Hugh G. Wilson was an original member of the "Johnson Rifles", of Johnson County, Arkansas, which was mustered into Confederate service at Fort Smith, Arkansas, on June 6, 1861, as Co. C, 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles. When the regiment was organized, Wilson was appointed regimental quartermaster with the rank of captain, on July 4, 1861. He was subsequently appointed regimental commissary, ultimately serving as commissary of Churchill's 2nd Brigade, McCown's Division, Army of the West. He resigned on February 23, 1863, and returned to Arkansas. He was appointed major and commissary of Cabell's Brigade, District of Arkansas, to rank from May 2, 1863, which position he seems to have held until the end of the war. He was wounded and captured at Fayetteville, Arkansas, on April 18, 1863 (before his commission as major was official), sent to a hospital at Fayetteville, where he was paroled on April 23, 1863. His parole describes him as age 34, eyes gray, hair dark, complexion fair, height 5'8", residing at Clarksville, Arkansas.

Major Wilson was a long-time resident of Johnson County, Arkansas.