HILL, ROWLAND, VISCOUNT, was born on the 11th of August 1772, at the village of Frees in Shropshire, where his father, John Hill, Esq., resided till the death of his brother, Sir Richard Hill, Bart., when he succeeded to the title, and removed to the family mansion and estate at Hawkstone in Shropshire. Sir John Hill had sixteen eons and daughters, of whom Rowland Hill was the second son and fourth child, and was a nephew of the Rev. Rowland Hill, the celebrated preacher. He was educated in his native county, where he remained till 1790, when he entered the army as an ensign in the 38th regiment of foot. Having obtained leave of absence, he went to a military academy at Strasbourg, where he remained till January 24, 1791, when he was appointed lieutenant in an independent company under Captain Broughton. On the 16th of March, in the same year, he was appointed lieutenant in the 53rd, or Shropshire regiment of foot. He went again to pursue his military studies at Strasbourg, but returned to England at the end of the summer, joined his regiment at Edinburgh January 18, 1792, and remained in Scotland till the end of that year. In the early part of the year 1793 he raised an inde pendent company, for which service he received his commission as captain on the 23rd of March. He took his company to Ireland, delivered the men over to the 38th regiment, and returned to Shrop shire in June. Lord Hood having taken Toulon from the French in August 1793, Captain Hill, before he was attached to any particular corps, was employed there as aid-de-camp to three successive generals, Lord Mulgrave, General O'Hara, and Sir David Dundas. On the 13th of December 1793, Lord Hood and Sir David Dundee appointed him the bearer of despatches to England, where he arrived on the 14th of January 1794. In the early part of that year Mr. Graham (afterwards Sir Thomas Graham, and subsequently Lord Lynedoch) having raised a regiment of infantry, offered Captain Hill the rank of major in it, on the condition of his supplying a certain quota of men, which be did. This regiment was the 90th, with which he was destined to win so many honours. It was afterwards augmented to 1000 men, and he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel On the let of January 1800 he was advanced to the rank of colonel Colonel Hill went through arduous duties with his regiment at Gib raltar and elsewhere, till, on the 8th of March 1801, he landed with his regiment at Alexandria in Egypt, as part of the army under Sir Ralph Abercromby. He received a wound on the temple in the action of March 13, 1801. After the defeat of the French he returned to England, where he arrived on the let of April 1802. He performed regimental duty in England and Ireland till 1805, when he accompanied the expedition to the river Weser in Germany, but was again in England at the end of January 1806, in which year he was promoted to the rank of major-ganeral, and appointed on the staff.
In 1808, when he was on duty in Ireland, he received an order to join the army of Sir Arthur Wellesley in Portugal He landed his troops successfully in Mondego Bay, August 1st to 5th, and served under Sir Arthur Wellesley till the French evacuated Portugal, accord ing to the terms of the so-called convention of Cintra. He afterwards
served with his regiment under Sir John Moore in the latter part of 1808 till the battle of Coruna, January 16, 1809, when he returned with the shattered remains of the army to England.
After a short May in England, Major-General Hill, in 1809, re-em barked for Portugal, in command of the troops ordered from Ireland for the next expedition, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. He served under Sir Arthur Wellesley till the 6th of February 1811, when he was compelled by illness to come to England. In May 1811 he was again in Portugal In March 1812 he was invested by Lord Wellington with the insignia of the Order of the Bath, which had been sent over for that purpose by the Secretary of State. He received a slight wound on the head at the battle of Talavera, and received the thanks of both houses of parliament for his services in that action, as he did on other occasions afterwards. He continued to serve in the Peninsular War till it terminated with the battle of Toulouse. After his return to England Sir Rowland Hill was created, in May 1814, Baron of Almarez and of Hawkatone, with 2000/. a year to himself and his heirs male. The honour was regranted to him in 1816, as Baron of Almarez and Hardwicke, with remainder, in default of male issue, to the issue male of his deceased elder brother.
On the return of Napoleon I. from Elba, in March 1815, Lord Hill was appointed to a command in the Netherlands, and was engaged at the battle of Waterloo. On the restoration of Louis XVIII., he was appointed second in command of the army of occupation in France, and remained there till the evacuation of the country by the allied armies.
In the year 1828 Lord Hill was appointed the General Commanding in Chief of the Army-an office which he filled with universal appro bation till the declining state of his health compelled him to send iu his resignation. He was then raised to the dignity of Viscount, Sep tember 3, 1842, with remainder to his nephew, Sir Rowland Hill, Bart., who is now the second Viscount Hill. Ho died December 10, 1842, at his residence, Hardwicke Grange, near Shrewsbury.
A column in honour of Lord Hill, erected by subscription after the termination of the Peninsular War, forms a conspicuous ornament of the town of Shrewsbury.
Lord Hill possessed in rare perfection the qualities which are re quired to constitute a military commander of the highest class. With careful thought and preparation, he combined in action promp titude, perfect coolness, presence of mind, and fertility of resource. His energy was untiring and unintermitted, and when circumstances required it he exhibited the moat daring intrepidity. Strict in die cipline, he was at the same time careful of the comfort, health, and lives of his men, and his command over them was uulivaited. The Duke of Wellington, throughout the whole of the Peninsular War, treated him with unbounded confidence; and they lived on terms of the most familiar intimacy till Lord Hill's death. His life has been written by Mr. Edwin Sidney, 1 voL See, 1850. Those who wish for information as to his operations and achievements in Portugal and Spain, will find it given in vivid detail in Napier'. 'History of the Peninsular War.'