Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker

[jkBluesman]

Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker (b. 1814, d. 1879). The ambitious Hooker was one of the best Union division and corps commanders but lacked the abilities to effectively command an army. Born in Hadley, Massachusetts he graduated from West Point in 1837. After serving in the artillery during the Seminole War and in staff positions during the Mexican War, Hooker was sent to the West Coast. His testimony against his former commander Gen. Winfield Scott in a court-martial blocked further advancement in the army. Subsequently, Hooker resigned from the army in 1853 and settled in California. When the Civil War broke out, Hooker travelled east and requested a commission. It was refused until the Union defeat at First Bull Run, probably due to Scott’s influence. In August 1861, Hooker was appointed brigadier general of volunteers dating from May 17. Assigned to the Army of the Potomac, he rose quickly from brigade to division command. During the Peninsula Campaign he gained the reputation of an aggressive general, especially for his conduct in the Battle of Williamsburg (May 5, 1862) for which he was promoted to major general. When newspapers mistook the label “Fighting – Joe Hooker” on telegraphed news for the story’s headline, the general got the nickname “Fighting Joe” – a name he himself disliked. Hooker fought aggressively during the Seven Days, where his division suffered 25 Percent of the army’s entire casualties. When the unit was shipped back to Washington, it was detached to Gen. John Pope’s Army of Virginia. Hooker served remarkably in the III corps although the army was badly defeated at Second Bull Run. The reorganization of the Army of the Potomac for the Maryland Campaign saw Hooker in the lead of the I corps, which he commanded well at South Mountain. At Antietam the corps lost heavily in the Cornfield and at the Dunker Church but Hooker’s determined leadership almost carried the day for the Union. However, when the general was wounded and had to leave the field, further attacks on the right were cancelled. Hooker lobbied for his promotion to army command, but Gen. Ambrose Burnside was selected. Hooker soon got in to conflict with his new superior. When Burnside ordered a frontal attack at Fredericksburg, Hooker – in command of the Federal centre – refused to carry out the order, so Burnside bypassed him in the chain of command. After the bloody repulse and the “Mud March” a few weeks later, Burnside was relieved and Hooker finally got his army command on January 26, 1863. After restoring morale and drilling the troops, Hooker confidently announced: “May God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none.” He began his campaign with a brilliant crossing of the Rapidan but failed to exploit his advantage of surprise and rendered the initiative to his opponent. Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson had no mercy on Hooker. Jackson’s flanking movement resulted in the rout of the Union XI corps on May 2. Hooker was knocked out by a cannonball the next day but refused to turn over command to Gen. Darius Couch. The confusion in the Union high command demolished any hope of success and by May 7, the army was back over the river. Hooker stayed in command at first and outlined a sound plan to counter Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania. However, a dispute over command authority issues with General-in-chief Henry Halleck who despised Hooker led to the latter’s removal from army command on June 28, 1863 just a few days before the Battle of Gettysburg. In fall, Hooker was sent to the Army of the Cumberland and played a conspicuous role in the relief of Chattanooga. Under Gen. U.S. Grant, Hooker won the Battle of Lookout Mountain. Distrust by Grant and his successor Gen. William T. Sherman, under whom Hooker fought in the Atlanta Campaign, resulted in Hooker’s transfer at his own request to the Northern Department, which he commanded from October 1, 1864 till the end of the conflict. During his post-war years, Hooker suffered from poor health, culminating in a stroke, which forced him to retire from the army in 1868 as regular major general. On a visit to Garden City, New York, Hooker suddenly died on October 31, 1879.

Ldr: 5 (voted 4)
Tact: 6 (voted 5)
Init: 5
Cmd: 4

It is 300 characters too long. I will shorten it further soon.

[Gil R.]

It is 300 characters too long. I will shorten it further soon.

Okay, I'll wait. Looking good so far.

[jkBluesman]

Only one hundred miles to go, I mean characters to delete.

Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker (b. 1814, d. 1879). The ambitious Hooker was one of the best Union division and corps commanders but lacked the abilities to effectively command an army. Born in Hadley, Massachusetts he graduated from West Point in 1837. After serving in the Seminole War and the Mexican War, Hooker was sent to the West Coast. His testimony against his former commander Gen. Winfield Scott in a court-martial blocked further advancement in the army. Subsequently, Hooker resigned in 1853 and settled in California. When the Civil War broke out, Hooker requested a commission in the east. It was refused until the Union defeat at First Bull Run, probably due to Scott’s influence. In August 1861, Hooker was appointed brigadier general of volunteers dating from May 17. Assigned to the Army of the Potomac, he rose quickly from brigade to division command. During the Peninsula Campaign he gained the reputation of an aggressive general for his conduct in the Battle of Williamsburg (May 5, 1862) for which he was promoted to major general. When newspapers mistook the label “Fighting – Joe Hooker” on telegraphed news for the story’s headline, the general got the nickname “Fighting Joe” – a name he himself disliked. Hooker fought aggressively during the Seven Days, where his division suffered 25 Percent of the army’s entire casualties. When the unit was shipped back north, it was detached to the Army of Virginia. Hooker served remarkably in the III corps although the army was badly defeated at Second Bull Run. The reorganization of the Army of the Potomac for the Maryland Campaign saw Hooker in the lead of the I corps, which he commanded well at South Mountain and Antietam, where the corps lost heavily in the Cornfield and at the Dunker Church. But Hooker’s determined leadership almost carried the day for the Union. However, when the general was wounded, further attacks on the right were cancelled. Hooker lobbied for his promotion to army command, but Gen. Ambrose Burnside was selected. Hooker soon got in to conflict with his new superior. When Burnside ordered a frontal attack at Fredericksburg, Hooker –in command of the Federal centre – refused to carry out the order, so Burnside bypassed him in the chain of command. After the bloody repulse and the following “Mud March”, Burnside was relieved and Hooker succeeded him on January 26, 1863. After restoring morale and drilling the troops, Hooker confidently announced: “May God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none.” He began his campaign with a brilliant crossing of the Rapidan but failed to exploit his advantage of surprise and rendered the initiative to his opponent. Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson had no mercy on Hooker at Chancellorsville. Jackson’s flanking movement resulted in the rout of the Union XI corps on May 2. Hooker was knocked out by a cannonball the next day but refused to turn over command to Gen. Darius Couch. The confusion in the Union high command demolished any hope of success and by May 7, the army was back over the river. Hooker was not replaced at first and outlined a sound plan to counter Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania. However, a dispute over command authority issues with General-in-chief Henry Halleck who despised Hooker led to the latter’s removal from army command on June 28, 1863. In fall, Hooker was sent to the Army of the Cumberland and played a conspicuous role in the relief of Chattanooga. Under Gen. U.S. Grant, Hooker won the Battle of Lookout Mountain. Distrust by Grant and his successor Gen. William T. Sherman, under whom Hooker fought in the Atlanta Campaign, resulted in Hooker’s transfer at his own request to the Northern Department, which he commanded from October 1, 1864 till the end of the conflict. During his post-war years, Hooker suffered from a stroke, which forced him to retire from the army in 1868 as regular major general. On a visit to Garden City, New York, Hooker suddenly died on October 31, 1879.

[Gil R.]

Copied. Thanks.

What do others think of changing his ratings?

[Gil R.]

Whew. It took some doing, but I got it down to 3896 characters without having to lose any information. I think we both did a good job here...

Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker (b. 1814, d. 1879). The ambitious Hooker was one of the best Union division and corps commanders but lacked the abilities to effectively command an army. Born in Hadley, Massachusetts, he graduated from West Point in 1837. After serving in the 2nd Seminole War and the Mexican War, he was sent to the West Coast. His testimony against his former commander Gen. Winfield Scott in a court-martial blocked further advancement, so Hooker left the army in 1853 and settled in California. When the Civil War broke out, Hooker requested a commission in the East. It was refused until the Union defeat at First Bull Run, probably due to Scott’s influence. In August 1861, Hooker was appointed brigadier general of volunteers dating from May 17. Assigned to the Army of the Potomac, he rose quickly to division command. During the Peninsula Campaign of 1862 he gained a reputation for aggressiveness at the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5, earning him a promotion to major general. When newspapers mistook the label “Fighting – Joe Hooker” on telegraphed news for the story’s headline, the general got the nickname “Fighting Joe” – a name he himself disliked. Hooker fought aggressively during the Seven Days’ Campaign, in which his division suffered a quarter of the army’s entire casualties. When the unit was shipped back north, it was detached to the Army of Virginia. Hooker served remarkably in the III Corps, though the army was badly defeated at Second Bull Run on August 29-30. The reorganization of the Army of the Potomac for the Maryland Campaign saw Hooker commanding I Corps at South Mountain and Antietam, where his corps suffered heavy casualties in the Cornfield and at the Dunker Church. Still, Hooker’s determined leadership almost carried the day for the Union, but when he was wounded further attacks on the Union right were cancelled. In the aftermath, Hooker lobbied for his promotion to army command, but Gen. Ambrose Burnside was selected to replace Gen. George B. McClellan. Hooker soon got into conflict with his new superior. When Burnside ordered a frontal attack at Fredericksburg on December 13, Hooker – in command of the Union center – refused to obey and was bypassed in the chain of command. Following the bloody repulse and ensuing “Mud March,” Hooker replaced Burnside on January 26, 1863. After restoring morale and drilling the troops, Hooker confidently announced: “May God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none.” He began his spring campaign with a brilliant crossing of the Rapidan River but failed to exploit his advantage of surprise and lost the initiative to Gens. Robert E. Lee and “Stonewall” Jackson, who badly beat him at Chancellorsville: on May 2, Jackson’s flanking movement resulted in the rout of the Union XI Corps, and during the fighting Hooker was knocked out by a cannonball but refused to turn over command to Gen. Darius Couch. The ensuing confusion in the Union high command demolished any hope of success, and by May 7 the army had retreated. Hooker was not immediately replaced, but while making plans to counter Lee’s Gettysburg Campaign he quarreled over command authority issues with general-in-chief Henry Halleck, who despised him, and was removed from command on June 28. That fall, Hooker was sent to the Army of the Cumberland and played a conspicuous role in the relief of Chattanooga, winning the Battle of Lookout Mountain under Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Distrust by Grant and his successor Gen. William T. Sherman, under whom Hooker fought in the Atlanta Campaign, resulted in Hooker’s transfer at his own request to the Northern Department, which he commanded from October 1, 1864 until the war’s end. In 1868, a stroke forced Hooker to retire from the army, as a regular major general. Hooker suddenly died on October 31, 1879, while on a visit to Garden City, New York. (Bio by Joern Kaesebier)

[Przemcio231]

ORIGINAL: Gil R.
Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker (b. 1814, d. 1879). The ambitious Hooker was one of the best Union division and corps commanders but lacked the abilities to effectively command an army.

Well that ain't true Hooker was one of the Best Union Army Commanders[:)] The Chancellorsvile Defeat wasn't his Fault. Hookers plan was to cross the Rappachanock River to force Lee out of his Entrenchments. While Stoneman schould cut Lee's supply line to force him back. Then Hooker would move on Richmond and force Lee to attack him. But everything went wrong becouse a) Stoneman was an incompetent fool and did not carry out his task b) Howard didn't obeyed Hookers order to watch out for his flank, and one of his Division commanders Devens(?) was drunk in moment of the attack. c) Sedgwick shown no initiative and was hesitating all the time. d) Hooker had bad luck with communication as his orders did not reach Sedgwick or they reached him to late.

Hooker lost the battle becouse of his subordinates when Jackson Attacked he was able to stabilize his lines , then on the next day he skilfouly lead reinforcemnt's to the lines to block Stuart's attacks and only after he was knocked down by the cannonball the defence broke... this would not happen if Couch would assume command but he didn't.

[General Quarters]

Hooker is one of those generals who should be given a "cracks under the pressure of battle" -- not an inevitable but like a 50-50 chance of his performance suddenly dropping or of retreating or whatever is implementable. Pope is another. The higher ratings seem justified to me -- he was certainly one of the best corps commanders in the war -- but you need some kind of negative counterbalance. Grant and Sherman seemed to have a bias against Hooker, which seems undeserved in terms of his performance under them.

EDIT: Bragg faltered before battle; Rosecrans cracked under the pressure of Chick. Both were generally capable generals, particularly R.

[Przemcio231]

Well his drop of preformance at Chancellorsvile was caused by a head shock and you do not cure of it in one day... i know the day he got wounded he was losing and regaining conciusnes all day so he was in no shape of commanding and i thing this shock influenced him for a week or something im not a doctor... so maybe add some small chance of preformance drop for every general in the game simulating random injury on the field of battle[;)]

[jkBluesman]

Hooker's crossing was brilliant (as I wrote) but he lost his nerve days before he received the wound. His subordinates made mistakes (I am the last one to defend Howard), but Hooker should as army commander supervised their actions and he failed to do so. And that Couch did not take over command was because Hooker refused to let him.
What is often overlooked is that Hooker set the stage for Gettysburg as Meade more or less followed his plan. If he had followed Hooker's idea of letting the garrison at Harpers Ferry block the Confederate retreat route Lee's army would probably have been trapped on Northern soil.