Hood 2
Lopez 2
Zhao Kuo 1
I felt the explanation of Hood to be utterly inadequate. Hood was a lot like Charles le Tremaire. Hood was a useless little tool, marginally acceptable as a subordinate calvary officer but a complete idiot with any amount of power. He was a backstabbing treacherous little snot, and even his much-vaunted courage was more rank stupidity.
Remember that much of his original reputation came frm the Seven Days - which was a massive loss of Confederate life which would easily have spelled doom had the Union not been saddled with McClellan. Hod was right in the lead and shattered his command achieving, well it was a strategic success, but at a massive risk.
Hood later spent his time stabbing commanders in the back. People criticize Johnson during his retreat to Atlanta, but he inflicted huge casualties on Sherman, avoided any set-piece battle where he could be drawn out, and held him at bay before Atlanta’s defenses, nearly pulling off a huge political victory in the Northern electorate. Johnson’s defense was briliant, ably dodging a superior force led by an extremely experienced stragetic genius.
Hood intrigued behind Johnson’s back, sent outright lies to Richmond while arguing that Johnson should retreat to his face, and upon taking command lost Atlanta. Sherman delayed a bit before taking it, but Hood’s immediate, rash assaults effectively sealed the campaign. He couldn’t attack again and left
Even worse, after retreating he somehow persuaded himself that his soldiers were just too scared, and moved north as Sherman moved south. Now, at this point he was attacking an enemy who outnumbered him, and who were commanded by the reoubtable George Thomas. First Thomas let Hood blled himself dry, and then when Hood insisted on advancing (throwing his men into the meatgrinder with no thought of tactics or plan of victory beyond, “Charge!”) counterattacked and utterly demolished Hood. That army never did anything for the rest of the war. It was so badly hurt that it simply dissolved for weeks.
In short, he was a general whose major accomplishment was massacring his own men, who destroyed two major strategic campaigns, and ably knifed the career of one of the COnfederacy’s top commanders. One or two more Hoods and even McClellan would have won.
(Personally, I think McClellan should have taken the “win” here. Ya’ll let him off way too easily. He combined poor military judgement with a terribly attitude, cowardice, and too much ambition)
However. Hood was a giant loser, utterly beyond his depth. But I can’t compare him to Charles the Bald. Charles is Hood plus. Or maybe Hood minus.
Onto the next -
Lopez was rash and a bit crazy, but to be fair, he was under massive stress, facing down huge numbers of the enemy (Good lord, it’s like saying that Cuba was located on an island in the Rio Grande and still held out against the U.S. and Mexico for 5 years). Paraguay actually acquitted itself extremely well, and Lopez could hardly agree to a treaty which amounted to total disarmament. That would have rendered them completely defenceless - very similar to an action Elphinstone is rightly criticized for!
And finally -
Zhao Kuo wasn’t a very experienced. Supposedly his father complained about his lack of military knowledge, his willingness ignore losses and focus entirely on theory.
My response? Duh
His father is the idiot here. Zhao Kun never commanded an army. He’d spent his whole life studying the theory. Had he a chance to practice military command BEFORE being handed a huge army and pitted against the best commanders the powerful Qin state could field, he might have learned what to do. Yes, he lost and badly, but he was a kitten sent out to face a Lion. He might have become a Tiger himself had he been allowed to grow. And kittens are known for teasing and playing with the far-more-serious elders…
