Late in life, writing his memoirs, John Bell Hood wrote, “no man is justly entitled to be considered a great General, unless he has won his spurs.” Hood did not explain how an officer earned his spurs, but he didn't need to. In this work, the first of two volumes, Hood's rise in rank is chronicled.
Stephen Davis of Cumming, Georgia, is author of four books on the Atlanta Campaign, including What The Yankees Did To Us: Sherman's Bombarment and Wrecking of Atlanta (2012). He is currently book review editor of Civil War News.