John Bell Hood , Confederate officer known as a fighting general during the Civil War whose vigorous defense of Atlanta failed to stem the onward thrust of General William T. Sherman’s superior Federal forces through Georgia in late 1864.

A West Point graduate who served in the U. S. Cavalry until the outbreak of hostilities, Hood won rapid promotion to the rank of colonel in the Confederate Army. He was wounded seriously in the arm at Gettysburg where he commanded a division that assaulted the Federal left at Round Top, and at the Battle of Chickamauga, this time losing a leg.

In the spring of 1886, Hood was appointed a lieutenant general under General Joseph E. Johnston to help defend Atlanta against the threat of Federal forces led by Sherman. Johnston’s continual withdrawals impelled the already distrustful Confederate president Jefferson Davis to transfer the command in July to Hood, whom he considered more aggressive. In vain effort to save Atlanta, Hood promptly attacked but was forced back into the confines of the city, which he held for five weeks. Hood then took his army out, determined to turn the tide against Sherman and revive Confederate forces in the West by striking against Sherman’s rear. He led his men on a long march north and west, only to be confronted by the Army of the Cumberland, under General George H. Thomas, which had moved back to check him. Two battles ensued in Tennessee—Franklin (November) and Nashville (December)—both decisive defeats for Hood, whose retreating army was pursued by Thomas and virtually destroyed. His command ended at his own request the following month.

He spent retirement years in New Orleans in business and in writing his memoirs.