Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 16.djvu/62



54 WILLIAM H. PACKWOOD

"A servant to an officer such as he was, would have had many perquisites and a very easy time, but I had never been, nor did I intend to become one. Colonel Joe Hooker was adjutant general and Lieutenant Alfred Pleasanton aide-de- camp. Colonel Hooker was a very fine looking officer, and especially so when mounted on horseback. Pleasanton was a small, effeminate looking officer, but he made a fine appear- ance on horseback. Afterwards, in the Civil War, he became a noted cavalry general.

"I was orderly at the general court-martial which was held at Sonoma in the spring of 1850, at which General Joe Hooker was tried for some breach of military discipline. General H. W. Halleck was judge advocate of the court-martial. Hooker was a fine looking man. He was appointed to West Point from his native state, Massuchusetts. He was gradu- ated in 1837 at the age of 23, in the same class with Jubal Early and Braxton Bragg. He was assigned to the First artillery, and served in Florida and later in Maine. In the Mexican war he served as aide to General Persifor F. Smith and also to General Gideon J. Pillow. He served with distinction and was breveted as lieutenant colonel. In 1848 he was pro- moted to a captaincy. From 1849 to 1851 he was assistant adjutant general of the Pacific division. He resigned in February, 1853. He was a civil engineer in California and Oregon until the Civil War broke out. He was made brigadier general of volunteers.

"You know what he did in reorganizing the army of the Potomac and on the Peninsular campaign. His bravery in leading the charge at Lookout Mountain in the 'battle among the clouds' won him the brevet of major general in the regular army. He retired from active service in 1868."