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To: rustbucket; Non-Sequitur
Same sort of summary that I've seen several times:

Some believe he was mad at his men for allowing Schofield to escape from Spring Hill to Franklin.

I've never tried to trace down the source for the claim, but I wonder if it actually came from something Hood said. The problem is compounded by his gross incompetence; was it disciplinary, or just a stupid move? Hood's career was pretty rife with the latter, and it would be no surprise to learn that his men would generate rumors like this; not too difficult to believe that even Hood might have started the rumor to excuse a bad tactical decision.

The site doesn't source it, but maybe it's worth looking into some more. If I find time today (not likely, but who knows?) I'll see what I can find.

1,844 posted on 03/29/2004 4:29:24 AM PST by Gianni (Sarcasm, the other white meat.)
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To: Gianni; Non-Sequitur
The book Attack and Die (McWhiney and Jamieson) explores the thesis that the South lost the war because they charged defensive positions in too many battles. "Casualty lists reveal that the Confederates destroyed themselves by making bold and repeated attacks. They took the tactical offensive in 91 percent of the battles in which they suffered their greatest percentage losses; they defended in 89 percent of the battles in which they suffered the lowest percentage of losses."

I don't know the details of the battles, but Hood lost 11,000 men in two attacks near Atlanta against Sherman in July 1864. The Battle of Franklin was just another example or the problem with Hood's tactics. Was he mad at his men against Sherman too or just slow to understand what he was doing?

In defense of the attack philosophy, a Southern colonel observed that the South generally faced larger, better equiped, and better supplied armies and had to take more risks to overcome what would otherwise be the inevitable result of those advantages.

1,846 posted on 03/29/2004 6:46:47 AM PST by rustbucket
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To: Gianni
Try "Shrouds of Glory" by Winston Groom
1,847 posted on 03/29/2004 6:47:19 AM PST by Non-Sequitur (Jefferson Davis - the first 'selected, not elected' president.)
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