Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Hooker, Joseph 1814-1879

Military officer; born in Hadley, Mass., Nov. 13, 1814; graduated at West Point in 1837, entering

Joseph Hooker.

the artillery. He served in the war with Mexico, and was brevetted lieutenantcolonel for bravery therein. He resigned in 1853 and settled in California, where he was residing when, in May, 1861, he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers and assigned to the Army of the Potomac, in which he acquired the name of “Fighting Joe” Hooker. In May, 1862, he was promoted to major-general. He was severely wounded in the battle of Antietam, and soon afterwards was commissioned brigadier-general in the United States army. Early in 1863 he succeeded Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside (q. v.) in the command of the Army of the Potomac, and was himself succeeded by Gen. George G. Meade (q. v.) in June. He performed efficient service near Chattanooga in the fall of 1863, and in the Atlanta campaign of 1864. In 1868 he was retired with the full rank of major-general. He died in Garden City, N. Y., Oct. 31, 1879.