Johnson Hagood (United States Army officer)
Major General Johnson Hagood (June 16, 1873 – December 22, 1948) was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina, graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1896, was commissioned in the artillery, and served in France in World War I, where he created the Services of Supply. He retired in 1936 after publicly criticizing New Deal funding. Inventions. Among his inventions were the Hagood tripod mount, mortar deflection board, and other apparatus connected with sea-coast defense. Political controversy. Toward the end of the career, Hagood was embroiled in political controversy when he criticized President Franklin  Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, saying their funding was "stage money". Soon after his comments became public on February 10, 1936, he was relieved from command of the Eighth Corps Area (headquartered at Fort Sam Houston, Texas). Hagood requested a meeting with Roosevelt to explain himself, and was granted three months leave. Hagood's friends in the U.S. Congress pressured Roosevelt to give him a new command, however, and less than half the leave had elapsed before he was given command of the Fifth Corps Area, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Just one day after assuming command May 1, he asked  for and was granted immediate retirement. After one month of leave, he officially left the U.S. Army on May 31, 1936. Awards. Hagood's decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Commander of the Legion of Honor (French), Commander Order of the Crown of Italy, Grand Officer Order of the Sacred Treasure (Japanese). Hagood also received the Spanish Campaign Medal, Philippine Campaign Medal and World War I Victory Medal. In 1927, General Hagood was admitted as an hereditary member of the South Carolina Society of the Cincinnati. Personal life. His homes were in Charleston, S.C., and San Antonio, Texas. Asked how  to say his name, he told "The Literary Digest": "The name, peculiar to the South, is pronounced in a southern way. During all the years of my boyhood in South Carolina, I never knew there was anything unusual about it, for I never heard it in any other way than as "haig'-wood". The name was originally spelled "Haguewood", and is still properly so pronounced." Hagood was the nephew of Confederate Brigadier General Johnson Hagood who commanded the troops at Fort Wagner during the attack by the Massachusetts 54th Infantry and served as Governor of South Carolina from 1880–1882. Hagood died  on December 22, 1948.