Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/279

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HOOKER
HOOKER
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the command and conferring it upon Gen. George G. Meade, the commander of the 5th corps, who conducted it to Gettysburg, fought Lee there, and drove him back across the Potomac. In his farewell order to the troops, Gen. Hooker acquiesced cheerfully in the action of the government, like a soldier and a patriot, and gave the true significance of the order: “Impressed,” he says, “with the belief that my usefulness as the commander of the Army of the Potomac is impaired, I part from it, yet not without the deepest emotion.” He went to Baltimore, where he remained about two months. But so accomplished a general could not be spared, and on 24 Sept. he was assigned to the command of the llth and 12th army corps, which were consolidated later, and constituted the 20th corps. With these troops he was sent to the south for the relief of Chattanooga, first under Rosecrans and afterward under Grant. From Wauhatchie he marched into Lookout valley on 27 and 28 Oct., and thus aided in opening communications for supplies, so that the army was thoroughly provisioned by two steamers, with only eight miles of wagoning. When Grant's plans were in order for the final movement, so that his line was complete from the northern end of Lookout Mountain to the northern end of Missionary Ridge, Hooker made a bold attack on the former, and carried it on 24 Nov., fighting what has been picturesquely called “the battle above the clouds.” He then marched across to strengthen the National right, and shared in the grand attack on Missionary Ridge, by which Bragg was defeated and driven away in confusion. In pursuit of the enemy, he fought him at Ringgold on the 27th, where he met with stubborn resistance.

When Gen. William T. Sherman organized his army for the invasion of Georgia, Hooker was retained in command of the 20th corps, and gained new laurels at Mill Creek Gap, Resaca, Dallas, and Pine Mountain. He took part in the attack on Atlanta, and in the capitulation in the latter days of August. Gen. James B. McPherson, who commanded the Army of the Tennessee, was killed in one of the movements around Atlanta, 22 July, 1864. Hooker had expected to succeed him, but was disappointed. The president, at the suggestion of Gen. Sherman, appointed Gen. Oliver O. Howard to that post. Sherman regarded Hooker as one that interfered in the actions of others and questioned the orders of his superiors. Hooker considered himself ill-treated, and by his own request was relieved of his command, 30 July, and was placed upon waiting orders until 28 Sept. But his services were not forgotten. For the part he took in the movements under Grant and Sherman he was brevetted a major-general in the regular army, under date of 13 March, 1865. After the close of the war in 1865, Hooker was put in charge of the Department of the East, with his headquarters in New York city. In August, 1866, he was transferred to the Department of the Lakes, with headquarters at Detroit. He was mustered out of the volunteer service, 1 Sept., 1866, and was for some time on a board for the retirement of officers. Having been struck with paralysis and incapacitated for further active duty, he was, at his own request, placed on the retired list, 15 Oct., 1868, with the full rank of a major-general. He lived subsequently in New York and in Garden City, L. I., where he was buried. Hooker was a brave soldier, a skilful military organizer, with an overplus of self-esteem, which led him to follow the dictates of his ambition, sometimes without regard to the just claims of others; but his military achievements and unwavering patriotism so overshadowed his few faults that he is entitled to great praise.


HOOKER, Thomas, clergyman, b. in Markfield, Leicestershire, England, in 1586; d. in Hartford, Conn., 7 July, 1647. He studied theology in Cambridge, where he became a fellow of Emmanuel college. In 1626 he was made lecturer and assistant to a clergyman in Chelmsford, but in 1630 was silenced by Archbishop Laud for non-conformity, though he adhered steadfastly to the doctrine of the Church of England, and objected only to its ceremonies. He continued to reside near Chelmsford for a few months, and taught school in Little Braddon, having John Eliot, afterward the apostle to the Indians, for his assistant; but, as he was still persecuted, he fled in the same year to Holland, where he remained till 1633, preaching in Delft and Rotterdam. He was engaged as assistant to Dr. William Ames, with whom he wrote “Fresh Suit against Human Ceremonies in God's Worship.” In 1633 he emigrated to New England with John Cotton, Samuel Stone, and others in the ship “Griffin.” The danger of being pursued and arrested was such that Cotton and Hooker were obliged to conceal themselves until they were in mid-ocean. They arrived in Boston, 3 Sept., 1633, and settled in Newtown (now Cambridge), Mass. At a fast that was observed by the church on 11 Oct., 1633, Hooker was chosen pastor of the eighth church that was formed in the colony of Massachusetts. In June, 1636, he removed with his entire congregation to the banks of the Connecticut, where they founded the town of Hartford. Hooker's influence was very great, and whenever he preached in Boston he attracted large audiences. He was identified with all the important political and religious movements of the colony, and was one of the moderators of the first New England synod that was held in Cambridge in the case of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson. His death, which was caused by a prevalent epidemic, was considered a public loss. Gov. Winthrop says: “That which made the stroke more sensible and grievous, both to them and to all the country, was the death of that faithful servant of the Lord, Mr. Thomas Hooker, pastor of the church of Hartford; who, for piety, prudence, wisdom, zeal, learning, and what else might make him serviceable in the place and time he lived in, might be compared with men of greatest note; and he shall need no other praise; the fruits of his labors in both Englands shall preserve an honorable and happy remembrance of him forever.” He published many volumes of sermons and polemical works, the principal of which are “The Survey of the Sum of Church Discipline” (1648); “The Application of Redemption by the Effectual Work of the Word and Spirit of Christ for the Bringing Home of Lost Sinners to God” (1657: 2d ed., London, 1659); and “The Poor Doubting Sinner drawn to Christ” (7th ed., Boston, 1743). A selection of his works and a memoir of his life were published by his descendant, Rev. Edward W. Hooker (Boston, 1849). — His son, Samuel, clergyman, b. in 1632: d. 6 Nov., 1697, was graduated at Harvard in 1653, and ordained pastor of the church in Farmington, Conn., in July, 1661. He was a fellow of Harvard, and in 1662 was one of a committee of four to treat with New Haven in reference to a union with Connecticut.


HOOKER, Worthington, physician, b. in Springfield, Mass., 3 March, 1806; d. in New Haven, Conn., 6 Nov., 1867. He was graduated at Yale in 1825, and received his medical degree at Harvard in 1829. when he settled in Norwich, and practised his profession. From 1852 till his death he was