John Bell Hood (1831-1879) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Known for his aggressive style of leadership, he initially led the famous Texas Brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia before being promoted to division command and, ultimately, to the command of the Army of Tennessee in the western theater. He was severely wounded several times, losing the use of his left arm at the Battle of Gettysburg (1-3 July 1863) and losing his right leg a few months later at the Battle of Chickamauga (19-20 September). In late 1864, he oversaw the disastrous Franklin-Nashville Campaign, for which he has been heavily criticized. Hood survived the war, dying of yellow fever on 30 August 1879.
Early Life
Hood was born on 29 June 1831 in Owingsville, a small town in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. He was the son of John Wills Hood, a prosperous doctor, and his wife, Theodosia French Hood, and had several older brothers and sisters. Unlike his well-mannered siblings, Hood was a rebellious child whose "indifference to social customs and academics kept him frequently in trouble" (Sword, 7). His antics greatly annoyed his father, who once lost his temper with the boy and told him that if he could not behave, then he should "go to the nearest gate post and butt [his] brains out" (ibid). He received a modest education at a subscription school in rural Kentucky, but he was a poor student and received low grades. However, thanks to the influence of his maternal uncle, a US congressman, he managed to gain acceptance into the prestigious Military Academy at West Point in 1849.
At West Point, Hood was well-liked by his fellow cadets, who affectionately referred to him as 'Sam'. His classmates included future Civil War generals James B. McPherson (1828-1864) and John M. Schofield (1831-1906), both of whom would one day oppose him on the battlefield, and the school's superintendent at the time of his graduation was none other than Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), his future commanding general. Hood performed quite poorly at West Point, scoring low grades, particularly in the field of mathematics. During his senior year alone, he received 196 demerits, coming only four demerits shy of expulsion. Nevertheless, he managed to graduate in the summer of 1853, ranking 44th in a class of 52. Breveted a second lieutenant, he was briefly assigned to an infantry post in California before joining the newly formed 2nd US Cavalry Regiment in Texas in 1855.
Hood got his first taste of combat on 20 July 1857, when his detachment of 25 men was ambushed by a larger party of Comanche warriors. He was wounded during the initial attack when an arrow shot through his left hand and lodged in his horse's bridle. Thinking quickly, he simply snapped off the arrow shaft and rallied his men before leading a countercharge that drove off the Comanches. He was promoted to first lieutenant in August 1858 and, in 1860, was offered a position as chief cavalry instructor at West Point – his proven skill in the field had clearly balanced out his poor academic record. Hood, however, declined the offer, preferring active field duty to the classroom.
Command of the Texas Brigade
During the build-up to the American Civil War, Hood often found himself sympathizing with the Southern cause. For decades, the issue of slavery had divided the nation along sectional lines, pitting the 'free states' of the North against the 'slave states' of the South, and it had opened the door to other constitutional questions, such as that of states' rights versus federal authority. In April 1861, only a few days after the first shots of the war were fired at Fort Sumter, Hood resigned from the US Army; though his birth state of Kentucky remained in the Union, he felt a closer connection to his adopted state of Texas, which had seceded and joined the Confederate States. He joined the Confederate Army as a cavalry captain and was sent to fight in Virginia, where he soon distinguished himself in a skirmish in mid-July. By the end of the year, he had been promoted to colonel and placed in command of the 4th Texas Infantry Regiment.
Hood proved to be an extraordinarily popular officer, forming a strong bond with the Texans under his leadership. This popularity helped him rise to the rank of brigadier general in March 1862, a promotion that came with a brigade – since Hood's brigade was composed of three Texas regiments, it was colloquially known as the 'Texas Brigade'. Hood and his Texans would make a name for themselves at the Battle of Gaines' Mill – part of the Seven Days' Battles – on 27 June 1862. All day, the rebels had been trying to break through the strong Federal position behind Boatswain's Swamp, but each of their assaults had been bloodily repulsed. When General Lee turned to Hood and personally asked him to lead the next attack, the tall, tawny-bearded Texan was ready. As the sun began to set, Hood and his Texans surged forward, advancing across a mile of open field amidst a tempest of enemy shot and shell. Despite heavy losses, the Texans made it to the enemy lines, and the battle devolved into chaotic, hand-to-hand fighting before the Union soldiers broke and fled. Hood had taken the position, but at a horrendous cost – over 400 of his men had been killed or wounded. Upon seeing he bodies of his former comrades blanketing the field behind him, Hood broke down and sobbed.
On 26 July, Hood was given command of a division in the 1st Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia under Major General James Longstreet (1821-1904). He served under Longstreet at the Second Battle of Bull Run (28-30 August 1862; aka Battle of Second Manassas), where his division assaulted and ultimately broke the left flank of the Union army. Once again, Hood's aggressive frontal assault tactics cost him heavily, as he lost over 1,000 men. At the bloody Battle of Antietam (17 September 1862), his division saved the left flank of General Lee's army, grappling with the Union troops in the cornfield and beating back a spirited enemy assault in the West Woods. This time, Hood had sacrificed practically his entire command; when, after the battle, Lee asked where his division was, Hood wearily replied, "They are lying where you have sent them. My division has been almost wiped out." But despite these heavy casualties, the big Texan was praised by his fellow officers, including Stonewall Jackson (1824-1863), who wrote that Hood discharged his duties "with such ability and zeal as to command my admiration…I regard him as one of the most promising officers of the army" (quoted in Sword, 9). In November 1862, Hood was promoted to major general, with his division enlarged to include 7,000 men.
Wounded at Gettysburg & Chickamauga
In March 1863, Hood was marching his division through the Confederate capital of Richmond when he caught sight of an elegant young woman who, he would later confess, caused him to "surrender at first sight." She was Sally Buchanan Preston, known to her friends as 'Buck', a fashionable and flirtatious socialite from South Carolina. Hood introduced himself to Buck, but before he could begin to court her in earnest, he was called back to the army, as General Lee was gearing up for his daring second invasion of the North. This campaign would culminate in the fields of Pennsylvania at the Battle of Gettysburg. Though Longstreet's corps arrived too late to participate in the first day of the battle, it was slated to play a pivotal role on the second day; Lee ordered it to strike the Union left flank and roll up their defensive line. Hood realized that the plan required his division to pass through Devil's Den, a boulder-strewn hill that would be difficult to take. He requested permission to instead move around the Union flank and take the lightly defended mountain called Big Round Top. Longstreet denied Hood's request, and his division started its advance around 4 p.m. on 2 July 1863.
Hood and his Texans were indeed subjected to hard fighting at Devil's Den, where Hood was wounded when an artillery shell exploded above him, sending shrapnel into his left arm. Though it did not need to be amputated, the arm was rendered useless and would hang limp at his side for the rest of his life. Hood's division suffered heavy casualties at Devil's Den and in its subsequent charge up Little Round Top. After Lee's retreat from Gettysburg, Hood returned to Richmond to recuperate and to continue courting Buck. Before being called back to the front in early September, he proposed to her; she did not say yes or no but merely that she would consider the offer. As Hood went off to rejoin his division, his appearance was noted by Buck's friend, noted Southern diarist Mary Boykin Chesnut, who describes him:
When Hood came with his sad Quixote face, the face of an old Crusader, who believed in his cause, his cross, and his crown, we were not prepared for such a man as a beau-ideal of wild Texans. He is tall, thin, and shy; has blue eyes and light hair; a tawny beard and vast amount of it, covering the lower part of his face, the whole appearance that of awkward strength.
(230)
In mid-September 1863, Longstreet's corps went west to reinforce General Braxton Bragg and the Army of Tennessee. On 20 September, at the Battle of Chickamauga, Hood's division once again played a major role, exploiting a gap in the Union lines that contributed to the Confederate victory that day. Hood was again seriously wounded, this time in the right leg, which had to be amputated four inches below the hip. That autumn, he returned to Richmond to recuperate, spending much of his time pursuing the coquettish Buck and competing with her host of other suitors. Buck remained aloof, refusing to commit to him until February 1864, after the Confederate Senate approved his promotion to lieutenant general. Only then, perhaps submitting to pressure from friends and family, did Buck reluctantly accept Hood's marriage proposal. Breathing a sigh of relief, Hood confided to Mary Chesnut that his courtship of Buck was the hardest battle of his life. But despite these promises, he remained unmarried when he left Richmond to rejoin the army.
Army of Tennessee
During his time in Richmond, Hood befriended Confederate President Jefferson Davis (1808-1889), who helped secure his promotion to lieutenant general. In late February 1864, Hood left the capital for the Army of Tennessee, in time to participate in the vital Atlanta Campaign. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) had invaded Georgia and was making his way toward Atlanta, the capture of which would severely cripple the Confederacy. Sherman was opposed by the Army of Tennessee, whose new commander, General Joseph E. Johnston (1807-1891), was overcautious and reluctant to commit to battle; Hood's constant entreaties for Johnston to act with more aggression were frustratingly unheeded.
By July, President Davis had had enough of Johnston's indecisiveness and replaced him with Hood, who, at only 33, became the youngest army commander on either side during the war. Hood immediately acted with his customary aggression, launching four major attacks on Sherman's army; all four failed, however, and cost the Confederates significant casualties that could not easily be replaced. On 1 September, Hood was forced to abandon Atlanta, burning as many supplies as possible. Sherman's forces entered the city the next day, a devastating blow for the Confederacy; the capture of Atlanta helped secure the re-election of US President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), destroying the last hopes that the South could negotiate a favorable peace. Having failed to protect Atlanta, Hood began marching toward Tennessee. His plan was to threaten Sherman's supply lines at Chattanooga and draw him west, away from Georgia and the vulnerable Carolinas.
Sherman did not take the bait but continued his decisive March to the Sea, leaving Hood's army to continue its own desperate incursion into Tennessee. His new plan was to trap the Union Army of the Ohio and destroy it piecemeal, but this, too, ended in disaster. At the Battle of Franklin (30 November 1864), he sent his men across 2 miles (3.2 km) of open field without artillery support, resulting in one of the worst Confederate defeats of the war – of the 20,000 men who participated in the charge, over 6,000 were killed or wounded, a casualty rate of 30%. Hood continued on, meandering toward the state capital, but was attacked by a larger Union army at the Battle of Nashville (15-16 December 1864). Hood's army was beaten so severely that it ceased to be an effective fighting force. He was officially relieved of command in January 1865.
Later Life & Death
In February 1865, Hood returned to Richmond a broken man. His features were gaunt, his expression pained and distant. Once, when a friend tried to cheer him up with a funny story, Hood seemed not to hear a word, but continued to stare vacantly into the fireplace. "I can't keep him out of those absent fits," complained a friend, "[he] seems [to be] going through in his own mind the torture of the damned" (quoted in Sword, 435). He was far from the war hero he had appeared to be even a year before, a fact that was compounded by Southern newspapers, who scathingly blamed him for the disastrous reversals in the West. To make it all worse, Buck soon lost interest in their engagement and broke it off. On 1 April, Hood left Richmond to oversee recruitment efforts in the trans-Mississippi region. Only two days later, Richmond fell to Union forces and, six days after that, General Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) at Appomattox Court House. The war was over.
Hood avoided giving himself up for as long as possible. He tried to flee across the Mississippi River, but the spring floods prevented him from doing so. With no other choice, he finally surrendered at Natchez, Mississippi, on 31 May 1865. He was paroled and moved to Louisiana, where he hoped to start over and build a new postwar life for himself. By 1866, he was working as a cotton broker in New Orleans, and a few years after that, he was selling life insurance. In April 1868, he married Anna Marie Hannen, the daughter of a New Orleans lawyer, with whom he would have eleven children over the course of the next decade, including three sets of twins. This brood of children was often referred to as 'Hood's Brigade' and, whenever his family travelled, Hood would have to send ahead for a large supply of milk to feed them.
Yet even as he tried to move on, Hood could never quite shake the Civil War from his mind. After Joe Johnston criticized him in his memoirs in 1874, Hood felt compelled to tell his own version of events, penning his own work, Advance and Retreat: Personal Experiences in the United States and Confederate States Armies. Published posthumously, this memoir was, in the opinion of historian Wiley Sword, "a bitter, misleading, highly distorted treatise of a self-serving nature, more of an awkward apologia than a meaningful book" (439). It would, however, be his last contribution to the story of the Civil War. In the summer of 1879, his family was struck by yellow fever. His wife died from the disease on 24 August, and his eldest daughter, Lydia, died a few days later. Hood himself fell sick and died on 30 August 1879 at the age of 48. Though noted for his personal bravery, he too often relied on aggressive frontal assaults that cost him excessive casualties. For this reason, both contemporaries and later historians have remembered him as a good soldier but a terrible general.
