Joseph Hooker

Hooker, Joseph,

1814–79, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Hadley, Mass. After fighting the Seminole and serving in the Mexican War, Hooker resigned from the army in 1853 and was for several years a farmer in California. At the outbreak of the Civil War he became a brigadier general of volunteers. He distinguished himself in subordinate commands in the Peninsular campaign, at the second battle of Bull Run, and in the Antietam campaign, and was made a brigadier general in the regular army in Sept., 1862. After the battle of FredericksburgFredericksburg, battle of,
in the Civil War, fought Dec. 13, 1862, at Fredericksburg, Va. In Nov., 1862, the Union general Ambrose Burnside moved his three "grand divisions" under W. B. Franklin, E. V.
..... Click the link for more information. , Hooker severely criticized Ambrose BurnsideBurnside, Ambrose Everett,
1824–81, Union general in the U.S. Civil War, b. Liberty, Ind. He saw brief service in the Mexican War and remained in the army until 1853, when he entered business in Rhode Island.
..... Click the link for more information. , whom he succeeded (Jan., 1863) in command of the Army of the Potomac.

In Apr., 1863, he advanced against Robert E. Lee, but in the resulting battle of ChancellorsvilleChancellorsville, battle of,
May 2–4, 1863, in the American Civil War. Late in Apr., 1863, Joseph Hooker, commanding the Union Army of the Potomac, moved against Robert E.
..... Click the link for more information. , he failed to justify his nickname of "Fighting Joe." Hooker followed Lee closely in the subsequent Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania, but, angered at General Halleck's refusal to send him reinforcements from Harpers Ferry, he asked on June 28, 1863, to be relieved. Hooker ably commanded reinforcements from the East in the Chattanooga campaignChattanooga campaign,
Aug.-Nov., 1863, military encounter in the American Civil War. Chattanooga, Tenn., which commanded Confederate communications between the East and the Mississippi River and was also the key to loyal E Tennessee, had been an important Union objective as
..... Click the link for more information. , and in 1864 he fought in the Atlanta campaign until General Sherman passed him over as successor to John B. McPhersonMcPherson, James Birdseye,
1828–64, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Sandusky co., Ohio. After teaching (1853–54) at West Point, he worked on various engineering projects.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See biography by W. H. Hebert (1944).

Hooker, Joseph

(1814–79) soldier; born in Hadley, Mass. He graduated from West Point (1837), served with distinction in Mexico (1846–47), and left the army in 1853 to farm in California. Recalled on the outbreak of Civil War, he led a corps at Antietam and Fredericksburg (both 1862) and in January 1863 succeeded Ambrose Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac. He had a reputation as an aggressive commander, although his nickname, "Fighting Joe," resulted from a dropped hyphen in a news dispatch (that was supposed to have read, Fighting—Joe Hooker) rather than from action in the field. (The claim that "hooker" as the term for a prostitute is derived from the campfollowers he allegedly tolerated is a completely false attribution.) Confident, efficient, and boastful, Hooker reorganized the army, improved soldiers' conditions, and promised to defeat Lee. Instead, the Confederate commander overmastered him at Chancellorsville (1863). Lincoln accepted his resignation on the eve of Gettysburg. He later held corps commands in the West under Grant and Sherman, and retired as a regular army major general in 1868.

Joseph Hooker

Joseph Hooker

Hooker, Joseph,

Bibliography

Hooker, Joseph

Joseph Hooker

Synonyms for Joseph Hooker

noun United States general in the Union Army who was defeated at Chancellorsville by Robert E

Synonyms