Joseph Hooker

Joseph Hooker
Portrait by Mathew Brady or Levin C. Handy
Nickname(s)	"Fighting Joe"
Born	(1814-11-13)November 13, 1814 Hadley, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	October 31, 1879(1879-10-31) (aged 64) Garden City, New York, U.S.
Buried	Spring Grove Cemetery Cincinnati, Ohio
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/branch	United States Army Californian militia
Years of service	1837–1853, 1861–1868 (U.S.) 1859–1861 (California)
Rank	Major General (U.S.) Colonel (California)
Commands held	I Corps Army of the Potomac XX Corps, Army of the Tennessee Department of the East
Battles/wars	Seminole Wars Mexican–American War American Civil War Battle of Williamsburg Battle of Antietam Battle of Fredericksburg Battle of Chancellorsville Chattanooga Campaign Battle of Lookout Mountain Battle of Ringgold Gap Atlanta Campaign

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.