John Bell Hood
John Bell Hood (1831-1879) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Hood had a reputation for bravery and aggressiveness since he was one of the few generals to personally lead his soldiers into combat. In spite of this, he had a poor understanding of larger tactics which caused several defeats for the Confederacy. He is almost single handedly responsible for the destruction of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. In short one could say that Hood was a prime exemple of the Peter principle in that he was an excellent brigade commander, a good divisional commander, a mediocre corps commander and a bad army commander.Hood was born in Owingsville, Kentucky and was educated at the United States Military Academy; he graduated in 1853 with a low class rank (44th out of 52). He initially served as an infantry officer but later transferred into the Second Cavalry in Texas in 1855. In 1861, Hood joined the Confederate army. In May 1862 he was promoted to brigadier general and put in charge of the Texas brigade. He served under Robert E. Lee as a divisional commander. He lost the use of an arm while leading his men at the Battle of Gettysburg and had a leg amputated at the Battle of Chickamauga.
In July 17, 1864, Hood was given command of the Army of Tennessee - after scheming to replace Johnston - which he led to defeat in the latter part of the Atlanta campaign. Hood then marched north back into Tenessee in order to draw Sherman back but Sherman send his great lieutenant Thomas to take control of the federal forces in the state. After ruining a grand opportunity to defeat a large part of the Union army under John McAllister Schofield. at Spring Hill, TN, the next day at the Battle of Franklin he battered his troops at the Union breastworks. He was defeated again at the Battle of Nashville, in which most of his army was wiped out. After the catastrophe of Nashville, Hood resigned his temporary commission of full general.
After the war, Hood moved to Louisiana and became a cotton grower and an insurance broker. He died of yellow fever.