Appointed to the rank of full general at the age of 33, Hood made his reputation as a brigade and division commander in Lee’s Army ofNorthern Virginia. When informed that Hood was to command the Army of Tennessee, Lee remarked, “Hood is a fighter, I am doubtful as to other qualities necessary.”
Hood bore the marks of his service: his left arm was shattered on the second day of Gettysburg, and he lost his right leg at Chickamauga. By July 1864, Hood was so crippled fromhis wounds that his staff had to strap the general in the saddle. But his wounds did not dim his fiery spirit: one reporter noted that his eyes flashed with a “strange and indescribable light” at the prospect of defeating Sherman.
Text – The Museum of the Confederacy display
The Battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864 