★ ★ Hooker, Joseph

Joseph Hooker ​

Joseph Hooker was an officer in the U.S. Army from Massachusetts. He was a West Point Graduate in 1837, and achieved the rank of major general in the Union Army during the Civil War. Hooker served with distinction at the Battle of Williamsburg, and earned a reputation as an aggressive combat commander. He served throughout the war, commanding both at the Corp and Army levels, usually with distinction. However, Hooker is frequently remembered for leading the Army of the Potomac to defeat by the divided army of Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May of 1863, allowing the Army of Northern Virginia the initiative to move North of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Born: November 13, 1814

Birthplace: Hadley, Massachusetts

Father: Joseph Hooker 1765 – 1852

(Buried: Brookside Cemetery, Watertown, New York)​

Mother: Mary Seymour 1780 – 1857

(Buried: Brookside Cemetery, Watertown, New York)​

Wife: Olivia Augusta Groesbeck 1825 – 1868

(Buried: Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio)​

Married: October 3, 1865 in Cincinnati, Ohio

Education:

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1837: Graduated from West Point Military Academy – (29th​ in class)​

Occupation before War:

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1837 – 1838: 2nd​ Lt. United States Army 1st​ Artillery​

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1838 – 1848: 1st​ Lt. United States Army 1st​ Artillery​

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1841: Adjutant of West Point Military Academy​

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1846: Brevetted Captain for Gallantry at Battle of Monterey, Mexico​

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1847: Brevetted Captain and Assistant Adjutant General

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1847: Brevetted Major for Gallantry at Battle of Chapultepec, Mexico​

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1851 – 1853: on leave of Absence from United States Army​

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Testified in court martial of Gideon Pillow against Gen. Winfield Scott​

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1853: Resigned from United States Army on February 21st​​

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1853 – 1858: Farmer near Sonoma, California​

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1858 – 1859: Superintendent of Military Roads in Oregon​

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1859 – 1861: Colonel of California State Militia​

Civil War Career:

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1861: His application for Commission was rejected​

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1861: Borrowed money to make a trip east from California​

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1861 – 1862: Brigadier General of Union Army Volunteers, Infantry

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1861: Served in the Defenses of Washington, D.C.​

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1861 – 1862: Helped guard the Lower Potomac River​

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1862: Brigade Commander Battle of Yorktown, Virginia​

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1862: Brigade Commander Battle of Williamsburg, Virginia​

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1862 – 1866: Major General of Union Army Volunteers, Infantry​

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1862: Commander of Third Army Corps, Army of Virginia​

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1862: Commander of First Army Corps, Army of the Potomac​

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1862: Wounded in the foot during Battle of Antietam, Maryland​

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1862 – 1868: Brigadier General in United States Army, Infantry​

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1862: Commander of Fifth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac​

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1862: Corps Commander during Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia​

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1863: Commander of Union Army of the Potomac​

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1863: Union Army Commander at the Battle of Chancellorsville​

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1863: Resigned as Commander of Army of the Potomac on June 28th​​

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1863: Waiting on Orders in Baltimore, Maryland​

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1863: Union Army Commander at Battle of Lookout Mountain, TN.​

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1863: Corps Commander at Battle of Chattanooga, Tennessee​

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1864: Commander of 20th​ Army Corps during Atlanta Campaign​

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1864 – 1865: Commander of Northern Department in Cincinnati, Ohio​

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1865: Brevetted to the rank of Major General for duty at Chattanooga​

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1865: Led President Lincoln's funeral Procession in Springfield, Illinois​

Occupation after War:

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1865 – 1868: Brigadier General in United States Army Infantry​

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1865 – 1866: Member of Board for Retiring Disabled Officers​

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1865 – 1866: Commander U.S. Army Department of the East​

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1866 – 1867: Commander U.S. Army Department of the Lakes​

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1867 – 1868: on Leave of Absence from United States Army​

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1868: Retired United States Army as Major General on October 15th​​

Died: October 31, 1879

Place of Death: 64 years old

Cause of Death: Stroke

Age at time of Death: 64 years old

Burial Place: Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio

 

[lupaglupa]

<Wince!>
No irony there at all. I think your city council member may be a distant relation to the state rep from my hometown of Brockton, Mass, who was offended that there was a "General Hooker Entrance" to the Massachusetts state house. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/mar/17/massachusetts-lawmaker-rename-general-hooker-entra/

Clearly the group of people who are both easily offended and know little history is not a small one.

 

[Pollaco]

Clearly the group of people who are both easily offended and know little history is not a small one.

Ever wonder if these "offended" people really are offended or are they just pretending. It almost seems like some people go out of their way looking for something to find offensive.

 

[Belfoured]

That "resignation" thing seemed to be a pattern of his, kind if like a juvenile throwing a tantrum. How many times did He threaten to resign?

Joe seemed to be under the delusion that by submitting his resignation he was calling bluffs. Fool me once... Ironically, he was probably in the right (at least technically) on both occasions.

 

[gentlemanrob]

Happy weekend (November 13th) Birthday Major General Joseph Hooker! Salutes remembering General Hooker on his birthday weekend.

 

[lupaglupa]

"They drank up all my wine, smoked up all my cigars...." I love this anecdote!

 

[mofederal]

I like Joe, not the greatest general nor the worst. He was a man of his time. He liked the vices, so I don't think that made any worse than those that hid their habits from people. He could fight, even if he was a bit slow. He did his job at Antietam, he was wounded, but he did his best. Happy Birthday Joe!

 

[USS ALASKA]

Anniversary Bump

Birthday

13 Nov 1814

Joseph Hooker (d.1879), Major General (Union volunteers), was born. One of the most immodest and immoral of the high Union commanders, "Fighting Joe" Hooker frequently felt slighted by his superiors and requested to be relieved of duty. The Massachusetts native and West Pointer (1837) had been posted to the artillery but was serving as a staff officer when he won three brevets in Mexico. Unfortunately for his later career he testified against Winfield Scott before a court of inquiry on the Mexican War. After a two-year leave he resigned on February 21, 1853, to settle in California where he was in the farming and land businesses. At the outset of the Civil War he became a colonel of the state militia but soon offered his services to Washington where his anti-Scott testimony came back to haunt him. As a civilian he witnessed the disaster at lst Bull Run and wrote to Lincoln complaining of the mismanagement and advancing his own claim to a commission.

Full write-up here -

November 13

13 November 1775- U.S. forces under Gen. Richard Montgomery captured Montreal. This was a two-pronged attack on Canada, with the goal of capturing Quebec entrusted to Benedict Arnold, who was leadi…

thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com

Journal Article
"Fighting Joe" Hooker
Milton H. Shutes
California Historical Society Quarterly
Vol. 16, No. 4 (Dec., 1937), pp. 304-320
University of California Press

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25160737

Full article at above link on JSTOR with Google sign-in (In the upper right-hand corner of the linked page, there is a 'Log in' button. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google sign-in and this will allow for free reading of 100 articles a month).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Saint Jude]

It appears Hooker had a healthy sense of self-esteem.

Something akin to an egomaniac?

 

[Saint Jude]

Many reasons have been given for Hooker's change of heart (he lost "confidence in himself," his concussion from a head injury hobbled his thinking... but none of these explanations truly get to the heart of the matter as to why, after successfully crossing the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers and falling on Lee's flank, Hooker ordered the AOTP to stop its movement and assume a defensive posture.

IMO, Hooker was what we today would call a high-functioning alcoholic, who, when he tried to stop drinking cold turkey just before the Battle of Chancellorsville, paid the price in withdrawal symptoms that seriously impaired his judgment.

 

[Cavalier]

He had his faults I guess, most people do, but I like him anyway.

John

 

[leftyhunter]

Not sure about that. Hooker was not demoted or dismissed after Chancellorsville where he suffered a concussion. Perhaps an argument can be made that Hooker should of had a plan to replace if killed or injured. Hooker preformed at keast adequately in helping to establish the Cracker Line at Chattanooga and fought well in Georgia.
Leftyhunter

 

[Rebforever]

He had his faults I guess, most people do, but I like him anyway.

John

John, I feel the same way about Hooker. He had beautiful trap set until he got his bell rung.