Henry Root Hill

Hill was born in Quincy, Illinois, on June 20, 1876. After finishing public school, he worked at his father's furniture and carpeting dealership, and after he father died in 1905, Hill succeeded him as the owner.[1]

In 1894, Hill enlisted in the Illinois National Guard as a private. He was commissioned in 1899, and he became a National Guard brigadier general in 1914. Hill was briefly sent to the border with Mexico in 1916. After some race riots in East St. Louis, Illinois, which the Illinois National Guard put down, Hill became the president of the board to investigate how the situation was handled.[1]

On July 25, 1917, Hill became a brigadier general of the National Army, and he took the 65th Infantry Brigade to France. Hill was relieved of command during a routine training exercise in July 1918 as the result of an incident that was never definitively explained. The most common version of the story is that the commander of the 33rd Division, George Bell Jr., relieved Hill after soldiers from his brigade were observed not wearing their steel helmets, a violation of Bell's orders. Hill was offered a discharge at his brigadier general's rank or a colonel's commission in the Service of Supply, both of which he refused. Instead, he insisted on serving on the front lines and accepted a major's commission on August 29, 1918.

Hill commanded 2nd Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment and was killed on October 16, 1918 during fighting near Romagne-sous-Montfaucon as part of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. He posthumously received the Distinguished Service Cross.[1] He was buried at Woodland Cemetery in Quincy, Illinois.[2] In 1930, Congress passed legislation permitting World War I general officers to retire at the highest rank they had held, and Hill's rank of brigadier general was posthumously restored.

• Brigadier General Henry Root Hill at the Illinois Digital Archives