Clement Delves Hill Explained

Clement Delves Hill
Birth Date:6 December 1781
Birth Place:Hawkstone Hall, Shropshire, England
Death Place:Karnataka, British India
Allegiance:United Kingdom
Branch:British Army
Serviceyears:1805–1841
Rank:Major-General
Battles:
Relations:

Major-General Clement Delves Hill (6 December 178120 January 1845) was a British Army officer who fought at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and later saw service in India.

Career

The sixth son of Sir John Hill, 3rd Baronet, and Mary, co-heir and daughter of John Chambré of Petton, Shropshire, he was born on 6 December 1781 at Hawkstone Hall near Prees, Shropshire.

He joined the Royal Horse Guards (Blues) as a cornet on 22 August 1805 and was promoted to lieutenant on 6 March 1806. Promotion to captain followed on 4 April 1811, to major on 19 December 1811, to lieutenant-colonel on 30 December 1813, to colonel on 21 June 1827, and to major-general on 10 January 1837.[1]

After arriving in Portugal he served throughout the Peninsular War as aide-de-camp to his elder brother Lord Hill and was slightly wounded during the campaign.

He was present at the Battle of Waterloo where he was wounded when a sword was thrust through his thigh, pinioning him to the ground.

In India, he commanded the Mysore Division of the Madras Army under the Marquess of Tweeddale from 24November 1841.

Death

Hill died at the falls of Guersoppa in the Indian state of Karnataka on 20January 1845 aged 63 and was buried at Honavar on the 22January.

There is a colossal monument erected in honour of Colonel Hill in Honavar. The monument is a 30m (100feet) tall column popularly known as Colonel Hill Pillar.[2] [3] [4] Locals are trying hard to preserve the column and grave.

A commemorative tablet dedicated to Hill was placed in St Chad's Church, Prees.

Family

His brothers Rowland, Robert and Thomas all followed military careers and were present at the Battle of Waterloo.[5]

He is not the same Clement Delves Hill who on 26 June 1841 Hill married Harriet Emma Charlotte, only daughter of sportsman and eccentric John Mytton (1796–1834).[6] This man was actually his nephew, the youngest son of his eldest brother John Hill and Elizabeth Cornish Rhodes.[7]

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. News: Death of Major-general Hill . Eddowes's Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales . 12 March 1845 . 3 November 2015 . . subscription.
  2. Web site: Kamat's Potpourri: The Colonel Hill, Honavar.
  3. Web site: Colonel Hill monument: HC orders status quo. 22 September 2017.
  4. News: Colonel Hill's 171 year old column faces grave threat from NHAI project | Bengaluru News - Times of India. . 16 September 2016 .
  5. News: Death of Sir Robert Chambre Hill CB . Shrewsbury Chronicle . 10 March 1850 . 15 October 2015 . . subscription.
  6. Barker (1900) p.16
  7. Dictionary of National Biography