Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hood, Francis Grosvenor
HOOD, FRANCIS GROSVENOR (1809–1855), lieutenant-colonel of the grenadier guards, born on 4 March 1809, was second son of Lieutenant-colonel Francis Wheler Hood, son of Henry, second viscount Hood, and grandson of Samuel, first viscount [q. v.] His mother was Caroline (d. 11 March 1858), only daughter of Sir Andrew Snape Hamond [q. v.] His father was killed when in his thirty-third year, on the heights of Aire, on 2 March 1814, and was, in the words of Wellington, ‘an officer of great promise and merit’ (Despatches, ed. Gurwood, vii. 346; Gent. Mag. 1814, pt. i. pp. 413, 492). Francis joined the grenadier guards in 1827, was promoted to his lieutenancy and captaincy in 1830, became captain and lieutenant-colonel on 31 Dec. 1841, and on 27 June 1854 was gazetted major of the third battalion of the grenadiers. He proceeded with that battalion to the Crimea, and led it at the battle of the Alma on 20 Sept. 1854, when his conspicuous gallantry and judgment contributed most effectively to the defeat of the enemy, and he received the special thanks of the commander-in-chief. On 18 Oct. 1855 Hood was in command of the covering party guarding the trenches and guns before Sebastopol, and was shot dead while taking an observation. Lord Raglan, in his despatch of 23 Oct., described Hood as an excellent officer, and wrote that he was ‘deeply lamented.’
Hood married in 1842 his first cousin, Elizabeth Jane, second daughter of Sir Graham Eden Hamond [q. v.], but had no issue.
[Burke's Peerage, s.v. Viscount Hood; Kinglake's Invasion of the Crimea, 6th edit. iii. 220222, 239 sq., iv. 442; Gent. Mag. 1855, i. 63-4.]