Joseph Hooker was an American soldier. He took part in the Seminole Wars, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War.
Background
Joseph Hooker was born on November 13, 1814 in Hadley, Massachussets, United States. He was the son of Joseph Hooker and the latter's second wife, Mary Seymour. His grandfather, another Joseph Hooker, had been a captain in the Revolution. In Hooker's endowments, characteristics, and opportunities lay all the elements of a successful military career.
Education
Hooker attended the Hopkins Academy at Hadley, and later entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1833, and four years later was graduated number twenty-nine in a class of fifty. Among his classmates were Bragg, Sedgwick, Early, and Pemberton.
Career
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.
Achievements
Connections
Joseph Hooker was married to Olivia Groesbeck. In 1868 his wife died.