Gen Gen may refer to: * ''Gen'' (film), 2006 Turkish horror film directed by Togan Gökbakar * Gen (Street Fighter), a video game character from the ''Street Fighter'' series * Gen Fu, a video game character from the ''Dead or Alive'' series * Gen l ...

. Benjamín Guillermo Hill Salido (born 31 March 1874,

Choix Choix () is a small city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. It is located inland, in the northernmost corner of the state. The city reported 9,305 inhabitants in the 2010 census. It contains the locality Sauzadebaca. References External linksG ...

, Sinaloa, – died 14 December 1920,

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

) was a military commander during the Mexican Revolution. He was a cousin of revolutionary general and later president Álvaro Obregón Salido, whom he supported from the beginning of his rise to power. He was called "Obregón's lost right arm," alluding to the arm his cousin lost in the 1915

Battle of Celaya The Battle of Celaya, 6–15 April 1915, was part of a series of military engagements in the Bajío during the Mexican Revolution between the winners, who had allied against the regime of Gen. Victoriano Huerta (February 1913-July 1914) and then ...

, defeating General

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

Early life

Hill's paternal grandfather, William Hill, was an American-born physician who fought with the army of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

(1861-65). As with a number of Confederates following the southern defeat, Hill emigrated. He went to Álamos, Sonora, where he married Jesusa Salido. Their third child was Benjamin Hill Salido. Jesusa's sister Cenobia, who had eighteen children, the last of which was Álvaro Obregón Salido, making Hill and Obregón cousins. While the Obregón family's fortunes waned, especially after the death of Cenobia's husband when Obregón was a toddler, the Hill family sent Benjamin to study in a military academy and then sent him to Milan and Rome. He fell in love with an Italian countess, whose family objected to the match, but the couple eloped and returned to Mexico. She died in childbirth during her first pregnancy. Hill subsequently married a local Sonoran woman.

Career

Following the call of

Francisco I. Madero Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and statesman, who became the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in a coup d'etat in February 1 ...

he joined the revolution in 1910. He was briefly imprisoned in the city of

Hermosillo, Sonora Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city located in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, th ...

, during 1911. He used what was called the "nitroglycerine method of attack," a method used when Federal forces had overwhelming numbers. Rebels also used dum-dum bullets that did lethal damage. The press in Mexico City criticized such methods as being "unchivalrous.". When Madero was trying to consolidate his hold, he placed Hill as commander of

Cananea Cananea is a city in the Mexican state of Sonora, Northwestern Mexico. It is the seat of the Municipality of Cananea, in the vicinity of the U.S−Mexico border. The population of the city was 31,560 as recorded by the 2010 census. The p ...

, a place of labor unrest. Hill "a combination of resolve and conciliation averted trouble." In 1912, he fought against the rebellion led by

Pascual Orozco Pascual Orozco Vázquez, Jr. (in contemporary documents, sometimes spelled "Oroszco") (28 January 1882 – 30 August 1915) was a Mexican revolutionary leader who rose up to support Francisco I. Madero in late 1910 to depose long-time presi ...

and, following the 1913

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

Victoriano Huerta José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 22 December 1854 – 13 January 1916) was a general in the Mexican Federal Army and 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of Francisco I. Madero wit ...

, he joined the northwestern corps of the

Constitutionalist Army The Constitutional Army ( es, Ejército constitucionalista; also known as the Constitutionalist Army) was the army that fought against the Federal Army, and later, against the Villistas and Zapatistas during the Mexican Revolution. It was forme ...

, which would ultimately be commanded by his kinsman

Álvaro Obregón Álvaro Obregón Salido (; 17 February 1880 – 17 July 1928) better known as Álvaro Obregón was a Sonoran-born general in the Mexican Revolution. A pragmatic centrist, natural soldier, and able politician, he became the 46th President of Me ...

. He fought alongside Obregón in the campaigns against

Francisco "Pancho" Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (,"Villa"
''

Bajío. He served as

Governor of Sonora List of governors of the Mexican state of Sonora since 1911: *2021–present Alfonso Durazo *2015–2021 Claudia Pavlovich Arellano *2009–2015 Guillermo Padrés Elías *2003–2009 Eduardo Bours Castelo *1997–2003 ...

from August 1914 until January 1915. Obregón had not joined the early Maderista phase of the revolution, but once he did, Hill supported his rise in military ranks despite grumblings of some who had fought for Madero. Hill was an extremely able Constitutionalist Army commander, put in charge of Mexico City in 1915. Following the victory of

Venustiano Carranza José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920) was a Mexican wealthy land owner and politician who was Governor of Coahuila when the constitutionally elected president Francisco I. Madero was overthrown in a Februa ...

's Constitutionalist Army, whose most distinguished general was his relative Álvaro Obregón, Hill was promoted to Divisional General. Obregón had returned to Sonora after Carranza's election, but announced his candidacy for the 1920 presidential elections in which Carranza was constitutionally unable to run. However, Carranza designated

Ignacio Bonillas Ignacio Bonillas Fraijo (1 February 1858 – 23 June 1942) was a Mexican diplomat. He was a Mexican ambassador to the United States and held a degree in mine engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was tapped by Pres ...

as his candidate for the presidency. Hill, Obregón,

Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a general in the Mexican Revolution and a Sonoran politician, serving as President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. The 1924 Calles presidential campaign was the first populist ...

, and

Adolfo de la Huerta Felipe Adolfo de la Huerta Marcor (; 26 May 1881 – 9 July 1955) was a Mexican politician, the 45th President of Mexico from 1 June to 30 November 1920, following the overthrow of Mexican president Venustiano Carranza, with Sonoran generals ...

formed a plan in 1920 against Carranza's plans. Hill was one of the main proponents of the

Plan of Agua Prieta The Plan of Agua Prieta (Spanish: ''Plan de Agua Prieta)'' was a manifesto, or plan, that articulated the reasons for rebellion against the government of Venustiano Carranza. Three revolutionary generals from Sonora, Álvaro Obregón, Plutarco E ...

, fighting in the military rebellions that ensued. Hill and other former Constitutionalists accompanied Obregón on his triumphal entry into Mexico City. When Obregón assumed the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

on 1 December 1920, he appointed Hill as his Secretariat of National Defense, Secretary of War and the Navy. He was seen as a potential presidential successor to Obregón, which brought him into conflict with Secretariat of the Interior, Interior Secretary

Death and legacy

In 1920, Hill died at age 46 under suspicious circumstances after attending a luncheon intended to heal a rift between Hill and Calles. Calles was also in conflict with the poet José Inés Novelo. After dining, both Hill and Novelo became extremely ill, but recovered. Hill did not. Calles was suspected of poisoning Novato and Hill, Obregón's kinsman and potential rival to Calles politically. The banquet was called "The Feast of the Borgias", a family that famously used poison to eliminate rivals. A rumor was floated that Hill had died of cancer.Matute, "Benjamin Guillermo Hill", 644. Hill had served only two weeks as Obregón's Minister of War. He was given a full military funeral with Obregón, Calles, and other revolutionaries in attendance. Calles succeeded him in the post of Minister of War. The town of Benjamín Hill, Sonora, was named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Benjamin G. 1874 births 1920 deaths People from Choix Municipality Mexican revolutionaries People of the Mexican Revolution Mexican generals Deaths by poisoning Mexican people of American descent Mexican Secretaries of Defense Governors of Sonora People from Sonora Mexican expatriates in Italy