Wife of Confederate General Ambrose Powell Hill
Kitty Morgan was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1834, one of ten children born to Calvin and Henrietta Hunt Morgan. Her brother, John Hunt Morgan, would go on to become a famous Confederate cavalry general. Her sister, Henrietta Morgan, would later marry Basil Duke, who served in Morgan's Cavalry Corps.
Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill
Ambrose Powell Hill, Jr. was born on November 9, 1825, at the family estate, Greenland, ten miles west of Culpeper, Virginia, the last of four sons born to Thomas and Frances Hill. They named their new son after an uncle, Ambrose Powell Hill (1785-1858), who had served as a justice of the peace, sheriff, and legislator for Culpeper County.
Although he was known by his initials in the history of the Army of Northern Virginia, his mother called him Powell, and that was the name that he was called by his friends and family. From his father, young Powell learned to be a perfect horseman, but he was particularly close to his mother as the youngest son. An avid reader, Powell devoured everything from Shakespeare to the Bible to books on the exploits of Napoleon.
The class that entered West Point in the summer of 1842 was one of the Academy's finest – among Powell Hill's classmates would be several future Civil War generals such as George Pickett, David Jones, George B. McClellan, Cadmus Wilcox, Darius Couch, George Stoneman, and Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson.
In June 1855, Kitty Morgan married a cousin, Calvin McClung, who was a merchant in St. Louis, but he died suddenly soon thereafter. In 1857, Kitty attended a party at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, where she met Powell Hill, and they were very much attracted to each other.
Early in the winter of 1857, Powell wrote his sister Lucy:
I can reach you and you can reach me easily, that in case either of us be married, we can surely attend the other. Look out for mine at any time! You know I am so constituted, that to be in love with someone is as necessary to me as my dinner, and there is now a little siren who has thrown her net around me, and I know not how soon I may yield up my right to flirt with whom I please.Kitty was petite, vivacious, blue-eyed, and stylish, with luxuriant light brown hair that fell to her waist, and she sang like a bird. Her old black mammy nicknamed her Dolly, because when she was a child looked like a doll, and Powell always called her that.
She is a sensible little beauty, and if the spasm will stay in me long enough, and she will say 'yes,' why I don't believe I could do better. Alas, though, I much fear that the good things of this world are unequally distributed in her case. Her beauty and sense are her only dowry! But, when you come down you must be prepared to spend a week at Willard's and judge for yourself. So get your fine dresses ready.
Hill courted Kitty throughout 1858, and by 1859 they were planning marriage. Hill even wrote his old classmate George B. McClellan (later a general in the Union Army) to invite him to the wedding:
My dear Mac,On July 18, 1859, Powell Hill and Kitty Morgan were married at her mother's home outside Lexington, Kentucky. Kitty was resplendent in a silk wedding dress, and Hill was handsome in his blue army captain's uniform and a handsome red mustache. John Hunt Morgan was best man.
I have been waiting for some time in the expectation that you would wend your way in this direction, and that I might have the opportunity of telling you over a cigar, that which I have been wanting to tell you for the last month – I'm afraid there is no mistake about it this time, old fellow, and please God and Kentucky Bluegrass, my bachelor life is about to end, and I shall swell the number of blessed martyrs who have yielded up freedom to crinoline and blue eyes.
She is young, 24 years... gentle and amiable, yet lovely, and sufficiently good looking for me – and what's more I know that you will like her, and when you come to know her, say that I have done well – I believe too her income is equal to mine – and if this is so I am glad for her sake, and if not I shall not be disappointed – I expect to be married in Lexington, Kentucky on the 18th of July and if you would come down from Chicago, you know there is no one whose presence would delight me more.
Hill.
Kitty and Powell quickly grew to complement each other perfectly. They both made friends easily, and Powell was particularly proud of Kitty's musical talents and charm. Four children were born to the couple, all girls: Henrietta born in Washington in 1860, died during the war; Frances Russell (1861-1917); Lucy Lee (1863-1931); A. P. Hill (1865-1871).
While the Hills were finding domestic happiness, the country was in a state of unrest. It was clear by 1860 that the rift over slavery and states' rights that had been growing between North and South since the beginning of the Republic was going to lead to civil war.
In December, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union. Seven deep Southern states followed suit and elected Jefferson Davis their president. It was unclear what border states like Hill's home state of Virginia would do. But she leaned more and more toward secession, and in February, A.P. Hill resigned as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
When Virginia left the Union in the spring of 1861 and began to organize its armed forces, A.P. Hill, as he was called by his associates during the war, was a valuable commodity as a West Point educated soldier with a little combat experience. He strongly believed in states' rights, and felt it was his duty to defend the honor of Virginia. He was quickly made a colonel and was chosen to take command of a regiment, the 13th Virginia, a command raised mostly from the Shenandoah Valley region.
Kitty Hill used the silk from her wedding gown to make a beautiful battle flag for the regiment – "a beautiful silk banner, the handiwork of the accomplished lady of our Colonel, and will be prized and defended as the gift of a fair daughter of Kentucky, bidding us God Speed in fighting the battles of the South" for Hill's 13th Virginia.
Powell Hill was only thirty-five years old when the Civil War began, and though that was on the younger side for a corps commander, it was probably average for a general. He stood around the average height of the day, between approximately 5'8" and 5'9" and when well weighed around 150 to 160 pounds.
Kitty tried to remain close to her husband, something that often caused him anxiety over her safety. She stayed with friends, in a hotel, or wherever convenience demanded, always accompanied by two faithful servants. When she traveled, she would roll her jewelry and other valuables into her hair which she put in a chignon for safekeeping.
General Alfred Scales once wrote, "Mrs. Hill is not satisfied with remaining here after all the ladies had been ordered away and all the other had left, but said she had no home, and she might as well make Orange her home as anywhere else."
Seeing little action in the West Virginia Romney Campaign, Powell fought at Yorktown and Williamsburg during the Peninsula Campaign in the spring of 1862. Recommended for promotion, in a mere 90 days he jumped from Colonel to Major General. Seeing action in the series of battles around Richmond known collectively as the Seven Days, he established a reputation for great bravery, skill, and aggressiveness while leading what became known as the Light Division.
In May 1863, at Chancellorsville, Powell was on Jackson's famous flank march and took command of the corps when Stonewall Jackson fell mortally wounded on the night of the May 2. General Robert E. Lee subsequently reorganized the Army of Northern Virginia, and gave Hill command of the new Third Corps (and promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General), which he led in the Gettysburg Campaign.
Powell was narrow-chested and frail, and his health was fragile, probably as a result of complications from the advanced stages of the gonorrhea he had contracted as a cadet at West Point. Always emotional, he was so high-strung before battle that he had an increasing tendency to become unwell when the fighting was about to begin.
Powell's poor health reduced his effectiveness at Gettysburg. Frequent illnesses and the stress of being in the field would drop his weight to 125 pounds by the end of the war. These debilitating symptoms didn't affect his relationship with his men, however; he was extraordinarily affectionate and always concerned with their well-being.
Kitty sometimes engaged in activities that she thought would help her husband. In 1864, when she heard that General Phil Sheridan was coming to a certain hotel, she sent her children to friends, and went to the hotel to obtain information. As she made her getaway, she was fired upon by Federal soldiers, but escaped unharmed.
Shortly before the Wilderness Campaign, the Hills decided to have their baby daughter Lucy Lee christened. The service was performed by Reverend Richard Davis, rector of St. Thomas' Parish at Orange Court House. General Lee stood as godfather and held the child in his arms. As the minister sprinkled the water on her brow and gave her his blessing, a tear rolled down the great old soldier's cheek. Cannonading was heard in the distance, and Lee and his corps commander rushed to their saddles and were soon galloping to the front.
Illness struck Powell again at the Wilderness in the spring of 1864, almost resulting in a disaster when he was unable to ride out and reorganize his tired men. He missed the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House because of the illness, but followed the troops anyway in an ambulance. He returned in time for the battles along the North Anna and Cold Harbor.
Powell Hill's men held many of the main lines around Petersburg during the siege, and were involved in most of the major engagements. Sickness, that seemed to worsen as the siege dragged on, continued to plague him, causing him to take brief leaves of absence frequently.
Returning from sick leave on the morning of April 2, 1865, Hill rode out to try and rally his collapsing lines. He was shot through the heart by a stray group of soldiers from the Union Sixth Corps. He died instantly. By General Lee's orders a charge was made, and his body recovered and buried in Chesterfield County.
With tears in his eyes, General Robert E. Lee remarked very sadly, "He is at rest now, and we who are left are the ones to suffer."
The war ended a week later with the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox.
The remains of Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill were later moved to Hollywood cemetery in Richmond. The statue below, raised by the survivors of his famous Light Division, now stands over his grave.
General A.P. Hill Monument
Richmond, Virginia
Bronze by Casper Buberl, Sculptor
William Ludwell Sheppard, Designer
SOURCES
A. P. Hill
Up Came Hill
The Last Campaign
Ambrose Powell Hill
And Then A.P. Hill Came Up
Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill
