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{{Short description|British general and Victoria Cross recipient}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Sir James Hills-Johnes
|image= Hills-Johnes.JPG
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption= Sir James Hills-Johnes {{circa}} 1900s
|birth_name= James Hills
|nickname=Jemmy<ref name=odnb/>
|birth_date= {{birth date|1833|08|20|df=yes}}
|birth_place= Neechindipur, [[British India]]
|death_date= {{death date and age|1919|01|03|1833|08|20|df=yes}}
|death_place= [[Dolaucothi Estate]], [[Carmarthenshire]], Wales
|placeofburial= [[Caio, Carmarthenshire]]
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= [[Bengal Army]] [[British Indian Army]]
|serviceyears= 1853–1888
|rank= [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]]
|unit= [[Bengal Horse Artillery]] [[Royal Artillery]]
|commands= 3rd Division, Northern Afghanistan Field Force Military Governor of Kabul Kohat District Peshawar Mountain Battery
|battles= [[Indian Mutiny]] [[British Expedition to Abyssinia|Abyssinian War]] [[Lushai Expedition]] [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]]
|awards= [[Victoria Cross]] [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] [[Mentioned in Despatches]] (4)
|relations= [[William George Cubitt]] VC (brother-in-law) [[Lewis Pugh Evans]] VC (nephew)
|laterwork=
}}
[[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]] '''Sir James Hills-Johnes''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|VC|GCB}} (20 August 1833 – 3 January 1919) was a [[British Indian Army]] officer and a recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]], the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.

==Early life==
Born '''James Hills''' on 20 August 1833 in Neechindipur, [[Bengal]], [[India]], he was the son of James and Charlotte Hills. He was educated at the [[Edinburgh Academy]] (1843–1847), the [[Stewart's Melville College|Edinburgh Institution]] (1847–1850) and the [[Addiscombe Military Seminary]] (1851–1853), and was commissioned into the [[Bengal Artillery]] in 1853. Hills changed his surname to '''Hills-Johnes''' in 1882 on his marriage to Elizabeth Johnes, the younger daughter and coheiress of John Johnes of [[Dolaucothi Estate|Dolaucothi]], Carmarthenshire.<ref name=odnb/>

==Military career==
[[File:James Hill Johnes, VC, Attacking the Enemy (gcf03672).jpg|thumb|left|James Hill-Johnes at the Siege of Delhi]]
Hills was a 23 years old [[second lieutenant]] in the [[Bengal Horse Artillery]] during the [[Indian Mutiny]] when the following deed took place at the [[Siege of Delhi]] on 9 July 1857 for which he and [[Henry Tombs]] were awarded the [[Victoria Cross]]:

{{quote|Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Tombs, C.B., and Lieutenant James Hills

Date of Act of Bravery, 9 July 1857

For very gallant conduct on the part of Lieutenant Hills before Delhi, in defending the position assigned to him in case of alarm, and for noble behaviour on the part of Lieutenant-Colonel Tombs in twice coming to his subaltern's rescue, and on each occasion killing his man.
(See despatch of Lieutenant-Colonel Mackenzie, Commanding 1st Brigade Horse Artillery, dated Camp, near Delhi, 10 July 1857,
published in the Supplement to the London Gazette of 16 January 1858.)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22131|page=2050|date=27 April 1858}}</ref>}}

In addition to the Delhi clasp of the [[Indian Mutiny Medal]], Hills received the Lucknow clasp awarded to troops under command of [[Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde|Sir Colin Campbell]] who were engaged in final operations leading to the surrender of [[Siege of Lucknow|Lucknow]] and the clearing of the surrounding areas from November 1857 to March 1858.

After a number of staff appointments, Hills served as an artillery officer in the [[British Expedition to Abyssinia|Abyssinian campaign]] of 1867–68 and the [[Lushai Expedition]] of 1871–72. Promoted major-general in July 1879, he fought in the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] (1878–80), and was made military governor of [[Kabul]] in October 1879 and commanded a [[Division (military)|division]] in 1880.<ref name=odnb>{{cite web|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/61061 |title=Johnes-Hills, Sir James ''(on page of: Hills, Sir John)''|last1=Vetch |first1=R.H.|last2=''Revised by: ''Stearn |first2=Roger T. |publisher=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|access-date=8 September 2021|isbn=019861411X}}</ref> For services in Afghanistan he was appointed Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Bath]] (KCB) in March 1881.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24944|page=975|date=1 March 1881}}</ref> Hills-Johnes was promoted lieutenant-general in January 1884<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25312|page=380|date=25 January 1884}}</ref> and retired in 1888.<ref name=odnb/> He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in June 1893.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26409|page=3251|date=3 June 1893}}</ref>

==Later life==
[[File:Hills-Johnes Memorial - Caio.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Memorial to Lt General Sir James Hills-Johnes in the lychgate of the Caio churchyard]]
Hills-Johnes was [[High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire]] in 1886 and made an honorary freeman of the town of [[Carmarthen]] in 1910. He also served as a member of [[Carmarthenshire County Council, 1889-1974|Carmarthenshire County Council]]. He was a long standing friend of [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Lord Roberts]], and in 1900 he accompanied Roberts in a private capacity during the [[Second Boer War|South African War]].<ref name=odnb/>

He died of influenza during the post-war pandemic on 3 January 1919, aged 85, at his [[Dolaucothi Estate]] and was buried at [[Caio, Carmarthenshire]].<ref name=odnb/>

Hills-Johnes had five brothers and four sisters. The brothers included Major-General Sir John Hills (1834–1902) of the Bombay Engineers;<ref name=odnb/> [[Robert Hills (cricketer, born 1837)|Robert Hills]] (1837–1909), a [[first-class cricket]]er who was the brother-in-law of Lieutenant [[William George Cubitt]] VC and uncle of Brigadier [[Lewis Pugh Evans]] VC; and Charles Hills (1847–1935), the family history saying he was the real father of Hollywood actress [[Merle Oberon]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Miles |last=MacNair |title=Indigo & Opium: two remarkable families and fortunes won and lost |publisher=Brewin Books |place=Studley |year=2013 |isbn=9781858585178 }}</ref>

His medals, including the Victoria Cross, are displayed at the [[Royal Artillery Museum]], [[Woolwich]], London.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ccrrart.htm |title=VC locations: victoriacross.org.uk.|access-date=10 September 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite odnb |first=R. H. |last=Vetch |first2= Roger T. (reviewer) |last2=Stearn |title=Hills, Sir John (1834–1902) |origyear=2004 |year=2011 |id=33877 }} (includes details of Sir James Hills-Johnes)
*{{Cite book |first=H. M. |last=Vibart |title=Addiscombe: its heroes and men of note |place=Westminster |publisher=Archibald Constable |year=1894 |pages=608–13 |ol=23336661M }}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hills, James}}
[[Category:1833 births]]
[[Category:1919 deaths]]
[[Category:British recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Alumni of Addiscombe Military Seminary]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Indian Rebellion of 1857 recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:People educated at Edinburgh Academy]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Abyssinian War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War]]
[[Category:British Army lieutenant generals]]
[[Category:Royal Artillery officers]]
[[Category:High Sheriffs of Carmarthenshire]]
[[Category:Members of Carmarthenshire County Council]]

James Hills-Johnes - Revision history

Bot at 11:53, 18 June 2022