Childhood
Hansell was born in Fort Monroe, Virginia, on 28 September 1903, the son of First Lieutenant (later Colonel) Haywood S. Hansell, an Army surgeon, and Susan Watts Hansell, both considered members of the "southern aristocracy" from Georgia. His great-great-great-grandfather John W. Hansell served in the American Revolution, his great-great-grandfather William Young Hansell was an officer in the War of 1812, and his great-grandfather Andrew Jackson Hansell was a general in the Confederate States Army and Georgia's adjutant general. His grandfather, William Andrew Hansell, graduated from Georgia Military Institute and also served as an officer in the Confederate Army, first in the 35th Alabama, then as a topographical engineer.
Shortly after his birth, the family was stationed in Beijing, China, then in the Philippines, and Hansell learned both Chinese and Spanish at an early age. Captain Hansell was next stationed at Fort McPherson, Georgia, in 1913, and then at Fort Benning. His father, a firm disciplinarian, sent Hansell to live on a small, family-owned ranch in New Mexico because of a perceived lack of discipline in his schooling. There he learned horsemanship, shooting, and studied with a tutor.
Read more about this topic: Haywood S. Hansell
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