Texas Brigadier to the Fall of Atlanta: John Bell Hood by Stephen Davis

Abstract

Reviewed by: Texas Brigadier to the Fall of Atlanta: John Bell Hood by Stephen Davis Alexander Mendoza Texas Brigadier to the Fall of Atlanta: John Bell Hood. By Stephen Davis. (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2021. Pp. 554. Illustrations, maps, notes, works cited, index.) Stephen Davis's Texas Brigadier to the Fall of Atlanta is a welcome addition to the growing scholarship on General John Bell Hood and the Texas Brigade during the Civil War. Serving as the first of two volumes of a comprehensive study on the beleaguered commander, this book sheds much-needed light on the general's military career and the maelstrom of controversy and recrimination that surrounded the Confederate Army of Tennessee. From the onset, Davis tackles his subject and addresses the elephant in the room, the notion that Hood undeservedly received promotion to full general and the command of an army he was ill-suited to lead. Historians have "concluded that Hood was a nineteenth-century embodiment of the 'Peter Principle'—the American sociological notion that in hierarchical organizations, individuals rise to the level of incompetence," the author writes (1). Davis acknowledges that it is possible to see Hood as an ambitious commander who clamored for promotion. However, history does not work as simply as that. Rather, it is more nuanced and complex than the one-dimensional interpretations that historians have imposed on Hood. Davis's biography provides a short background of Hood prior to 1861. Because the author's stated purpose is to analyze the development of Hood as a soldier and officer, it is fitting that Davis devotes so little to Hood's background. The general himself wrote only eleven pages in his postwar memoirs about his life prior to the war. During the war, Hood [End Page 516] emerged as a true leader of men, a commander who possessed an innate confidence that attracted admiration and loyalty from his subordinates. Yet this is no hagiography, and Davis acknowledges that Hood was not above self-promotion. At one point, for instance, after the Battle of Second Manassas in 1862, Davis suggests that Hood was likely responsible for providing the Richmond Enquirer an anonymously written account praising the exploits of the Texas Brigade and its commander. The "gallant Hood" that emerged from that column would be a term used to describe the general for years. "Sophistication does not generally characterize John Bell Hood, but ambition—the drive for fame and glory—certainly does," Davis writes (33). This was evident at the crucial point of Hood's military career, his promotion to full general and ascension to command the Army of Tennessee during the Atlanta Campaign. The work of any good biographer is to delve deeply and provide careful analysis. Davis exemplifies that in his assessment of Hood. During Hood's convalescence in Richmond after losing his right leg in the Battle of Chickamauga, Davis provides the most detailed account yet of how Hood maneuvered through the world of Richmond high society and Confederate politics. He did so clumsily and awkwardly but persevered enough to gain the admiration of the public. The picture that emerges is of someone who struggled to dip his toes into the political waters of the Confederate capitol. Ultimately, Davis succeeds in his close examination of how Hood gained command of one of the Confederacy's foremost armies. Texas Brigadier is exceptionally well-researched and soundly written. Significantly, Davis's book is a treasure trove for historians and scholars interested in the machinations of the Confederate high command. The footnotes alone are worthy of thorough reading. Civil War historians will certainly benefit from this fine work. Alexander Mendoza University of North Texas Copyright © 2022 The Texas State Historical Association