Hooker (Joseph) Military Papers, 1861-1877

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Summary

Title:
Joseph Hooker military papers
Dates:
1861-1877
Creators:
Hooker, Joseph, 1814-1879
Abstract:
Military papers belonging to American Civil War Union General Joseph Hooker.
Extent:
7.51 Linear Feet (19 boxes)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Joseph Hooker military papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists primarily of military records accumulated by the headquarters of Union Army General Joseph Hooker from October 1861 through September 1864, along with two documents from the 1870s. The papers relate to the battles of Antietam, Brandy Station, Second Bull Run, Fair Oaks, Chancellorsville, Fort Donelson, Fort Henry, the Seven Days Battles, Malvern Hill, South Mountain, and Williamsburg, as well as the Siege of Yorktown. They focus on the Union Army's Peninsula Campaign of 1862 and Gettysburg Campaign of 1863, with most events taking place in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The records document the movements of the XX Corps of the Army of the Cumberland, the Army of the Potomac, and the III Corps of the Army of Virginia. Materials include correspondence, general orders, dispatches, telegrams, reports, reconnaissance reports, and lists of battle casualties and prisoners taken. The collection contains records involving senior military leaders, including William Averell, Daniel Butterfield, George H. Chapman, Joseph Dickinson, Abner Doubleday, Thomas Eckert, George W. Getty, Ulysses S. Grant, Henry W. Halleck, Samuel Heintzelman, R. B. Marcy, George McClellan, George Meade, Henry Naglee, Alfred Pleasonton, John Sedgwick, Daniel Sickles, Edwin Stanton, George Stoneman, John D. Tidball, William Whipple, and Seth Williams. Other military figures mentioned include George Custer, Jeb Stuart, and James Longstreet. Several items are copies of dispatches and telegrams to and from President Abraham Lincoln, who is also mentioned elsewhere in the papers. The collection documents escaped enslaved people in military camps, including some who worked for the Union Army, as well as enslavers seeking them. Free African Americans and African American troops are also mentioned. Additional subjects include Port Tobacco, Maryland; the Rappahannock River region, Virginia; cavalry operations; Sickles' Excelsior Brigade; the military use of balloons; courts-martials; and disciplinary incidents involving drunkenness, desertion, and other infractions. The collection also contains hand-drawn and printed maps of military movements and battles, several Civil War–related books owned by Joseph Hooker, and a printed series of General Orders. Much of the material is with its original paper wrappers and ribbon or string.

Biographical / historical:

Joseph Hooker (1814-1879) was an American Civil War Union general. He was born in Hadley, Massachusetts, attended the local Hopkins Academy, and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1837, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Artillery. He took part in the Seminole Wars, and the Mexican American War, after which he was assigned to the Pacific Division and moved to Sonoma County, California, and served as a colonel in the California militia. At the start of the American Civil War in 1861, he was appointed a brigadier general of volunteers. From October 1861 to September 1862, he was in command of Hooker's Division, 2nd Division of the III Corps, and the III Corps of the Army of Virginia, and then led the I Corps, Army of the Potomac at South Mountain and Antietam. Commissioned Brigadier General on September 20, 1862, he commanded the V Corps and led the Center Grand Division at Fredericksburg. In January 1863, he was named commander of the Army of the Potomac. Following his defeat at Chancellorsville, he was relieved of his command and replaced by General George Meade three days before the Battle of Gettysburg. On September 24, 1863, he was given command of the XX Corps and led them in the Chattanooga and Atlanta campaigns. He resigned his command on July 28, 1864, and served with the Northern Department until the end of the war. In October 1865, Hooker married Olivia Augustus Groesbeck; they never had children and she died three years later in 1868. He retired from the Army in October 1868. Hooker was partially paralyzed by a stroke, and died in October 1879 in Garden City, New York. He is buried in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Joseph H. Wood, April 1964.
Processing information:

Processed by Huntington Library staff. In March 2021, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid. In August 2026, Brooke M. Black re-processed the collection and kept the original order and folder titles. The subjects that were written on the original folders were added to the finding aid.

Arrangement:

Organized in two series: Series 1: Orders, reports, correspondence, 1861-1877; Series 2: General orders, maps, books, 1862-1873.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Bibliography:

The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880-1900.

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Antietam, Battle of, Md., 1862
Brandy Station, Battle of, Brandy Station, Va., 1863
Bull Run, 2nd Battle of, Va., 1862
Chancellorsville, Battle of, Chancellorsville, Va., 1863
Escaped enslaved persons -- United States -- 19th century -- Sources
Fair Oaks, Battle of, Va., 1862
Fort Donelson, Battle of, Tenn., 1862
Fort Henry, Battle of, Tenn., 1862
Generals -- United States -- Archives
Gettysburg Campaign, 1863
Malvern Hill, Battle of, Va., 1862
Peninsular Campaign, Va., 1862
Seven Days' Battles, Va., 1862
Sickles' Excelsior Brigade, 1861-1865
South Mountain, Battle of, Md., 1862
Williamsburg, Battle of, Williamsburg, Va., 1862
Letters (correspondence)
Military records -- United States -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Professional papers -- United States -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Names:
United States. Army -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Sources
United States. Army of the Cumberland. Corps, 20th (1863-1865)
United States. Army of the Potomac
United States. Army of Virginia. Corps 3rd (1862)
Averell, William Woods, 1832-1900
Butterfield, Daniel, 1831-1901
Chapman, George H., 1832-1882
Custer, George A. (George Armstrong), 1839-1876
Dickinson, Joseph, 1830-1904
Doubleday, Abner, 1819-1893
Eckert, Thomas Thompson, 1825-1910
Getty, George W. (George W.)
Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885
Halleck, H. W. (Henry Wager), 1815-1872
Heintzelman, Samuel Peter, 1805-1880
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
Longstreet, James, 1821-1904
Marcy, R. B. (Randolph Barnes), 1812-1887
McClellan, George B. (George Brinton), 1826-1885
Meade, George Gordon, 1815-1872
Naglee, Henry M. (Henry Morris), 1815-1886
Pleasonton, Alfred, 1824-1897
Sedgwick, John, 1813-1864
Sickles, Daniel Edgar, 1819-1914
Stanton, Edwin M. (Edwin McMasters), 1814-1869
Stoneman, George, 1822-1894
Stuart, Jeb, 1833-1864
Tidball, John C. (John Caldwell), 1825-1906
Whipple, William D. (William Denison), 1826-1902
Williams, Seth, 1822-1866
Places:
Port Tobacco (Md.)
Rappahannock River (Va.)
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns -- Sources
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Cavalry operations
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- African Americans -- Sources
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Balloons
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Participation, African American
Yorktown (Va.) -- History -- Siege, 1862

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Brooke M. Black
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-08-27 13:28:10 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Joseph Hooker military papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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