General Joseph Hooker - Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
N 42° 21.477 W 071° 03.782
19T E 330101 N 4691581
Description: Joseph Hooker (November 13, 1814 – October 31, 1879) was a career United States Army officer, who fought in the Mexican-American War, and was a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Waymark Code: WMY1DG
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 04/01/2018
Views: 6
A statue erected in 1903 of Civil War Union General Joseph Hooker mounted astride a horse, located outside the Massachusetts State House.
Although he served throughout the war, usually with distinction, Hooker is best remembered for his stunning defeat by Confederate General Robert E. Lee. at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. He became known as "Fighting Joe" during the Civil War due to civilian clerical error; however, the nickname stuck.
From the Smithsonian Art Inventory
website::
"Sculpture: bronze; Base: red granite.
Sculpture: approx. 15 x 5 x 12 ft.; Base: approx. 20 x 8 x 18 ft.
Inscription:
(On right side base:) Daniel Chester French / Edward C. Potter / Sculptors (On left side base:) The Henry-Bonnard Bronze Co/Founders N.Y. 1903 signed Founder's mark appears.
Description:
A portrait of General Joseph Hooker dressed in his Civil War Uniform and seated on his horse. He holds the horse's reins in his proper left hand. The sculpture rests atop a rectangular granite base.
The sculpture was commissioned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The figure was modeled by Daniel Chester French and the horse was modeled by Edward Clark Potter.
ARTIST(S): The figure was modeled by Daniel Chester French and the horse was modeled by Edward Clark Potter."
Information above from the Smithsonian Art Inventory
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Joseph Hooker"
"After graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1837, Hooker served in the Seminole Wars and the Mexican-American War, receiving three brevet promotions. Resigning from the Army in 1853, he pursued farming, land development, and (unsuccessfully) politics in California. After the start of the Civil War he returned to the Army as a brigadier general. He distinguished himself as an aggressive combat commander leading a division in the Battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1862, resulting in his promotion to major general. As a corps commander, he led the initial Union attacks at the Battle of Antietam, in which he was wounded. At the Battle of Fredericksburg, he commanded a "Grand Division" of two corps, and was ordered to conduct numerous futile frontal assaults that caused his men to suffer serious losses. Throughout this period, he conspired against and openly criticized his army commanders. Following the defeat at Fredericksburg, he was given command of the Army of the Potomac.
Hooker planned an audacious campaign against Robert E. Lee, but his Army was defeated by the Confederate Army at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Hooker's subordinate general's mistakes, and a loss of confidence on his part contributed to a failure to marshal the strength of his larger army against Lee, who boldly divided his army and routed a Union corps with a flank attack led by Stonewall Jackson. Casualties were heavy on both sides (approximately 17,000 of the Union's 117,000 troops, and 13,000 of the Confederate's 60,000 troops), and the defeat handed Lee the initiative, which allowed him to travel north to Gettysburg.[1]
Lincoln kept Hooker in command, but when General Halleck and Lincoln declined Hooker's request for troops from Harpers Ferry to reinforce his army while in pursuit of Lee's advance toward Pennsylvania, Hooker resigned his command. George G. Meade was appointed to the command of the Army of the Potomac on June 28, 1863, three days before Gettysburg, and was allowed to take the troops from Harpers Ferry."
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PHYSICAL LOCATION:
In front of the
Massachusetts State House
Beacon Street.
Boston, Massachusetts, USA.