Hood Remembered: Lee White

I think Hood should be remembered as a talented brigade and division commander, one who inspired his men and one who didn’t ask them to do something he himself would not do. He was brave to a fault and a devout Confederate patriot.

I think as a corps and army commander, he tried, had some good ideas that he wasn’t able to carry out, and ultimately was given an impossible job in defending Atlanta. After the fall of the city, I think he conceives and begins what is a desperate campaign, but it’s also one that really is the only hope the Confederacy has at that point. To not go on the offensive just sets the stage for a long defeat.



1 Response to Hood Remembered: Lee White

  1. As Stephen Hood has reminded us, we should not take the received opinion for granted. While the actual facts surrounding the Autumn Campaign have not changed, I think our view of it should be altered. At Springhill and at Franklin, Hood and his army came very close to winning the day and capturing or destroying Union army corps. What if in either case he had succeeded? Instead of being vilified, he would have been hailed as a brilliant commander and one of the great captains of the war. While the endgame in the east may have been the same, had Hood even partly succeeded, it could have prolonged the war for another year.

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