Advance and Retreat

At his most effective, Hood was the hard hitting division commander that Lee liked to position between Longstreet and Jackson, as the reserve he could move to either wing when necessary. John Bell Hood was a tough fighter, powerful motivator of soldiers, and a solid division commander. This memoir is "his turn" to set his side of things straight. Like others who had experienced painful defeats, Hood became a target of critics during and after the war. For Hood, his most notable critic was perhaps Johnston, who he took over for just prior to the battle of Atlanta. By this time, Hood was still healing from an arm wound from Gettysburg, and the loss of a leg from Chickamauga. Even Lee thought he was unfit to command at this time, but President Davis wanted his aggressive ways over what Johnston had demonstrated. Hood did the best he could at Atlanta, but eventually Sherman would unhinge him from Atlanta. His final acts resulted in the destruction of the primary Confederate Army of the West, as he quixotically charged it across the open, which by that time had been proven useless against entrenched defenses. Hood's Memoir, written in 1880 was still not too far removed from the war that it lacks in clarity or suffers from distorted memory. For a 19th Century book it reads remarkably well today, and not as rooted in speech of the time, one finds in the ORs and other works and letters. This a five star book for its importance, despite his powerful opinions, and the fact he presided over two very costly failures; it is written by a great Civil War general in stature, who served in both theaters, and fought in the greatest battles of the war. What he left is important witness to American history.

Advance and Retreat is the war memoir of John Bell Hood, the much lauded brigade and division commander in the Army of Northern Virginia and the much maligned commander of the Army of Tennessee. Early on, he sets the tone for his reputation for aggression by telling the 4th Texas that the true measure of success for any command in an action is "the number of colors and guns captured, and prisoners taken." One doesn't have to be Napoleon to realize that continual retreating, entrenching and then retreating again, a la Joe Johnston, will yield few colors, guns or prisoners.

For all of my time as a Civil War buff, I have thought that Gen. Hood was a scapegoat. I have always thought of him as a truly brave fellow who got in over his head...and was therefore a perfect target for accusation. Many people blame Hood for the disasters at Atlanta, Franklin, Spring Hill, etc, but this tome shows the reader a different side of the story (that other than Jefferson Davis and Joseph Johnston's side). Hood was truly a hero, but much more a fighting man than a scholar. However, he provides an argument against the charge of conspiring to take over the Army of the Tennesee from Joseph Johnston (perhaps his most infamous "act") with a plausible claim. I think that the best way to have a perspective in a debate is to know both sides, and the debate over John Bell Hood is continuing today. So buy this and read up!

One of the Civil War's most intriguing and controversial characters, Confederate General John Bell Hood offers a detailed rebuttal to post-war criticisms of Joseph E. Johnston and others. Much lauded as a combat commander of the famed Texas Brigade under Robert E. Lee, Hood lost use of his left arm at Gettysburg and lost his right leg at Chickamauga. In 1864 he replaced Johnston as commander of the Army of Tennesee before the fall of Atlanta, and late that year led that army on the ill fated invasion of Tennessee, culminating with the devastating defeats at Franklin and Nashville. In Advance and Retreat Hood offers detailed explanations of his controversial decisions. This book is a must read for any student of the Civil War.

This is a really good book for people who truly enjoy learning about the Civil War. For those of you who really don't care that much about it, its not for you. This is the first hand account of the well known general John Bell Hood of the Confederates