Joseph Hooker (November 13, 1814 – October 31, 1879) was an American Civil War general for the Union, chiefly remembered for his decisive defeat by Confederate general Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. Hooker had served in the Seminole Wars and the Mexican–American War, receiving three brevet promotions, before resigning from the Army. At the start of the Civil War, he joined the Union side as a brigadier general, distinguishing himself at Williamsburg, Antietam and Fredericksburg, after which he was given command of the Army of the Potomac.
His ambitious plan for Chancellorsville was thwarted by Lee's bold move in dividing his army and routing a Union corps, as well as by mistakes on the part of Hooker's subordinate generals and his own loss of nerve. The defeat handed Lee the initiative, which allowed him to travel north to Gettysburg. Hooker was kept in command, but when General Halleck and Lincoln declined his request for reinforcements, he resigned. George G. Meade was appointed to command the Army of the Potomac three days before Gettysburg.
Hooker returned to combat in November 1863, helping to relieve the besieged Union Army at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and continuing in the Western Theater under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, but departed in protest before the end of the Atlanta campaign when he was passed over for promotion. Hooker became known as "Fighting Joe" following a journalist's clerical error, and the nickname stuck. His personal reputation was as a hard-drinking ladies' man, and his headquarters was known for parties and gambling.
Hooker was born on November 13, 1814, in Hadley, Massachusetts, the grandson of a captain in the American Revolutionary War. He was of entirely English ancestry, all of whom had been in New England since the early 1600s. His initial schooling was at the local Hopkins Academy. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1837, ranked 29th out of a class of 50, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in Company F, 1st U.S. Artillery. His initial assignment was in Florida fighting in the second of the Seminole Wars. He served in the Mexican–American War on the staff of five senior commanders: Persifor F. Smith, George Cadwalader, Thomas L. Hamer, William O. Butler, and Gideon J. Pillow. He received brevet promotions for his staff leadership and gallantry in three battles: Monterrey (to captain), National Bridge (major), and Chapultepec (lieutenant colonel). His future Army reputation as a ladies' man began in Mexico, where local women referred to him as the "Handsome Captain". In 1848, his military reputation was damaged when he testified in the support of the court of inquiry of Gideon Johnson Pillow charged with insubordination. By virtue of him testifying in support of Pillow, Hooker testified against Winfield Scott.
After the Mexican–American War (which ended in 1848), he served as an assistant adjutant general of the Pacific Division in Sonoma, California, under the command of Persifor F. Smith and then Ethan A. Hitchcock. To raise funds for land speculation in Sonoma during California's gold rush, acting as a government agent, Hooker purchased hay at market prices. He then sold it to the army at double the price. Hooker was arrested on November 25, 1851, and charged with conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman because of his profiteering activities. His court martial was held in December 1851. The judge advocate for his trial was Henry W. Halleck. Although Halleck proved Hooker's guilt, he was found not guilty only because there was no law or army regulation against profiteering. The War Department quickly enacted a regulation that prohibited officers from entering into contracts with the government. Immediately after the trial, Hooker was forced to go on leave. If he wanted to stay in the army, it would not be on the west coast so he resigned his commission effective February 21, 1853.
While on leave, Hooker moved to his recently purchased 550-acre farm part of Rancho Agua Caliente in Sonoma Valley. However, he constantly struggled with debt from significant poker losses, failed farming efforts, and multiple lawsuits. He ran unsuccessfully in the 1853 election to represent the Sonoma District in the California State Assembly. Heavily in debt, he was unhappy and unsuccessful in his civilian pursuits. In 1858, he wrote to Secretary of War John B. Floyd to request that his name "be presented to president Buchanan as a candidate for a lieutenant colonelcy", but nothing came of his request. He made numerous other attempts to re-enter the army, but was continuously blocked by Winfield Scott. From 1859 to 1861, he held a commission as a colonel in the California militia.
At the start of the Civil War in 1861, Hooker requested a commission, but his applications were rejected because of the lingering resentment harbored by Winfield Scott, general-in-chief of the Army. A friend gave $1,000 to Hooker to clear his debts and book passage east from California. After he witnessed the Union Army defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run, he wrote a letter to President Abraham Lincoln that complained of military mismanagement, promoted his own qualifications, and again requested a commission. He was appointed, in August 1861, as brigadier general of volunteers to rank from May 17. He commanded a brigade and then division around Washington, D.C., as part of the effort to organize and train the new Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan.
In the Peninsula Campaign of 1862, Hooker commanded the 2nd Division of the III Corps and made a good name for himself as a combat leader who handled himself well and aggressively sought out the key points on battlefields. He led his division with distinction at Williamsburg and at Seven Pines. Hooker's division did not play a major role in the Seven Days Battles, although he and fellow division commander Phil Kearny tried unsuccessfully to urge McClellan to counterattack the Confederates. He chafed at the cautious generalship of McClellan and openly criticized his failure to capture Richmond. Of his commander, Hooker said, "He is not only not a soldier, but he does not know what soldiership is." The Peninsula cemented two further reputations of Hooker's: his devotion to the welfare and morale of his men, and his hard-drinking social life, even on the battlefield.
On July 26, Hooker was promoted to major general, ranked from May 5. During the Second Battle of Bull Run, the III Corps was sent to reinforce John Pope's Army of Virginia. Following Second Bull Run, Hooker replaced Irvin McDowell as commander of the Army of Virginia's III Corps, which soon was redesignated the I Corps of the Army of the Potomac. During the Maryland Campaign, Hooker led the I Corps at South Mountain; and at Antietam, his corps launched the first assault of the bloodiest day in American history, driving south into the corps of Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson, where they fought each other to a standstill. Hooker, aggressive and inspiring to his men, left the battle early in the morning with a foot wound. He asserted that the battle would have been a decisive Union victory if he had managed to stay on the field, but General McClellan's caution once again failed the Northern troops, and Lee's much smaller army eluded destruction. With his patience at an end, President Lincoln replaced McClellan with Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside. Although Hooker had criticized McClellan persistently, the latter was apparently unaware of it, and in early October, shortly before his termination, had recommended that Hooker receive a promotion to brigadier general in the regular army. The War Department promptly acted on this recommendation, and Hooker received his brigadier's commission to rank from September 20. This promotion ensured that he would remain a general after the war was over, retire as a general, and be entitled to a general's pay and pension.
The December 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg was another Union debacle. Upon recovering from his foot wound, Hooker was briefly made commander of V Corps but was then promoted to "Grand Division" command, with a command that consisted of both III and V Corps. Hooker derided Burnside's plan to assault the fortified heights behind the city, deeming them "preposterous". His Grand Division (particularly V Corps) suffered serious losses in fourteen futile assaults ordered by Burnside over Hooker's protests. Burnside followed up this battle with the humiliating Mud March in January and Hooker's criticism of his commander bordered on formal insubordination. He described Burnside as a "wretch ... of blundering sacrifice." Burnside planned a wholesale purge of his subordinates, including Hooker, and drafted an order for the president's approval. He stated that Hooker was "unfit to hold an important commission during a crisis like the present." But Lincoln's patience had again run out, and he removed Burnside instead.