Ambrose Powell Hill (1825 to 1865) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War (1861 to 1865), who commanded the Third Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. Often referred to as 'A. P. Hill' to distinguish him from fellow Confederate general Daniel Harvey Hill (D. H. Hill), he was one of Robert E. Lee's most valued officers, playing a vital role in the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. He was killed at the Third Battle of Petersburg on 2 April 1865, only a week before Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

A. P. Hill was born on 9 November 1825 on his father's plantation near Culpeper, Virginia. He was the last of seven children born to Thomas Hill, a prominent local politician and merchant, and his wife, Fannie Russell Baptist Hill. Growing up, Hill was said to have been "self-reliant, forceful, and bright" (quoted in Hassler, 8). He spent his summers riding, hunting, and fishing with his father, and in the evenings would come home to read a book by candlelight with his mother. As a boy, Hill was very close to his mother, who affectionately called him Powell. He inherited not only her thin, delicate physique and proud Virginian temperament but also her love of reading, with a particular fondness for the Bible, poetry, and the works of William Shakespeare. By his teenage years, however, Hill had exchanged his love poems for works of military history, coming to idolize the great generals of the past, like Napoleon Bonaparte. He decided to embark on a military career, and, with the help of his father's political connections, was admitted to the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, in the summer of 1842.

The West Point class of 1846 was a veritable "who's who" of future Civil War generals. Hill's roommate was George B. McClellan (1826 to 1885), the son of a Philadelphia physician who was a year younger than Hill and had to obtain special permission from the secretary of war to enter the academy at such a young age. He and Hill quickly became close friends. Other classmates included George Pickett, Cadmus Wilcox, and, most significantly, a strange and serious young cadet named Thomas J. Jackson (1824 to 1863). Hill, a flamboyant and easy-going student, took an immediate dislike to the dour, devoutly religious Jackson. Although he maintained decent grades, Hill enjoyed the good things in life and was known to party, perhaps a little too hard – in 1844, he contracted a bad case of gonorrhea, forcing him to take a furlough from school. He missed so many classes that he had to repeat his third year at the academy, graduating a year behind schedule in 1847. He ranked 15th out of a class of 38 and was assigned to the 1st US Artillery Regiment as a brevet second lieutenant.

Having graduated in the midst of the Mexican-American War (1846 to 1848), Hill was immediately dispatched to join the army of General Winfield Scott (1786 to 1866) on its march to Mexico City. He arrived too late to fight in any major battles, but he did get a taste of combat in some of the smaller skirmishes that closed out the campaign. During the US occupation of Mexico City, Hill became enraptured by the local women, with one romance growing so intense that he wrote to his father to ask how he would "relish a Mexican daughter-in-law" (quoted in Hassler, 15). This love affair was cut short in February 1848, when the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war and sent the US soldiers home.

In the autumn of 1849, Hill's regiment was sent to Florida to fight in the Seminole Wars (1816 to 1858). But again, he arrived during a lull in the fighting and did not see any combat more serious than small skirmishes. He was promoted to first lieutenant in September 1851, but the swampy Floridian climate soon had an ill impact on his health. After contracting yellow fever, he took a leave of absence to recuperate back at Culpeper, where he requested a transfer. His request was granted in 1855, and he was transferred to the United States Coast Survey. Having just turned 30, Hill reflected on the early part of his career with disappointment, writing that he was the veteran of "two long miseries and no fighting" (quoted in Hassler, 16). In 1856, he joined a team studying the Hudson River in Upstate New York and then served as a general assistant in an office in Washington, where he helped develop a process that improved the quality of map printing.

During his time in the capital, he met and fell in love with Mary Ellen Marcy, the daughter of an army officer. He proposed marriage, but Marcy's father disapproved of the match. She refused him and ultimately wound up marrying Hill's former roommate, McClellan. Hill seems to have taken her rejection in stride, for the next year, he met another "little siren" who had "thrown her net" around him (ibid). This was Kitty Morgan McClung, a young widow who was visiting Washington from Louisville, Kentucky. This time, Hill's romantic entreaties were successful, and the couple were married on 18 June 1859. He wasted no time writing to McClellan to share the good news: "I'm afraid there is no mistake about it this time, old fellow…my bachelor's life is about to end and I shall swell the number of blessed martyrs who have yielded up freedom to crinoline and blue eyes" (quoted in Hassler, 23). As he excitedly penned this letter to his old friend, Hill could not have known that a short two years later, they would find themselves on opposite sides of the bloodiest war in US history.

Throughout the 1850s, the United States had become increasingly divided along sectional lines – the question of slavery had pitted the 'free states' of the North against the 'slave states' of the South and had opened the door to other constitutional questions such as that of states' rights versus federal authority. While Hill never owned any slaves himself, his family was certainly involved in the South's 'peculiar institution'. According to the 1850 census, his father owned 20 enslaved people in Culpeper County, while his uncle and namesake owned 32. Hill, moreover, strongly believed in the concept of states' rights, and, shortly before Virginia voted to secede from the Union in April 1861, he resigned from the army and went South. Before tendering his resignation, he had a final conversation with McClellan, in which he admitted that he could not fight against his home state but would "defend her to the death" (quoted in Hassler, 27).

After joining the Confederate Army, Hill was appointed colonel of the 13th Virginia Infantry Regiment. He was with the main army at Manassas Junction, but, much to his frustration, his regiment was held in reserve during the Battle of First Manassas (21 July 1861; aka First Bull Run). He was promoted to brigadier general on 26 February 1862 and was given command of a brigade in Major General James Longstreet's division. The following month, McClellan – now a major general in command of the Union Army of the Potomac – landed on the Virginia Peninsula, intent on capturing the Confederate capital of Richmond. When Longstreet's division was sent to blunt McClellan's advance, Hill saw his first taste of battle at the Battle of Williamsburg (5 May 1862). Though the Confederates were defeated and forced to withdraw to the outskirts of Richmond, Hill performed well in the fighting and was promoted to the rank of major general. He was given command of a division comprised of several brigades from Georgia and the Carolinas. Even though his was the largest, most bloated division in the army, he nicknamed it the 'Light Division', perhaps in an attempt to curate a reputation for speed and agility. One veteran of Hill's division commented on this name:

Why it was called the 'Light Division', I did not learn. But I knew that the name was applicable, for we often marched without coats, blankets, knapsacks, or any other burdens except our arms and haversacks, which were never heavy and sometimes empty.

(quoted in Hassler, 44)

Hill and his 'Light Division' did not see any action during the Battle of Seven Pines (31 May to 1 June 1862) when Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston (1807 to 1891) attempted to overwhelm McClellan's army and drive it away from Richmond. The battle, nevertheless, was a significant turning point for Hill and, indeed, for the entire South – Johnston was gravely wounded in the fighting and was replaced with General Robert E. Lee (1807 to 1870) as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. While Hill's initial reaction to Lee's appointment was not recorded, he would soon become impressed with the skill and resoluteness of his new commander. Indeed, Hill's division would feature prominently in the Seven Days' Battles (25 June to 1 July) in which Lee forced McClellan away from the outskirts of Richmond. Hill's division was in the thick of the fighting for several of these engagements, including Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, and Glendale. The casualties sustained during these battles were staggering; at Gaines' Mill alone, the Confederates lost over 7,000 men, many of whom were from Hill's division. Yet the capital had been saved, and the tide of the war had turned.

Hill was certainly regarded with affection by his men, who called him 'Little Powell'; indeed, one officer remarked that he was "the most genial and lovable in disposition" of all the Confederate generals. A genteel man with brilliant hazel eyes, a long red beard, curling hair, and a "slight but pleasant smile," Hill was always quick with a joke, even in the thick of battle. Yet he was also extremely volatile and sensitive, leading to several quarrels with his fellow generals. Shortly after the Seven Days' Battles, he began feuding with his former commanding officer, Longstreet, and the two soon took to writing critical essays about one another in the Richmond Examiner newspaper. Things got so bad that Hill challenged Longstreet to a duel, which was narrowly avoided. Shortly thereafter, Hill's division was assigned to the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, which was led by his old classmate Jackson, who had by now earned the nickname 'Stonewall Jackson'. Relations between the two had not improved since their West Point days, and they often quarreled.

Despite their mutual dislike, Hill and Jackson never let their differences get in the way during a battle. At the Battle of Cedar Mountain (9 Aug), Hill's division launched a timely counterattack that stabilized Jackson's left flank and saved it from being routed. At the Battle of Second Manassas (28 to 30 Aug; aka Second Bull Run), the Light Division anchored the Confederate left flank and withstood wave after wave of Union assaults, standing its ground even after running dangerously low on ammunition. Nevertheless, Jackson continued to hold his subordinate in contempt. Matters came to a head on 3 September 1862, when Jackson gave Hill explicit marching orders for the next day. Hill, however, started late and did not adhere to Jackson's strict system of 50 minutes marching, 10 minutes rest, for every hour. As a result, Jackson had Hill arrested for violating orders. Though Hill was released and the charges eventually dropped, he never forgave Jackson, whom he referred to as "that crazy old Presbyterian fool" and compared him to a "slumbering volcano" that might erupt and cause chaos at any moment (quoted in Glatthaar, 341).

Hill was eager to redeem himself after the embarrassment of being arrested and would soon have his chance. After capturing Harpers Ferry on 15 September 1862, Jackson left Hill's division behind to process the Union prisoners of war. He was still there when, hours later, he received an urgent dispatch from Lee; having launched his invasion of Maryland, Lee was about to face off with McClellan's army near the town of Sharpsburg and requested Hill to join him as soon as possible. Hill embarked on a grueling forced march, arriving with his division midafternoon on 17 September, just in time to turn the tide of the bloody Battle of Antietam. He wasted no time launching a counterattack against the corps of Union Major General Ambrose Burnside (1824 to 1881), saving Lee's left flank and likely saving the Army of Northern Virginia from destruction. When asked about it after the battle, Hill quipped that Burnside, another West Point classmate, had owed him $8,000. Hill's division also fought several rearguard actions during Lee's retreat back into Virginia.

Hill performed less well at the Battle of Fredericksburg (11 to 15 Dec 1862). His division was positioned along the Confederate right in swampy terrain that obstructed vision. As a result, there was an unnoticed 600-yard (550 m) gap in his line that Union troops under Major General George Meade (1815 to 1872) were quick to exploit. Two of Hill's brigades were routed as well as part of a third before reinforcements arrived to plug the gap and repel Meade's assault – Hill suffered gravely for his mistake, losing 2,000 troops in the battle. Hill was further scandalized by the fact that he was away from his division during the fighting, with no one quite sure where he was. He made up for this mistake with his performance at the Battle of Chancellorsville (30 April to 6 May 1863), in which his division took part in Jackson's brilliant flanking maneuver. Both Hill and Jackson were wounded at Chancellorsville; while Hill recovered, Jackson did not, dying eight days later.

On 24 May 1863, Hill was promoted to lieutenant general, becoming the fourth-highest-ranking man in the Army of Northern Virginia. He was also given command of the newly organized Third Corps. On 1 July 1863, during Lee's second invasion of the North, one of Hill's divisions collided with Union troops at the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Rather than order a withdrawal, Hill fed the rest of his corps into the fray, escalating a small skirmish into one of the most significant battles in US history. Hill's men suffered greatly during the three-day Battle of Gettysburg; after taking the brunt of the fighting on the first day of battle, his corps supplied two-thirds of the troops that participated in the ill-fated Pickett's Charge on the final day. The Third Corps sustained so many casualties that Lee assigned it to lead the retreat back across the Potomac River after the defeat.

Hill suffered further calamity at the Battle of Bristoe Station (14 Oct 1863) when his corps attacked 'too hastily' and was beaten back with appalling casualties. Lee, though clearly upset with Hill, did not chide him directly, merely stating, "Well, well, general, bury these poor men and let us say no more about it" (quoted in Encyclopedia Virginia). The next spring, Hill's corps performed well on the first day of the Battle of the Wilderness (5 to 7 May 1864), holding its ground against repeated assaults. However, when nightfall provided a respite from the fighting, Hill failed to reorganize his battered line, resulting in great confusion when the battle resumed the following day. Most of Hill's divisions were driven back, and the day was saved only by the intervention of Longstreet's corps.

By now, Hill had long been suffering from poor health; historians speculate that he struggled with recurrent prostatitis, brought on by his youthful bout of gonorrhea. Whatever truly ailed him, he was incapacitated by illness during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (9 to 21 May 1864) when his corps was temporarily commanded by Major General Jubal Early. He recovered enough to retake command of his corps at the Battle of Cold Harbor (31 May to 12 June) and was with the army when it retreated to defensive positions around Petersburg, Virginia. For the next ten months, both the Union and Confederate armies settled into the static trench warfare that marked the Siege of Petersburg (9 June 1864 to 25 March 1865). Hill's health continued to deteriorate, and he was absent for several stretches of time during the siege, but his corps continued to take part in vital actions, including the infamous Battle of the Crater. After that engagement, Hill paraded captured African American troops around Petersburg to be mocked and jeered at by racist onlookers.

By April 1865, it was clear that the Confederacy's days were numbered – Atlanta had fallen to Union forces, the Southern Army of Tennessee had surrendered, and Union detachments were carrying out scorched-earth campaigns in the Carolinas and the Shenandoah Valley. Lee's army, which had been weakened from months of siege warfare, was about to abandon Petersburg and leave Richmond to its fate. All this depressed the sickly Hill, who repeatedly told friends he had no desire to outlive the Confederacy. On 2 April 1865, the situation became bleaker when the Union army broke through the Confederate line at the Third Battle of Petersburg. When Hill and a staff officer rode to the front line to assess the situation, he was shot by a Union soldier. The bullet entered his chest, passed through his heart, and shot off his left thumb. Within minutes, he was dead, at the age of 39. His death was greatly lamented by Lee, who, only seven days later, surrendered at Appomattox Court House, effectively bringing an end to the war.