Hood’s Division

Monthly Order of Battle for Hood’s Division May 1862 – September 1863:
July 1862 November 1862 March 1863 July 1863
August 1862 December 1862 April 1863 August 1863
September 1862 January 1863 May 1863 September 1863
October 1862 February 1863 June 1863
Historical Timeline for Hood’s Division:

1862
July 26 Brigadier General W.H.C. Whiting left the division on sick leave. The senior brigade commander, Brgadier General John B. Hood, took command of the division. Whiting would never return to command the division, so although it technically remained Whiting’s Division until October, it is usually referred to as Hood’s Division from this point on.
August 30 Second Battle of Manassas, or Bull Run
September Maryland Campaign

The division was under the command of Brigadier General Law, as Hood had been placed under arrest. He was released from arrest on September 14.
September 14 Battle of South Mountain
September 17 Battle of Sharpsburg, or Antietam
October The brigades of George T. Anderson and Robert Toombs (under the temporary command of Colonel Henry Benning) were transferred to the division when Drayton’s Division was broken up due to the heart disease that would soon kill him.
October 10 General Whiting was transferred to an engineering command, and Hood was promoted to Major General and given permanent command of the division.
November The Army of Northern Virginia was organized into corps, and Hood’s Division was assigned to Longstreet’s First Corps.

 

Jerome Robertson was promoted to Brigadier General and took command of Hood’s old brigade, which gave up the 18th Georgia to Cobb’s Brigade of Mclaws’ Division in exchange for the 3rd Arkansas from Cooke’s Brigade of Ransom’s Division.

 

In Law’s Brigade, the 2nd and 11th Mississippi were sent to North Carolina in exchange for the 54th and 57th North Carolina.
December 13 McLaws’ Division defended Marye’s Heights in the Battle of Fredericksburg. The 3rd South Carolina took heavy casualties, losing all of it s field offiecers to wounds. Brigadier General Thomas Cobb was mortally wounded, and would be replaced by William T. Wofford, who was promoted to Brigadier General in January.
late December The 1st Georgia Reglars of Anderson’s Brigade were sent to Georgia

1863
January 19 Law’s Brigade transferred the 6th, 54th and 57th North Carolina to Trimble’s Brigade of Ewell’s Division and received in exchange the 15th, 47th and 48th Alabama from Trimbles’ and Talliaferro’s Brgades. This made Law’s Brigade an all-Alabama brigade.
February Hood’s Division along with Pickett’s Division were detached on an expedition to Suffolk, Virginia under General Longstreet.
May 1-3 McLaws’ Division fought under Lee’s direct command near the Chancellorsville Inn during the first two days of the fighting. McLaws was then sent toward Fredericksburg to stop Sedgwick’s Union Sixth Corps from advancing against Lee’s flank and rear. McLaws succeeded in stopping Sedgwick, but Lee was disappointed that he was allowed to retreat back across the Rappahannock without greater injury; another black mark against McLaws.
July 2-3 Hood’s Division took part in Longstreet’s attack on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, driving around the flank of the Union army on July 2nd as far as Little Round Top, which they were unable to capture. General Hood was badly injured at the beginning of the attack, leaving Brigadier General Law in command of the division. On July 3 the division repulsed a Union cavalry charge before withdrawing from its advanced position back to Seninary Ridge.

 

In addition to General Hood, Brigadier Generals Robertson and Anderson were wounded and ten of the 18 regimental commanders in the division became casualties.
August Colonels Benjamin Humphreys and Goode Bryan were promoted to Brigadier General to replace Barksdale and Semmes.
September Three brigades of Hood’s Division were transferred to the Army of the Tennessee under the command of James Longstreet, with Anderson’s Brigade being sent to South Carolina.
September 19-20 The division fought in the Battle of Chickamauga under the command of General Law, while Hood commanded Longstreet’s Corps and Longstreet commanded a wing of the Army of the Tennessee. Hood was again severly wounded, and would never again command his division.
Late September Micah Jenkins’ Brigade joined the division and Jenkins took command as senior Brigadier General.
October 24 After Jenkins reduced the forces covering Brown’s Ferry Federal troops attacked and overwhelmed the two regiments that had been left there under Colonel William Oates
October 28 A night attack on the Federal railhead at Wauhatchie by two brigades under General Jenkins was a failure and resulted in charges against Generals Law and Robinson.
November 5 The division was sent to Knoxville with Longstreet’s Corps.
November 16 The division struck Burnside’s advanced troops at Campbell’s Station. It performed poorly, for which Jenkins again blamed Law.
November 17 The division arrived at Knoxville, beginning the siege.
December By this time the command structure of the division had almost broken down. Longstreet submitted charges against General Robertson for neglect of duty. Evander Law travelled to Richmond to tender his resignation but was talked out of it by Hood, who was in Richmond recovering from his wound. When Law returned to his brigade in Tennessee Longstreet placed him under arrest for insubordination; he would not return to the division until May. All but one of Law’s colonels requested the transfer of their brigade to Alabama (and away from Longstreet) and Longstreet planned to retaliate by leaving them in Tennessee when his corps returned to Virginia. But Lee ordered that the brigade return to Virginia with the rest of the division.

1864
mid-April The division returned to Virginia. Major General Charles W. Field was given command, and the division quickly returned to its former capabillities. Now known as Fleld’s Division, it would play a vital role in the Battle of the WIlderness in early May and continue to Appomattox.