Hawley, Joseph Roswell

Life Span
to
Full name
Joseph Roswell Hawley
Place of Birth
Burial Place
Birth Date Certainty
Exact
Death Date Certainty
Exact
Gender
Male
Race
White
Sectional choice
North
Origins
Slave State
Education
Other
Other Education
Hamilton College, NY
Occupation
Politician
Military
Attorney or Judge
Journalist
Relation to Slavery
White non-slaveholder
Political Parties
Republican
Government
US Senate
US House of Representatives
Governor
Military
Union Army

Joseph Roswell Hawley (American National Biography)

Scholarship
Although he was an able journalist, a gifted orator, and a talented party organizer, Hawley failed to win prominence as governor, congressman, or senator. His major contributions as a lawmaker were to strengthen the regular army and to help shape the nascent Civil Service Commission. He left a larger mark as a regimental, brigade, and division leader during the Civil War. His devotion to duty and his fearlessness under fire won the respect of his troops, but his impulsiveness and hypercritical nature involved him in feuds with several superiors. Antagonists included West Pointers, such as Henry W. Benham and Quincy A. Gillmore, as well as political generals, including Butler, whom Hawley threatened to beat up on at least two occasions.
Edward G. Longacre, "Hawley, Joseph Roswell," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/05/05-00329.html.
How to Cite This Page: "Hawley, Joseph Roswell," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/5857.