Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/820

 802 HOOD The surface is greatly diversified, being to a considerable extent broken and rugged, and consisting of mingled prairie and timber land. The highest point is Comanche peak, near the centre of the county, rising 600 ft. above the Brazos. The soil is a red or black sandy loam, and is very productive. Building stone is abundant. The chief productions in 1870 were 192,540 bushels of Indian corn, 11,352 of sweet potatoes, 45,155 Ibs. of butter, and 779 bales of cotton. There were 3,442 horses, 3,348 milch cows, 16,098 other cattle, 2,453 sheep, and 10,452 swine. Capital, Granbury. HOOD, John B., an American soldier, born in Bath co., Ky., about 1830. He graduated at West Point in 1853, and was mainly engaged in frontier service in Texas till 1859. He was severely wounded in an encounter with the Lipan and Comanche Indians, July 20, 1857, and was on leave of absence in 1860. He re- signed his commission April 16, 1861, and en- tered the confederate army, in which he soon rose to the rank of major general. He took part in the Chickahominy campaign, and sub- sequently fought at the second battle of Bull Eun, Antietam, and Frederick sburg. At Get- tysburg, where he commanded a division of Longstreet's corps, he lost an arm on the second day of the battle. Rejoining the corps when it was sent to Georgia, he was at the battle of Chickamauga, where he lost a leg, and was made lieutenant general. He sub- sequently commanded a corps in the army of J. E. Johnston, whom he succeeded in July, 1864, and was thereafter in command of the confederate army in its operations against Gen. Sherman. After three bloody and unsuccess- ful attacks on that general before Atlanta (July 20, 22, 28), and the evacuation of that city (Sept. 1), he undertook a hazardous march northward, and fought another bloody battle at Franklin, Tenn. (Nov. 30), against Gen. Schofield, but suffered a crushing defeat near Nashville, from Gen. Thomas, Dec. 15-16, 1864, and soon after was relieved from his command, being succeeded by Gen. Richard Taylor. HOOD, Robin, an English outlaw, supposed to have lived at the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th century The traditions concern- ing him are mostly embodied in the account given by Stow : " In this time (about the year 1190, in the reign of Richard I.) were many robbers and outlawes, among which Robin Hood and Little John, renowned theeves, con- tinued in the woods, despoyling and robbing the goods of the rich. They killed none but such as would invade them, or by resistance for their own defence. The said Robert enter- tained an hundred tall men and good archers with such spoyls and thefts as he got, upon whom 400 (were they never so strong) durst not give the onset. He suffered no woman to be oppressed, violated, or otherwise molested ; poore men's goodes he spared, abundantlie re- lieving them with that which by theft he got from the abbeys and the houses of rich old carles; whom Maior (the historian) blameth for his rapine and theft, but of all the theeves he affirmeth him to be the prince, and the most gentle theefe." The researches of modern scholars, however, tend to make it a matter of doubt whether Robin Hood ever existed at all. No contemporary writer makes any mention of him, the first allusion to him by any histori- cal writer being in the Scotichronicon, which was written partly by Fordnn, canon of Aber- deen, between 1377 and 1384, and partly by Bower, abbot of St. Columba, about 1450. He is next mentioned by Major, in his Historia Majoris Britannia, written in the early part of the 16th century. His most famous asso- ciates were "Little John," his chaplain Friar Tuck, who is supposed to have been a real monk, and his paramour Marian ; and Sher- wood forest, in Nottinghamshire, was the the- atre of most of his exploits. Robin Hood is said to have been bled to death by a nun, his cousin, to whom he repaired for advice on ac- count of her skill in medicine, and died at the nunnery of Kirklees, Yorkshire. An apoc- ryphal epitaph at that place styles him Robert, earl of Huntingdon, and gives " 24 Kal. De- keinbris" (perhaps Dec. 24), 1247, as the date of his death. The exploits of Robin Hood were a favorite subject of ballad poetry as early as the time of Edward III., although many of these ballads, at least in their present shape, are comparatively modern. The " Lytel Geste of Robin Hood " was printed by Wynkin de Worde about 1495. A complete collection of the Robin Hood ballads, with " Historical Anecdotes," was published by Ritson (8vo, London, 1795), and enlarged by J. M. Gutch (2 vols. 8vo, 1847). HOOD. I. Samnel, Viscount, a British admi- ral, born at Thorncombe, Devonshire, Dec. 12, 1724, died in Bath, Jan. 27, 1816. He was the son of the rector of his native place, en- tered the navy at the age of 16, and became post captain in 1756. In 1757 he was appoint- ed to the command of the Antelope, a 50-gun ship, with which he captured a French vessel of equal size; and in 1759, having been trans- ferred to the Vestal of 32 guns, and attached to the expedition sent against Quebec, he cap- tured the French frigate Bellona, after a battle of four hours. On his return he was present- ed to George II., who gave him command of the Africa of 64 guns. He was present at the bombardment of Havre, was employed two years on the coast of Ireland, and during the remainder of the war under Sir Charles Saun- ders in the Mediterranean. From Nov. 14, 1768, to July 13, 1769, he was at Boston, then occupied by British troops, as " commander-in- chief of all the men-of-war in those parts." In 1778 he was made a baronet, and in 1780 rear admiral of the blue, with which rank he joined Rodney in the West Indies the same year. On April 28, 1781, he encountered De Grasse with a French fleet superior in numbers, but the latter avoided an engagement. He fought a