junior officers took it upon themselves to bru-
talize American and Philippine prisoners of
war during what became known as the Bataan
Death March. Some 60,000 prisoners were
rounded up from Bataan and Corregidor and
forced to march 90 miles in extreme heat,
without food or water, to Camp O’Donnell.
Those who could not complete the march
were brutally dispatched by bayonet, and an
estimated 10,000 men perished. Homma first
became apprised of these facts in September
1945, following Japan’s surrender, when he
was arrested as a war criminal. “Things don’t
look very good for me,” he told his wife. “The
case is quite hopeless.” During his trial he pro-
fessed innocence and denied any knowledge
of these ghastly proceedings. A military court
found him responsible for failing to control his
troops and to provide proper treatment for
prisoners of war, both serious charges. He re-
ceived a death sentence, but as scant consola-
tion, Homma was granted the dignity of dying
like a soldier, before a firing squad. General
MacArthur rather vindictively refused to hear
any last-minute appeals, and Homma was exe-
cuted at Manila on April 3, 1946. The cultured,
intelligent Homma, whose hobbies included
writing plays and poetry, was officially exon-
erated of war crimes by the Japanese govern-
ment in 1952.
Bibliography
Connaughton, Richard M. MacArthur and Defeat in the
Philippines.New York: Overlook Press, 2001; Drea,
Edward J. In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on
the Imperial Japanese Army.Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 1998; Edgerton, Robert B. Warriors of
the Rising Sun: A History of the Japanese Military.
New York: Norton, 1997; Hanson, John F. “The Trial of
Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma.” Unpublished
Ph.D. dissertation, Mississippi State University, 1977;
Johnson, Galen I. “Defending Japanese War Lords:
American Attorneys at the Tokyo War Crimes Trial,
1946–1948.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Univer-
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of Malaysia: The Story of General Tomoyuki Ya-
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Homma.New York: Exposition Press, 1953; Maga,
Timothy P. Judgement at Tokyo: The Japanese War
Crimes Trial.Lexington: University Press of Ken-
tucky, 2001; Morris, Eric. Corregidor: The American
Alamo of World War II.New York: Cooper Square
Press, 2000; Swinson, Arthur. Four Samurai: A Quar-
tet of Japanese Army Commanders in the Second
World War. London: Hutchinson, 1968; Taylor,
Lawrence. A Trial of Generals: Homma, Yamashita,
MacArthur.South Bend, IN: Icarus Press, 1981; Whit-
man, John H. Bataan, Our Last Ditch: The Bataan
Campaign, 1942.New York: Hippocrene Books, 1990;
Young, Donald J. The Battle of Bataan: A History of
the 90-Day Siege.Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1992.HOOD, JOHNBELL
Hood, John Bell
(June 1, 1831–August 30, 1879)
Confederate General
A
ggressive, impulsive, and hard-hitting,
John Bell Hood was one of the Civil
War’s best divisional leaders, but he
proved unsuited for higher command. When
he failed to abandon his favorite tactic of
frontal assaults, the Army of Tennessee suf-
fered heavy losses and was destroyed.
Hood was born in Owingsville, Kentucky,
on June 1, 1831, and in 1849 he gained admit-
tance to the U.S. Military Academy. A
mediocre student, he was commissioned a
second lieutenant with the Fourth U.S. In-
fantry in 1853 and spent several months polic-
ing the California frontier. Two years later,
Hood transferred to the newly raised Second
U.S. Cavalry in Texas. He distinguished him-
self in several skirmishes against the Co-
manche Indians, winning praise from his su-