Character Analysis
Teague is just plain mean. He runs the Home Guard near Cold Mountain, so he has the official duty of finding deserters and either sending them back to the war or punishing them. There's probably room for debate as to whether he should have signed on for that job or not, but even if you're on the side that it needs to be done, Teague is brutal and unfair in the way he does it.
There are stories about him shooting old men who are trying to protect their sons, and nobody trusts him. He slaughters the innocent Pangle, who couldn't have served in the war anyway. Teague is bad news, plain and simple.