infantry and helped organize the 16th Tennessee Infantry at Camp Smartt near McMinnville. Serving under Gen. Patrick Cleburne from the April 1862 Battle of Shiloh until Cleburne's death at the Battle of Franklin in November 1864, Hill also fought at Corinth, Richmond, where he was wounded, Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge. Between February and August 1864 he served as provost marshal under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, and after Cleburne's death he was promoted to brigadier general. Until the end of the war he served in Gen. William H. Jackson's division of Gen. Nathan B. Forrest's cavalry corps and took part in the Battle of the Cedars near Murfreesboro and at Decatur and Selma, Alabama. Paroled on May 16, 1865, he returned to McMinnville, studied law, and operated the rebuilt Warren House, urging former Confederates to "take the oath" and return to normal life. He later became president of the McMinnville and Manchester Railroad, allied with Reconstruction-era Republicans such as former President Andre Johnson, died in 1880, and was buried in the historic City Cemetery.

McMinnville, Tennessee · United States