Hood's Texas Brigade Association
Re-Activated

Formation and Early History of the Hood's Texas Brigade Association Re-Activated

Hood's Texas Brigade Association, Re-Activated has been in existence since 1967, when it was formed at Hill College, Hillsboro, Texas, by Col. Harold B. Simpson, as an organization of Hood's Texas Brigade descendants. Colonel Simpson wanted to pay tribute to the original Hood's Texas Brigade Association, established in 1872 by the veterans of that storied brigade.

Members of the Association helped Col. Simpson amass an amazing archive of letters, documents, and photographs. These donations from association members, together with Col. Simpson's personal collection, became the core of the collection at the Confederate Research Center. Family artifacts the members donated and items the institution purchased or otherwise acquired became part of the Confederate Research Center Museum.

As his life's work, Col. Simpson published a four-volume work on Hood's Texas Brigade, which is now a collector's item and was reprinted in 1999 by Landmark Publishing of Fort Worth. See Recommended Reading.

The Association, under the leadership of Col. Simpson, sponsored a yearly symposium in the spring of each year at Hill College on the Civil War with an emphasis on the Confederacy. In 2007, the last such symposium on the Civil War was held. 

About Colonel Harold B. Simpson

Colonel Simpson served as the Chairman of the Liberal Arts Division at Hill College, was Director of the History Complex at Hill College, and was an Adjunct Professor of History at Texas Christian University. He held B.S., M.A., and M.S. degrees from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in history from Texas Christian University. Dr. Simpson was a fellow in both the Company of Military Historians and the Texas State Historical Association. He was the first recipient of the Earl Davis Award for Contributions to Confederate-Texas History. He edited or wrote 27 books in the fields of Texas, Confederate, and United States Military History. It was his passion and dedication for the Civil War, and in particular for Hood's Texas Brigade that resulted in the creation of the Confederate Research Center at Hill College and the organization of Hood's Texas Brigade Association, Re-Activated. Colonel Simpson died in 1989.