[Jerry D]

Private Sam Watkins of the First Tennessee Infantry, and veteran of the Atlanta and Tennessee campaigns, spoke frequently of the affection held by him and others for Hood. Watkins, whom prominent Civil War historian Shelby Foote calls "my favorite Civil War memorialist," wrote in his memoirs "Company Aytch," the following passages:

"He [Hood] was a noble, brave and good man, and we loved him for his virtues and goodness of heart. We all loved Hood, he was such a clever fellow, and a good man. Poor fellow, I loved him, not as a general, but as a good man. Every impulse of his nature was to do good, and to serve his country as best he could. General John B. Hood did all that he could. The die had been cast. Our cause had been lost before he took command. He fought with the everlasting grip of the bulldog and the fierceness of the wounded tiger. The army had been decimated until it was a mere skeleton...when he commenced his march into Tennessee."

Watkins offered a poignant testimony of his love for his former commander when he penned the following epitaph for General Hood in "The Southern Bivouac 2," (May 1884):

"But the half of brave Hood's body molders here:
The rest was lost in honor's bold career.
Both limbs and fame he scattered all around,
Yet still, though mangled, was with honor crowned;
For ever ready with his blood to part,
War left him nothing whole - except his heart."