Life span: 07/21/1802 to 02/02/1886TabsLife SummaryFull name: David HunterPlace of Birth: Washington, DCBurial Place: Princeton, NJBirth Date Certainty: ExactDeath Date Certainty: ExactGender: MaleRace: WhiteSectional choice: NorthOrigins: Slave StateNo. of Spouses: 1Family: Richard Stockton (maternal grandfather), Andrew Hunter (father), Mary Stockton (mother), Maria Indiana Kinzie (wife)Education: West Point (US Military Academy)Occupation: MilitaryBusinessmanRelation to Slavery: White non-slaveholderMilitary: US military (Pre-Civil War)Union Army Note Cards David Hunter (American National Biography) ScholarshipIn 1860 Hunter furthered his career through deft manipulation of the newly elected president Abraham Lincoln. From Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Hunter began a correspondence with Lincoln. His ploy resulted in an invitation from the president to travel aboard the inaugural train from Illinois to the nation's capital. Soon after the Civil War began, Hunter wrangled command of a division even though he was only a colonel in the regular army, having been promoted in May 1861. He participated in the 1861 First Bull Run (First Manassas) campaign, but he was wounded early in the battle…Lincoln elevated Hunter to major general of volunteers. Later that year Lincoln persuaded him to serve under General John C. Frémont in a perilous situation in the Mississippi River basin…Lincoln relieved Frémont of command in part because of Frémont's attempt to liberate the slaves within his command's span of control. When Hunter was dispatched in March 1862 to the Department of the South, a position of relative obscurity on Union-held islands along the South Carolina coast, he repeated Frémont's political gaffe. On 9 May 1862 he decreed that all slaves inside his lines were "free for ever." Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton reacted immediately, revoking Hunter's order. Forced to make his policy absolutely clear, Lincoln stated, "No commanding general shall do such a thing, upon my responsibility, without consulting me." Despite Hunter's faulty assumption of authority, Lincoln still regarded the general as a friend. Rod Paschall, "Hunter, David," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/05/05-00369.html. Events Date span begin Life span End Event 07/21/1861 07/22/1861 The first pitched battle of the war between armies results in a Union disaster at Bull Run 09/27/1861 09/27/1861 General Frémont consolidates his forces and moves against the Confederate invasion of Missouri with five divisions 03/21/1862 03/21/1862 President Lincoln forms two new Army Departments in the South 03/31/1862 03/31/1862 Major General David Hunter takes command of the Union Army's new Department of the South 04/10/1862 04/11/1862 In coastal Georgia, Fort Pulaski endures a thirty hour Union bombardment before surrendering 05/09/1862 05/09/1862 Without authority, Union General David Hunter declares all slaves in three states "forever free" 05/19/1862 05/19/1862 President Lincoln declares void Union General David Hunter's South Carolina declaration of emancipation 06/12/1863 06/12/1863 General Hunter takes his leave after an eventful year as head of the Department of the South 05/03/1865 05/03/1865 Abraham Lincoln returns to Springfield, Illinois where his remains lay in state in the State House 05/06/1865 05/06/1865 In Washington, the officers of the military court for John Wilkes Booth's accused fellow plotters are named 05/09/1865 05/09/1865 In Washington, membership of the military court for John Wilkes Booth's accused fellow plotters is adjusted 05/10/1865 05/10/1865 In Washington, the accused Lincoln Assassination plotters all plead not guilty before their military court 05/12/1865 05/12/1865 In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the taking of evidence in the Lincoln conspiracy trial begins 05/13/1865 06/13/1865 In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the taking of evidence in the Lincoln conspiracy trial continues 06/14/1865 06/14/1865 In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the taking of evidence in the Lincoln conspiracy trial concludes 06/15/1865 06/28/1865 In Washington's Old Penitentiary, final arguments are being made in the Lincoln conspiracy trial 06/29/1865 06/29/1865 In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the Commission in the Lincoln conspiracy trial begin their deliberations 07/05/1865 07/05/1865 In Washington, President Andrew Johnson approves the sentences passed down to the Lincoln conspirators 07/06/1865 07/06/1865 In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the Lincoln conspirators are told their fate in their cells 01/15/1866 01/15/1866 More than a hundred general officers of volunteers are mustered out of the Union Army Documents Author Docs Date Title 10/20/1860 David Hunter to Abraham Lincoln, October 20, 1860 12/01/1861 Major-General David Hunter to Trustees of Platte City, Missouri, December 1, 1861 Subject Docs Date Title 05/19/1862 Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation Revoking General Hunter's May 9, 1862 Order of Military Emancipation, May 19, 1862 08/09/1862 New York National Anti-Slavery Standard, "Speech of Rev. M.D. Conway," August 9, 1862 05/17/1863 New York Herald, “The Pen and the Sword,” May 17, 1863 05/26/1863 Abraham Lincoln to Isaac Newton Arnold, May 26, 1863 04/04/1864 Abraham Lincoln to Albert G. Hodges, April 4, 1864 04/19/1865 George Alfred Townsend, "The Obsequies in Washington," April 19, 1865 07/05/1865 Official Verdict of the Military Commission trying the Lincoln Conspirators, as endorsed by President Johnson, July 5, 1865 Addressee Docs Date Title 10/26/1860 Abraham Lincoln to David Hunter, October 26, 1860 12/31/1861 Abraham Lincoln to David Hunter, December 31, 1861 Images David Hunter David Hunter, detail David Hunter, bust view David Hunter, bust view, detail David Hunter, engraved portrait, 1862 David Hunter, engraved portrait, 1862, detail Bibliography
David Hunter (American National Biography) ScholarshipIn 1860 Hunter furthered his career through deft manipulation of the newly elected president Abraham Lincoln. From Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Hunter began a correspondence with Lincoln. His ploy resulted in an invitation from the president to travel aboard the inaugural train from Illinois to the nation's capital. Soon after the Civil War began, Hunter wrangled command of a division even though he was only a colonel in the regular army, having been promoted in May 1861. He participated in the 1861 First Bull Run (First Manassas) campaign, but he was wounded early in the battle…Lincoln elevated Hunter to major general of volunteers. Later that year Lincoln persuaded him to serve under General John C. Frémont in a perilous situation in the Mississippi River basin…Lincoln relieved Frémont of command in part because of Frémont's attempt to liberate the slaves within his command's span of control. When Hunter was dispatched in March 1862 to the Department of the South, a position of relative obscurity on Union-held islands along the South Carolina coast, he repeated Frémont's political gaffe. On 9 May 1862 he decreed that all slaves inside his lines were "free for ever." Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton reacted immediately, revoking Hunter's order. Forced to make his policy absolutely clear, Lincoln stated, "No commanding general shall do such a thing, upon my responsibility, without consulting me." Despite Hunter's faulty assumption of authority, Lincoln still regarded the general as a friend. Rod Paschall, "Hunter, David," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/05/05-00369.html.
