Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker and staff

" But it was in spite of these exemplary qualities that he rose ....." Qualities just bestowed on him were libertine, braggart and intriguer. You could almost believe the author didn't think much of Hooker. :angel:

I don't know. SO many of these men get hauled over History's coals. I don't know enough about Hooker to make a call either way ( and we're very swift in 2019 to pick at every visible mole, pimple and boil ) . Still. He must have been a dedicated, intrepid, good soldier- 3 medals for meritorious service? These men got on a horse and went to war, you know? They put themselves in harm's way- those who came home did it despite another army's best efforts to kill them. Heck, you have to give even Dirty Dan kudos for not riding a desk when he sure could have. Guy went to war, lost his leg and puffed a cigar while being carried away on a stretcher. That takes some stuffing.

Best advice to future generations is " Don't be famous ".
 
" But it was in spite of these exemplary qualities that he rose ....." Qualities just bestowed on him were libertine, braggart and intriguer. You could almost believe the author didn't think much of Hooker. :angel:

I don't know. SO many of these men get hauled over History's coals. I don't know enough about Hooker to make a call either way ( and we're very swift in 2019 to pick at every visible mole, pimple and boil ) . Still. He must have been a dedicated, intrepid, good soldier- 3 medals for meritorious service? These men got on a horse and went to war, you know? They put themselves in harm's way- those who came home did it despite another army's best efforts to kill them. Heck, you have to give even Dirty Dan kudos for not riding a desk when he sure could have. Guy went to war, lost his leg and puffed a cigar while being carried away on a stretcher. That takes some stuffing.

Best advice to future generations is " Don't be famous ".
Hooker made one of the classic moves at Chancellorsville and had the Golden chance to whip General Lee and maybe capture his whole army. Then he fell apart for whatever reason.
 
Heck, you have to give even Dirty Dan kudos for not riding a desk when he sure could have.
There was no glory in piloting that desk! One had to see the elephant, so to speak. The hope, I guess, was that you would come out the other side intact. At least Dan got to visit his leg later on.

Hooker was a decent combat general, who showed plenty of fight in a subordinate role, braggart or not. We history devotees will always wonder what stopped him at Chancellorsville, when he had a chance to back it up.
 
Hooker was a decent combat general, who showed plenty of fight in a subordinate role, braggart or not. We history devotees will always wonder what stopped him at Chancellorsville, when he had a chance to back it up.
Trying to figure out why did FJH not attack Lee at Chancellorsville is, in William Hessletine’s words, like trying to nail jelly to the wall. Some weeks after the Battle of Chancellorsville, FJH allegedly told a fellow officer in private, “For once I lost confidence in Joe Hooker, and that is all there is to it.” As far as I know, Hooker never said anything like that in public. Instead, over time he rationalized his failure. By the time he took command of the XX Corps, he had come up with a rationalization that he ran past his quartermaster, William Le Duc, the gist of which was that Hooker knew that he could whip Lee and that doing so would gain him great applause. But he also knew that the enemy would make it cost him dear, that beating Lee would not end the war, and that capture of the rebel capital would do more at that time than winning a battle over Lee’s army. Therefore, he sacrificed his own ambition and wisely brought his army back to their own camps. I think it safe to say that not many people who have studied the battle in depth find this story credible. Perhaps the real reason he chose not to attack was that, as several historians have suggested, the never intended to in the first place.
 
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