 Union General Joseph Hooker remarked that Confederate Captain Hillyer was "a most able, efficient & gallant officer".Hillyer resigned his captain's commission in November 1863 to become an auditor for the Western & Atlantic Railroad at the request of Governor Joseph E. Brown, who preferred a military man for the role as the railroad was the main supply route for General Joseph E. Johnston's Confederate army.Early in 1864, Hillyer organized the State Road Battalion (consisting mainly of railroad men) and he was placed in command of the defenses of the railroad with the rank of major.