In Memoriam, Major-General Joseph Hooker

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Robert Clark & Company, 1881 - 22 pages

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Page 11 - I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac. Of course, I have done this upon what appears to me to be sufficient reasons, and yet I think it best for you to know that there are some things in regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you. I believe you to be a brave and skillful soldier, which, of course, I like. I also believe you do not mix politics with your profession, in which you are right.
Page 11 - I have heard, in such way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both the Army and the Government needed a Dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who gain successes, can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship.
Page 11 - I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship. The government will support you to the utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticising their commander and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you. I shall assist you as far as I can to put it down. Neither you nor Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good out...
Page 11 - Of course, it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who gain successes can set up as dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship. The government will support you to the utmost of its ability, — which is neither more nor less than it has done and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into...
Page 11 - Only those generals who gain successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship. The government will support you to the utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticising their commander and withholding confidence from him. will now turn upon you.
Page 11 - I believe you to be a brave and skillful soldier, which, of course, I like. I also believe you do not mix politics with your profession, in which you are right. You have confidence in yourself, which is a valuable if not an indispensable quality. You are ambitious, which within reasonable bounds does good rather than harm. But I think that during General Burnside's command of the army you have taken counsel of your ambition and thwarted him as much as you could...
Page 14 - Joseph Hooker, and the officers and soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, for the skill, energy, and endurance which first covered Washington and Baltimore from the meditated blow of the advancing and powerful army of rebels led by General Robert E. Lee ; and to Maj.
Page 5 - Commenting later on that meeting, Lincoln said that "his eye was steady and clear — his manner not half so confident as his words, ... he had the air of a man of sense and intelligence, who thoroughly believed in himself. I was impressed. ... In every position in which he has been put, General Hooker has equaled the expectations which his self-confidence excited."27 Though this was said before the battle of Chancellorsville (May...
Page 7 - McClellan to prepare myself with three days' rations and the usual amount of ammunition, and to be ready to march at 2 o'clock on Monday. This order was communicated to the whole army, and I firmly believe that order meant Richmond. I had said to General McClellan that if we were unsuccessful it would probably cost him his head, but that he might as well die for an old sheep as for a lamb.
Page 14 - ... Hooker had amply provided the soldiers, inspired and carried forward by his energy — soldiers fed, in a great measure, with the rations provided by his foresight. The same engineers, he had selected and advanced, guided and posted the troops; the same staff administered and moved them. 'Everything was in place as he disposed it; nothing was changed in matter or spirit...

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