Ole Miss
Major
Forum Host
Silver Patron
Regtl. Staff Shiloh 2020
Asst. Regtl. QM Stones River / Franklin 2022
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2017
- Location
- North Mississippi
I have read many accounts, rumors, stories, tales and outright lies about “Fighting Joe Hooker” but this report was a shocker. George McClellan and Hooker were in different circles and worlds but evidently he was a firm believer in Joe’s abilities as a leader of men. Unfortunately he was a poor judge of character!
I would be interested in other’s reaction to McClellan’s inclusion of this letter in the Official Records of the Rebellion*. About the time of this missive, Ole Joe was in D.C. recovering from his wound and enjoying all the accolades that a hero deserves. Hooker took the opportunity to speak with Secretary of the Treasury Solomon P. Chase about how he, Hooker, would have fought the battle and the positive outcome he would have delivered. The Vice President of the United States, Hannibal Hamlin, was blessed also to hear from Hooker. What a splendid specimen of manhood!**
Regards
David
“Headquarters Army of the Potomac,
Sharpsburg, September 20, 1862
Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker,
Commanding Corps:
My Dear Hooker : I have, been very sick the last few days, and just able to go where my presence was absolutely necessary, so I could not come to see you and thank you for what you did the other day, and express my intense regret and sympathy for your unfortunate wound. Had you not been wounded when you were, I believe the result of the battle would have been the entire destruction of the rebel army, for I know that, with you at its head, your corps would have kept on until it gained the main road. As a slight expression of what I think you merit, I have requested that the brigadier-general’s commission rendered vacant by Mansfield’s death may be given to you. I will this evening write a private note to the President on the subject, and I am glad to assure you that, so far as I can learn, it is the universal feeling of the army that you are the most deserving in it.
With the sincere hope that your health may soon be restored, so that you may again be with us in the field, I am, my dear general, your sincere friend,
Geo. B. McClellan, Major-General.”
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/20...nounced-october-9th-11th.166249/#post-2166718
*Official Records of the Rebellion
Series 1, Volume XIX, Part 1
Page 219
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924079609610&view=1up&seq=235&skin=2021&q1=216
**The Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association
“The Spirit Which You Have Aided to Infuse”: A. Lincoln, Little Mac, Fighting Joe, and the Question of Accountability in Union Command Relations
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2...e-a-lincoln-little-mac?rgn=main;view=fulltext
I would be interested in other’s reaction to McClellan’s inclusion of this letter in the Official Records of the Rebellion*. About the time of this missive, Ole Joe was in D.C. recovering from his wound and enjoying all the accolades that a hero deserves. Hooker took the opportunity to speak with Secretary of the Treasury Solomon P. Chase about how he, Hooker, would have fought the battle and the positive outcome he would have delivered. The Vice President of the United States, Hannibal Hamlin, was blessed also to hear from Hooker. What a splendid specimen of manhood!**
Regards
David
“Headquarters Army of the Potomac,
Sharpsburg, September 20, 1862
Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker,
Commanding Corps:
My Dear Hooker : I have, been very sick the last few days, and just able to go where my presence was absolutely necessary, so I could not come to see you and thank you for what you did the other day, and express my intense regret and sympathy for your unfortunate wound. Had you not been wounded when you were, I believe the result of the battle would have been the entire destruction of the rebel army, for I know that, with you at its head, your corps would have kept on until it gained the main road. As a slight expression of what I think you merit, I have requested that the brigadier-general’s commission rendered vacant by Mansfield’s death may be given to you. I will this evening write a private note to the President on the subject, and I am glad to assure you that, so far as I can learn, it is the universal feeling of the army that you are the most deserving in it.
With the sincere hope that your health may soon be restored, so that you may again be with us in the field, I am, my dear general, your sincere friend,
Geo. B. McClellan, Major-General.”
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/20...nounced-october-9th-11th.166249/#post-2166718
*Official Records of the Rebellion
Series 1, Volume XIX, Part 1
Page 219
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924079609610&view=1up&seq=235&skin=2021&q1=216
**The Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association
“The Spirit Which You Have Aided to Infuse”: A. Lincoln, Little Mac, Fighting Joe, and the Question of Accountability in Union Command Relations
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2...e-a-lincoln-little-mac?rgn=main;view=fulltext