Hood, John Bell

Life Span
to
Full name
John Bell Hood
Place of Birth
Burial Place
Birth Date Certainty
Exact
Death Date Certainty
Exact
Gender
Male
Race
White
Sectional choice
South
Origins
Slave State
No. of Spouses
1
No. of Children
11
Family
Anna Marie Hennen (wife, 1868)
Education
West Point (US Military Academy)
Occupation
Military
Military
Confederate Army

John Bell Hood (American National Biography)

Scholarship
[John Bell] Hood was one of the most outstanding brigade and division commanders of the Civil War, but he seemed unfitted for the demands of higher command…He was aggressive but rash in combat. The historian Richard McMurry wrote, "As a fighter, Hood's luck never failed. As a general, he was one of the most unfortunate men ever to head an army" (McMurry, p. 24).

On 7 May [1862] Hood led his men in their first action, an attack on a Union force that had come ashore from boats on the Pamunkey River at Eltham's Landing. The brigade drove the enemy back to the protection of their gunboats, and Hood received praise from Davis and Johnston. In the battle of Gaines' Mill on 27 June, Hood's heroic leadership in attacking the Union position broke the enemy line and won the engagement for the Confederate army.

As the army continued to retreat toward Atlanta, Davis despaired of Johnston's ability to prevent the capture of that vital city. On 17 July he removed Johnston from command and named Hood as his successor, with the temporary rank of full general. The new commander quickly went on the offensive. His troops attacked the armies of Major General William Tecumseh Sherman in the battles of Peachtree Creek (20 July), Atlanta (22 July), and Ezra Church (28 July). All three engagements ended in defeats for the Confederates.
Arthur W. Bergeron, “Hood, John Bell,” American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-01177.html.
Date Event
Second Cavalry units under Major Earl Van Dorn defeat hostile Comanche in the northern Indian Territory
At Eltham's Landing, Confederate units thwart Union attempts to cut off their retreat from Yorktown
- The Army of the Potomac concentrates on Chancellorsville in preparation for an attack on Lee
Union and Confederate armies collide near Chancellorsville in Spotsylvania County, Virginia
"Stonewall" Jackson's flanking movement seizes the initiative in the Battle of Chancellorsville
Lee's Army of Northern Virginia forces back entrenched Union forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville
- The beaten Union Army retreats across the Rappahannock, ending the Battle of Chancellorsville
- Battle of Gettysburg
At Gettysburg, Union General Daniel Sickles disregards orders and loses much of his III Corps and his right leg
- In Georgia, advancing Union forces suffer a very heavy defeat near Chickamauga Creek
In Georgia, Sherman's direct assault on Confederate positions on Kennesaw Mountain fails with heavy losses
Confederate President Davis removes General Joe Johnston as commander of the Army of the Tennessee
At the Battle of Atlanta, the Union's Army of the Tennessee defeats Confederate attempts to defend the city
General James McPherson, commanding the Union's Army of the Tennessee, is killed at the Battle of Atlanta
In the campaign against Atlanta, Union forces inflict heavy losses on Confederate troops at the Battle of Ezra Church
In Georgia, Private Harry Davis captures the flag of the 40th Louisiana and later makes the front page of Harper's Magazine
- Union forces break the last Confederate efforts to defend Atlanta at the Battle of Jonesborough
The Union's Army of the Tennessee captures Atlanta, boosting northern morale and Republican prospects
Outside Franklin, Tennessee, Confederate General Hood wins a tactical victory but decimates his army
Chicago Style Entry Link
Bailey, Anne J. The Chessboard of War: Sherman and Hood in the Autumn Campaigns of 1864. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. view record
How to Cite This Page: "Hood, John Bell," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/5926.