I marked Hocutt as a modern day Gideon Pillow.
Very interesting analogy. To refresh my memory on Mr. Pillow, I took a quick glance at his Wikipedia entry. Here's one portion that certainly fits our man, Kirby, if not to a "t," certainly to general level of trustworthiness: "The next night, before the surrender of the fort [Donelson], he also passed command, to which he had just been restored, to Brigadier General Simon Buckner, in order to personally escape with a few aides before Buckner surrendered most of the garrison to the Union Army of Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant. These actions sent his military career and reputation into eclipse." He then was later restored to duty, until he was found cowering behind a tree by General Breckenridge during the Battle of Stones River. It never ceases to amaze my the level of educational awareness and instruction that goes on here on BA.