LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2006 Dec Signature Civil War Auction #642  / 

25337

Confederate General John Bell Hood War Date ALS

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:375.00 USD Estimated At:1,500.00 - 2,500.00 USD
Confederate General John Bell Hood War Date ALS
<B>Confederate General John Bell Hood War Date Autograph Letter Signed.</B></I> This autographed, signed letter from one of the South's greatest generals, John Bell Hood, is dated November 3, 1862. A West Point graduate (Class of 1853) Hood was sent to Texas to join the elite Second Cavalry regiment commanded by future Confederate greats Colonel Albert Sydney Johnston and Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee. Wounded by a Comanche arrow at Devil's River in July 1857, he would tender his resignation at the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.<BR><BR>Hood would later command the famed Texas Brigade that would be a key component of Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. For his brilliance at Antietam he was promoted to Major General by his commander General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. Later serving under General James Longstreet at Gettysburg, Hood would be severely wounded losing use of his left arm. At the Battle of Chickamauga, Hood led the rout of Union General William Rosecrans' troops but suffered another serious wound resulting in the loss of his right leg.<BR><BR>After recuperating in Richmond, Hood valiantly returned to war and was promoted to lieutenant general with a corps command under General Joseph Johnston in Georgia. In 1864 with the war going badly, President Jefferson Davis replaced Johnston with Hood in an attempt to stave off Sherman's drive to the sea. Ultimately Atlanta was to be evacuated and Hood started his ill-fated invasion of Tennessee. After resigning his command on January 23, 1865, Hood was ordered to Texas in an attempt to raise more troops but upon learning of the capture of President Davis he surrendered on May 31, 1865. After the war he was in the cotton business in New Orleans, fathered eleven children and died of yellow fever along with his wife and oldest child in 1879.<BR><BR>Measuring 5" x 7.375", this handwritten and signed letter is two pages in length and dated November 3, 1862 right after his heroics at Antietam. It is addressed to Major B. A. Blanton at Frankfort from Mount Sterling, Kentucky where Hood was raised. The subject matter concerns his scheduled movements to Frankfort and then back to Texas. Hood notes in the letter that his mother was doing well. The letter is complete with a gray hardbound slipcover with engraved gold lettering. Hood's autograph is one of the toughest among Confederate generals, and this war dated example is especially nice. <BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Small Collectibles (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
Sign In to Bookmark Lot