Benjamin Jefferson Hill was born on June 13, 1825, in McMinnville, Tennessee. He worked as a merchant in McMinnville. He supported the Democratic Party, and he served in the Tennessee state senate from 1855 until 1861. He married Mary Smartt, and they had one child, who died in infancy. By 1860, he owned $12,600 of real estate and $18,400 of personal property. He supported secession, and in June 1861, he insisted that McMinnville was “united in a common cause for freedom and independence.”
In September 1861, he received a commission as colonel of the 35th Tennessee Infantry. The regiment took part in the Battle of Shiloh, the Battle of Murfreesboro, the Battle of Chickamauga, the Battle of Missionary Ridge, and the Atlanta campaign. He was promoted to brigadier general in November 1864, and he led a cavalry brigade in the Nashville campaign. He spent the final months of the war stationed in Atlanta.
He returned to McMinnville after the war and resumed his work as a merchant. He died there of consumption on January 5, 1880.
Image: Benjamin J. Hill (courtesy Wikicommons)