Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1879-09-10
TIE LATE GEN. HOOD.
His Opinions of the Yankees, Gems,
q Grant. Sherman, Mcclellan,
- Etc, Etc. %*s
JEFFERSON COUNTY, TENN,

Mr.. EDITOR: The recent death OF
Gen. J. b. Hood, of yellow fever,
at New Orleans, recalls a brief visit
to Tate Spring last summer, while
that gentleman and his interesting
family were among the guests at
that delightful resort. 1t recalls
also some patriotic and manly opin-
ions expressed by the General that
were IN such striking contrast to
those held and uttered by many of
the political warriors of the Confed-
eracy, as to re>kindle a hope in the
minds of several ex-Union soldiers
who were present, that those who
once met as deadly enemies in bat
tie, may yet become fraternally and
politically united in defense Of the
glory and honor Of the republic.
While seated IN the midst of cote.
RE of eager listeners, reciting some
of the Incidents of the. war, Gen.
Hood was called upon by stranger
introducing himself as a private
soldier who had served under his
{ Hood s command The stranger,
after presenting the General with q
fine peach, which he said was Of q
variety he called "Jeff. Davis" com
planned of the hard times he had
had since the surrender" lamented
the downfall of the Confederacy
and the freedom of the ''niggers,
/ (nesof course never owned nigger),
cursed negro suffrage, and expressed
the usual heightened hatred towards
Yankees "Hold!" said the Gen
eral, "you must abandon all such
thoughts as those. The war is over
now, and the Yankees are our
friends and countrymen. They prove
that their hearts beat kindly tor us
when they give such large sums of
money in AID Of the fever strick en-
South, for you know a mans
pocket is not touched unless his
heart is" He also said s'that it
was right the negroes are free, and
should be properly treated as citi
zens; that God had decided the
war against the Confederacy, other
wise the Yankees would not be able
tosWhip u.s." He gave his uneecon~
structed visitor some excellent ad.
vice as to his duties as citizen,
telling him to honestly accept the
situation, and let love and PRIDE for
the Republic take the place of Sec
tionai hatred" On retiring, the
ex>rebel soldier expressed the most
afectionate regard for his old com
mander, and indicated at once an
apparent sympathy with the views
OF the General. n9
3 "How is it, General" asked one
of the company present, shat not
withstanding you enforced such
strict dlscipIne in your army, your
men have such a high, opluloni Of
you ?s,tldt'Well," replied the modest
soldier, Il can not say, unless it is
because | always revealed to them
(through company commanders)
manyfof my plans, and pointed out
the object or necessity of certain
movements or marches that
would Otherwise have an
nosed and seemed useless to them.
And [ made it a practice to have
the men rest and sleep well prior to
long march, Of which
they were informed !; and no cards
playing orU9late hours would be
allowed" goigmo 20 Iso5 $40
Several of his men, whom 1 have
talked with, unltein saying that al
though he was falsely accused of
recklessness, no general officer
in the Southern army exhibited
such zealmogfor theIl. COM.
fort and kindly care of even the
humblest priyateithat he fully illus
trated that noble spirit which char
acterlzed Sir Raj phi Abercromhe,
under whose head a blanket was
placed as he was being carried NOR
tally wounded from the field of
Aboukir: "Whose blanket is it?'
asked the dying General. I" Only
one Of the men 5, replied an officer.
Il wish to know the name of the
man the blanket belongs to. = at
IS Duncan Roy s. of the AID, Sir
Ralph" Then see that Duncan
Roy gets his blanket this very
= a ggnn''s fRm fnTT g -asW @ toTa
Upon being asked which of the
Union Generals he considered the
most capable, Gen. Hood spoke
with unstlnted praise of the soldier
ly qualities of Grant, Sherman,
Sheridan, Thomas and others, who
did such good work for the country;
that he regarded Gen., Grant as
the ablest military man of the age,
the peer of Napoleon or Yelling
ton. 1t was refreshing to hear
this opinion from one who was so
competent to judge, while many
windmill soldiers and Democratic
politicians make such efforts to be-
A., H. b,sss-- IN / -.