NEWS – The Battle of Franklin Trust was ecstatic to announce the discovery of several hundred documents, letters and orders of Confederate General John Bell Hood earlier this month. During research for a book, Sam Hood of West Virginia was invited to inspect a collection of the general’s papers held by a descendant in Pennsylvania.
“I felt like the guy who found the Titanic, except for the fact everyone knew the Titanic was out there somewhere, while I had no clue that some of the stuff I found even existed,” said Hood. Eric Jacobson, who has viewed a portion of the collection said, “This is one of the most significant Civil War discoveries in recent history. These documents also tell us as much by what they don’t say. One major example is the discovery of Hood’s medical journal, kept by his doctor, John T. Darby, during the war. There is no mention of the use of painkillers or laudanum by Hood at Spring Hill or any other time. Hood was much more multi-faceted than how he has been portrayed by some as a simple minded and poorly equipped commander.”
Some of the items found include recommendations for promotion, handwritten by Stonewall Jackson and James Longstreet. Also uncovered was wartime correspondence between Hood and General R. E. Lee, Braxton Bragg, Louis T. Wigfall, and other senior commanders as well as his four general officer commission papers with signatures. Roughly seventy post-war letters from other Civil War notables were also discovered, mostly concerning the controversy with Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston and used to compose Hood’s memoir Advance & Retreat. Hood added, “This is just the tip of the iceberg on the expansive collection.”
“I have been fighting to right some of the misperceptions and vicious myths of General Hood for years,” added Sam Hood. “These documents will shed a lot of light that will change some of those views.” Hood is set for a spring release of his detailed point by point defense of General Hood’s career, entitled John Bell Hood: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of a Confederate General, which will be published by Savas Beatie Publishing.
Although this new discovery was found after Hood’s memoir Advance & Retreat was sent for publishing it does substantially support Sam Hood’s views of the General. Some of the newly discovered information on the Atlanta Campaign, the Spring Hill affair, and the Battle of Franklin will be included in Sam Hood’s upcoming book, but since the total collection will take several months to transcribe, more important information on John Bell Hood – the man and the soldier – cannot, by necessity, be revealed until later.
