three o'clock in the
afternoon
A railroad ran through a valley in the ridge to the right of the Confederates , spun along on the banks of the river past the town and crossed it in the heart of the bend to the left of the federal fort . From that railroad on the Confederate right , in front and clear around the town , past an old gin house which stood out clear and distinct in the November sunlight -- on past the Carter House , to the extreme left bend of the river on the left -- in short , from river to river again and entirely inclosing the town and facing the enemy -- ran the newly made and hastily thrown-up breastworks of the federal army , the men rested and ready for battle . There stands to-day , as it stood then , in front of the town of Franklin , on the highest point of the ridge , a large linden tree , now showing the effects of age . It was half-past three o'clock in the afternoon , when General Hood rode unattended to that tree , threw the stump of the leg that was shot off at Chickamauga over the pommel of his saddle , drew out his field glasses and sat looking for a long time across the valley at the enemy 's position . Strange to say , on the high river bluff beyond the town , amid the guns of the fort , also with field glass in hand anxiously watching the confederates , stood the federal general . A sharp-shooter in either line could have killed the commanding general in the other . And now that prophesying silence which always seems to precede a battle was afloat in the air .