Thursday 30 October 2008

Daddy Hill

This figure was sent to me by Roy who claims to have more than a passing resemblance to the subject. Well, I don’t know about him but I do know that Lord Hill’s hairstyle as depicted here by Hinton Hunt is very similar to my own. The figure is BN251 Lord Hill mounted on BNH11 General’s Horse, painted by yours truly.

Hill had a distinguished career during the peninsular war where he served first under Sir John Moore and then Wellington. He took part in many of the major battles including Corunna, Talavera and Vitoria. At Waterloo he commanded II Corps and personally led Adam’s brigade against the Imperial Guard.

Known affectionately by his men as ‘Daddy Hill’ he is reputed to have only ever sworn on two occasions, one of these was during the hard fought battle of Nive where he repulsed Marshal Soult’s attack. I don’t know what prompted the second occurrence but perhaps it was something to do with a visit to his barber?

Wellington said “The best of Hill is that I always know where to find him”.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautifully painted.
Hill is a bit thin though. Not many plump generals of course. Perhaps the king of Wurtemberg would be a better likeness.
Roy

Stryker said...

Hi Roy - Glad you like him!
Ian

Anonymous said...

I have a, er, friend who may have a slightly receding hairline...

Lovely figure!

Matt

Stryker said...

Yes, yes Matt... sure you do!
Ian

rpardo said...

Ian
A great and beautiful figure. The mine fought well in my re-fight of Vittoria
Regards
Rafa

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

Liked the background history and was prompted to read more (for which thanks!)

"It was on this day (battle of Noive) that General Hill was heard, for only the second time in the entire war, to use profanity. When Wellington heard about it he remarked that "if Hill has begun to swear, they all must mind what they are about"." A fine epithet..