Until you consider that Hood thought he was the greatest general in the Confederacy, he thought he was unbeatable, he thought he was a legend, he connived against his peers and superiors to achieve levels of command he was never fit for, and he came as close to murdering his own soldiers as you get.

No sympathy.

He then proceeded along a long path of mediocrity, being unable to efficiently coordinate a corps-sized unit.

But that didn't stop him from throwing himself into army politics, defaming his seniors and positioning himself for command.

Which, through his friendship with the President, he got.

And he then killed his army. He took over a force of 60,000...and ended the campaign with a force of 30,000...50% of his force he lost in poorly conceived and totally uncoordinated attacks on entrenched Union positions.

But he wasn't done, no. He was friends with Davis...and with Davis's new mouthpiece, Bragg.

His new plan, was to take what was left of his army and invade Tennessee to put himself across Sherman's supply line. Sherman didn't care, he didn't need a supply line.

So Hood marched his forces, largely unsupplied due to Hood's incompetence (Beauregard noted that his supply centers were full of food and clothes, but they never left Alabama), into the middle of a dead country, stripped by three summers of war, against superior Union numbers in the hands of their finest defensive generals (Scofield and Thomas).

While what appears to be Hood's suicidal aggression around Atlanta may have been an accident of circumstance, at Franklin it was unmistakable. He threw his forces against deeply entrenched positions which were well supported by smoothbore artillery. He ordered several small-scale attacks over two miles of open ground. He had less than 30,000 at the start, and lost around 7000 of them. Union forces withdrew; and he pursued, thinking he had won. Then before Nashville he tried to engage in siege operations against a force twice his own. Union forces swarmed down from their positions and his army effectively ceased to exist.

Hood was very good at lower command.

He began as a captain, quickly was made a colonel, and won brigade command right off the bat.

At Gaines Mill he took his brigade through Union lines which had proven impenetrable to previous attacks, over terrain which made an attack all but impossible. He forced the surrender of an entire Union regiment (4th New Jersey), and follow-on units capitalized on his breakthrough. It was the only Confederate victory during the Seven Days.

He then got a division, and was equally as good.

At Second Bull Run, his division hit harder than any of Longstreet's divisions. At Antietam, he inspired his men to die in a suicidal stand which nearly destroyed his command. During the Suffolk Campaign, he was Longstreet's #2 and performed admirably.

Things changed at Gettysburg.

He was in nominal command of two divisions on the second day, and failed to properly coordinate them. They took heavy losses and failed to take their objectives.

And Hood lost the use of his arm to a Union bullet.

And then Hood went to Richmond to heal. And became an instant celebrity. Here was a young man (he was only 32, despite the 60 year old playing him in the movie Gettysburg), actually from Kentucky but perceived to be a cowboy from Texas, a striking image (over 6 foot, impressive beard, apparently handsome, sad looking)...Richmond society built a legend around him.

And he believed it. He convinced himself he had a relationship with a flibbertigibbet, and probably a slut, in Richmond. He convinced himself that he was a great general, destined for higher things.

He made a friendship with Jefferson Davis and began to schmooze. Davis loved it when people sucked up to him.

Hood then went with the rest of Longstreet's corps to Chickamauga...and ****ed up again. And lost his leg.

Back to Richmond. Back to basking in false glory. Back to sucking up to the Prez. Back to deluding himself.