Joseph Hooker

Joseph Hooker Major General
Born	November 13, 1814
Died	October 31, 1879

Joseph Hooker (November 13, 1814 – October 31, 1879) served as a major General in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Born in Hadley, Massachusetts as grandson of a captain in the American Revolutionary War, Hooker graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1837. Nicknamed "fighting Joe", he had a reputation for being aggressive in pursuit of war, women, and liquor.

Hooker served in the Mexican War and later rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After the war, he served as assistant adjutant general of the Pacific Division, and would go on to resign in February 1853. From 1859 to 1861, he held a commission as a colonel in the California militia. During the start of the American Civil War in 1861 he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers. He would command a brigade and later a division around the Washington, D.C. area. On January 26, 1863 he was appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac. From April 30 – May 6, 1863 he and his Army of the Potomac were defeated in the Battle of Chancellorsville by General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. It became known as Lee's "perfect battle" because of his victory, despite Hooker's army being twice as large. However Hooker won other very prominent Civil War battles such as the Battle Above the Clouds and the Battle of Peachtree Creek.

Hooker later led the Union Army northward to the Battle of Gettysburg until he resigned on June 28, 1863. He continued his career in the military by being appointed in charge of the Army of the Potomac's 1lth and 12th Corps. After rising to the title of Major General, he retired on September 1, 1866. Hooker died in Garden City, New York, on October 31, 1879, and is buried in Cincinnati.