sea, Hood advanced northward into Ten-
nessee and against two former West Point
classmates. On November 30, 1864, the Con-
federates confronted the army of Gen. John
M. Schofield at Franklin, where Hood char-
acteristically attacked head-on and was re-
pulsed with heavy losses. The Army of Ten-
nessee then sidestepped around Franklin
and made for Sherman’s major supply depot
at Nashville, defended by Gen. George H.
Thomas. On December 15–16, 1864, Thomas
allowed Hood to squander his strength
against entrenched troops before launching
a massive flanking action that routed the
Confederates. The Army of Tennessee simply
dissolved in retreat, and Hood was relieved
of command at his own request in January
- He finally surrendered in Natchez, Mis-
sissippi, that May.
After the war, Hood retired to New Or-
leans, where he failed at several business
ventures and lived in poverty. He also
penned a vitriolic set of memoirs in which
Bragg and Johnston were blamed for the dis-
asters in the west while his own role was
downplayed. His recollections were pub-
lished posthumously after Hood died during
a yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans on
August 30, 1879.
Bibliography
Bailey, Anne J. The Chessboard of War: Sherman and
Hood in the Autumn Campaigns of 1864.Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press, 2000; Buell, Thomas B.
The Warrior Generals: Combat Leadership in the
Civil War.New York: Crown, 1997; Coffey, David.
John Bell Hood and the Struggle for Atlanta.Abilene,
TX: McWhiney Foundation Press, 1998; Farley, M. Fos-
ter. “The Battle of Franklin.” Military History1, no. 5
(2000): 60–67; Groom, Winston. Shrouds of Glory:
From Atlanta to Nashville, the Last Great Campaign
of the War.New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1995;
Hood, John B. Advance and Retreat.New Orleans:
Published for the Hood Orphan Memorial Fund by G.
T. Beauregard, 1880; McDonough, James L., and
Thomas L. Connelly. Five Tragic Hours: The Battle of
Franklin.Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press,
1983; McMurry, Richard M. Atlanta, 1864: Last
Chance for the Confederacy.Lexington: University of
Kentucky Press, 2000; Ritter, Charles F., and Jon L.
Wakelyn, eds. Leaders of the American Civil War: A
Biographical and Historiographical Dictionary.
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998; Stockdale, Paul
H. The Death of an Army: The Battle of Nashville and
Hood’s Retreat.Murfreesboro, TN: Southern Heritage
Press, 1992; Sword, Wiley. Embrace an Angry Wind:
The Confederacy’s Last Hurrah.New York: Harper-
Collins, 1992; Wood, W. J. Civil War Generalship: The
Art of Command.Westport, CT: Praeger, 1997.HOWE, RICHARD
Howe, Richard
(March 19, 1726–August 5, 1799)
English Admiral
“B
lack Dick” Howe was among the
most accomplished British naval of-
ficers of the eighteenth century, the
first to receive the prestigious Order of the
Garter. He rendered brief, if useful, naval ser-
vice during the American Revolution, but he
is best remembered for his attempts at peace-
ful reconciliation.
Richard Howe was born in London, the
scion of a landed family and elder brother of
William Howe. In 1740, at age 14, he joined
the Royal Navy and was assigned to HMS Sev-
ernunder Adm. George Anson. Howe accom-
panied Anson on his attempted circumnaviga-
tion of the globe that year and returned to
England after storms damaged his ship while