Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 05.djvu/354

 HOOKER

HOOKER

HOOKER, Joseph, soUlier, was horn in Hadley,

Mass.. Nov. i;j. 1S14: sou of Jusopli ami

(Seymour) Hooker. He was taken by liis fatlier from H;i.lltw to Watertown, X.Y., wa.s graduateil at the U.S. Military academy in 1837, number twenty-nine in a class -^. of forty-nine, and

was commissioned 2d lieutenant in the fir.st artillery. His first service was as subal- tern in the Seminole war in Florida. He was then stationed with his regiment in
 * Maine pending the

^i^i

'/^l settlement of the dis- ' r^ '. puted boundary ques-

/ ^ tion. He was pro-

^■^'^ ^ If '2^ ^^ moted 1st lieuten-

y. //rirK^^*^ ant, Nov. 3, 1838;

adjutant of the U.S. Military academy, July 1, 1841; and adjutant of the 1st U. S. artillery, which latter position he held till May 11, 1846, when he was assigned to the army of occupation in Mexico. He was at- taclied to tiie staff of Gen. Persifor F. Smith and was afterward transferred to the staff of Gen- ei-al Hamar. In 1847 he was aide-de-camp to General Butler and in 1847—18 served as assistant adjutant-general to General Fellow and distin- guished himself in the operations of General Taylor in the siege, assault and conquest of Monterey, which gained for him the brevet of cap- tain. His subsequent action in the march from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico, including the National Bridge incident, won for him the brevet of major, while for Chapultepec he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, thus gaining three brevets during the war with Mexico. He was also men- tioned in the despatches announcing the victories at Contreras. Churubusco, Molino del Rey and th6 capture of Mexico citj'. He was promoted cap- tain. Oct. 29, 1848, but vacated the position to hold the office of assistant adjutant-general to the sixth military department of the division of the Pacific, which he held, 1849-51. He was on leave of absence, 1851-53. He resigned from the army, Feb. 21, 1853, and engaged in farming in Sonora county, Cal., and in superintending Hiilitary roads in Oregon. 1858-59. He was colo- nel of California militia, 1859-61, and when the civil war broke out he hastened to Washington to offer his services to the government. He re- ceived little encouragement from General Scott and was alxjut to leave the city when he called upon President Lincoln, to whom he spoke of his want of .success in obtaining a place in the arm)- in which he had held the rank of lieutenant-

colonel. Speaking to the President of his having witnessed the battle of Bull Run. July 21. isOl, lie remarked: '• It is neither vanity nor boasting in me to declare that I am a better general than you, sir, had on that field." Mr. Lincoln says: " I was impressed with him, and rising out of my chair I walked up to him and putting my hand on his shoulder, said: ' Colonel, not Lieutenant- Colonel Hooker, stay, I have use for you and a regiment for you to command.'" Hooker found the regiment to be a brigade of New England troops at Camp Union, Bladensburg, Md., where his discipline soon converted raw recruits into trained soldiers. His commission as brigadier- general was antedated to May 17, 1861. In the fall of 1861 he commanded the approaches to Washington and his brigade was enlarged to a division and he was stationed at Indian Head, Md., opposite Dumfries, Va., UTitil ordered to the jieninsula, April, 1SG2. He led the second divi- sion, third corps, in tiie siege of Yorktown, where Gen. Philip Kearny commanded the fir.st division. After a battle in which the divisions became somewhat intermingled, to distinguish his men thereby, Kearny ordered them to wear diamond- shaped badges cut from red flannel cloth, while Hooker used a similar badge cut from white flannel. In this was originated the corps badges afterward so generally used. Hooker's division, with that of W. F. Smith of the 4th corps, opened the battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1862. in front of Fort ]Magruder, and held back repeated on- slaughts of the combined Confederate force until reinforced hy Kearny and Hancock. The loss in his division was heavy, being 1575 out of an entire Federal loss of 2228 men. the balance being sustained chiefly by Kearnv's division. Hooker's report of this battle says: " Hi. story will not be believed when it is told that the noble officers and men of my division were permitted to carrv on this unequal struggle from morning until night unaided, in the presence of moretiian tiiirty thousand of their comrades with arms in their hands; nevertheless it i.'l true." His com- mission as major-general of U.S. volunteers dates from May 5, 1862. His division regained the ground lost by the advance Federal line, and on ^lay 25, reached Oak Grove, about four miles from Richmond, and the nearest point reached by McClellan's army. He took part in the battle of Fair Oaks or Seven Pines, May 31 and June 1, 1862, and as McClellan's army fell back on Harri- son's Landinjr participated in the engagements at Malvern Hill, and Frayser's Farm or Charles City Cross-roads, and then withdrew from the peninsula and reached Alexandria, Aug. 26. 1862. He was ordered to report to Gen. John Pope, commanding the Army of Virginia, and his prompt arrival and successful engagement at