Hooker, Joseph

Life Span
to
    Full name
    Joseph Hooker
    Place of Birth
    Birth Date Certainty
    Exact
    Death Date Certainty
    Exact
    Gender
    Male
    Race
    White
    Sectional choice
    North
    Origins
    Free State
    No. of Spouses
    1
    No. of Children
    0
    Family
    Joseph Hooker (father), and Mary Seymour (mother), Olivia Groesbeck (wife)
    Education
    West Point (US Military Academy)
    Occupation
    Military
    Businessman
    Relation to Slavery
    White non-slaveholder
    Military
    US military (Pre-Civil War)
    Union Army
    US military (Post-Civil War)

    Joseph Hooker (American National Biography)

    Scholarship
    As to Hooker's military abilities, two conclusions would seem to be justified. First, he had few equals and perhaps no superior among Union generals as commander of a corps or any force he could personally supervise and inspire. Second, he was deficient, as revealed at Chancellorsville, in those qualities of mind and temperament needed to lead a large army in a successful offensive campaign against a foe as redoubtable as Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. But, then, the only northern general who ever did so was Grant, and it took him a year and 100,000 casualties to do it. Thus it is quite possible that if Hooker had gone against any Confederate army commander other than Lee, he would have garnered the glory he sought. His failure at Chancellorsville basically was his own fault, but it also can be said that he was unfortunate in his opponent.
    Albert Castel, "Hooker, Joseph," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/05/05-00359.html.
    Date Event
    Near Williamsburg, Virginia, forty-thousand pursuing Union troops clash with the Confederate rearguard
    - Largest battle yet in the eastern theater fought at Fair Oaks, Virginia near Richmond
    Battle of Antietam
    - The Army of the Potomac concentrates on Chancellorsville in preparation for an attack on Lee
    Union and Confederate armies collide near Chancellorsville in Spotsylvania County, Virginia
    "Stonewall" Jackson's flanking movement seizes the initiative in the Battle of Chancellorsville
    Lee's Army of Northern Virginia forces back entrenched Union forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville
    - The beaten Union Army retreats across the Rappahannock, ending the Battle of Chancellorsville
    Court martial convicts General Joseph Revere, grandson of the patriot, for his retreat at Chancellorsville
    General George Meade appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac, replacing Joseph Hooker
    Above Chattanooga, Tennessee, Union troops storm the Confederate positions on Lookout Mountain
    In northern Georgia, retreating Confederates mount a bold and successful defense of the Ringgold Gap
    President Lincoln's remains spend the day in Cleveland, Ohio, on their journey west
    In Columbus, Ohio, thousands view President Lincoln's remains during a day at the State Capitol
    Reaching his home state, President Lincoln's remains arrive in Chicago to a remarkable reception
    Abraham Lincoln returns to Springfield, Illinois where his remains lay in state in the State House
    How to Cite This Page: "Hooker, Joseph," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/11941.