Joseph Hooker

Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker (1814-1879)

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 relived of duty. Joseph Hooker was born in Hadley, Massachusets, on Nov. 12, 1814. Graduating from West Point in 1837 he dedicated his life to be a U.S. Army commander, he was awarded three brevets for gallantry in the Mexican War. He then resigned (1853) from the army and farmed without conspicuous success in California.

Named a General in 1861, "Fighting Joe," as Hooker was known, participated capably in the operations in the Peninsular campaign and at Second Bull Run, Antietam (where he was wounded), and Fredericksburg; he rose to Corps command. A good administrator and tenacious fighter, he was also contentious and insubordinate. He commanded the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Chancelorsville (May 1863), but he lost the engagement and was replaced before Gettysburg. In November 1863, however, he won the Battle of Lookout Mountain at Chattanooga. He later served (1864) under William Sherman in Georgia, but he resigned his command when he was denied advancement.

Wikipedia on General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker

ENCYCLOP�DIA BRITANNICA

Hooker, Joseph

b. Nov. 13, 1814, Hadley, Mass., U.S.
d. t. 31, 1879, Garden City, N.Y.

Union general in the American Civil War (1861-65) who successfully reorganized the Army of the Potomac in early 1863 but who thereafter earned a seesaw reputation for defeat and victory in battle.

A West Point graduate and veteran of the Mexican War (1846-48), Hooker left his California home at the outbreak of the Civil War to serve as brigadier general of volunteers. In 1862 he participated in all the major Eastern campaigns and was dubbed "Fighting Joe" because of his vigorous leadership in the field. When General A.E. Burnside resigned command of the Army of the Potomac after the Union disaster at Fredericksburg (November-December), Hooker was appointed to succeed him.

Immediately the new commander effected several much-needed organizational reforms and prepared to challenge the South at the Battle of Chancellorsville (May 1-4, 1863). His grave defects as a commanding officer became apparent when Confederate general Robert E. Lee, with fewer than half the number of troops, outmaneuvered him and caused a Union retreat. This defeat resulted in the loss of 17,000 Union soldiers. When Lee advanced into Pennsylvania in June, Hooker followed him closely until, rebuffed by Washington in his request for additional troops to meet the enemy at Gettysburg in July, he sensed his superiors' distrust and resigned his command on the eve of battle.

Three months later Hooker was sent by rail in command of two corps of the Army of the Potomac to help relieve General W.S. Rosecrans, besieged at Chattanooga, Tenn. On Nov. 24, 1863, he won the "Battle Above the Clouds" on Lookout Mountain, clearing the way for the crowning Union victory on Missionary Ridge. Denied advancement during the Atlanta Campaign in 1864, he thereafter ceased to play any active part in the war.

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