Year: 1879

It's probable that the personal popularity
Of Gen. Hooker, who died at Garden City, L.
l., last Friday, has been greater and more en-
during in the eastern portion OF the United
States than that Of any other soldier OF the
late war He was Fighting Joe" and news
papers praised him and chronicled bis doings,
and soldiers when assembled shouted them
selves hoarse in his honor In our judgment
this has been q remarkable Instance OF the
worship of false gods, but it ia not difficult to
discover the reasons for 1t. In tie first place,
Hooker was remarkable handsome, large,
"well -set-llp'' man. When no left West Point
he Is said to have dressed In black, to have
presented very modest exterior and to have
been called "the Chaplain but soon after h6
was not only to be- seen always In his uni
form, but wearing it with great splendor, with
his cap on one sde and evidently seeE-
ing success in other fields than those
of war; to the end Of his life he preserved q
complexion of singular freshness, He was,
moreover, very hearty aud cordial In man-
ner ut all times, and when he was going into
action or In contact with tho enemy there
was n serene and cheerful compo5ure about
him which 1t did one good to see. He liked
fighting, and he was one OF the first men In
the East where there WAS at first 80 much
poor old timber among our generals, from
brigade commanders up To corps mmand-
ersl who convinced our people, In the army
and at home, that he "meant business when
he encountered the enemy. He had most
exaggerated idea Of his own merits and im-





crying the claims of other soldiers his voice
was ready, sonorous and voluble His troops
were so good, he was himself 80 much OF
fighter, and his corps commander was so
much Of an old woman that he found 1t easy
to persuade many people-indeed, most peo-
ple~-not only that he was o. gallant soldier,
which was true, but that he was
n great soldier, which WAS not true.
Whether he was particularly civil TO
newspaper correspondents we have forgotten.
If we ever knew, but we may hazard the con-
lecture tfat II he entertained those angels no
did not entertain them unawares. He was
about as insubordinate as man.could be VINO
did not directly dls0bey orders In the sum-
uer of 1862, for instance. he used to speak OF
Mcclellan. the commander Of the army in
which he had division as "a baby and this
before mixed company OF junior officers:
He was most positive In his assertions, ana
his manner was SO manly and attractive that
his positive assertions were believed Oftener
than the facts warranted. lie certainly did
not always tell the truth. but his egotism Was
SO Intense that his errors in this respect may
have been uDintentioDaL At any rate, he was
so likable that we prefer to believe this. There
is ground for supposing that he owed his pro-
motion to the command OF the Army OIL The
Potomac to his assertion that II ne had
not been wounded at the battle OF
the Antietam he would have driven Lee into
the Potomac His testimony before the Com
mttee on the Conduct OF the War was to the
like effect. and yet nothing can be more uI-
true. When the first troops OF the Second
Corps arrived on Hooker's battlefield, his
corps had, for all offensive purposes at least.
ceased to exist. OF his failure at Chancellors-
willie we have heretofore spoken at length
Mutton, May 80, 1867, 1t 10 impossible not
to conclude that Hooker's fame has been out
OF proportion TO his merits. Hefailed utterly
in his single great BATTLE and he never ac-
complished much as q corps commander. He
was a brave man with hearty love OF light
ing, and he was a good organizer. He was
useful rs q division commander la the early
days Of the war; but he was too selfish, too
nsubordinate, and too vain to continue USE
full to the end in that Or similar positions.
And he was, Of course, not competent to hold
supreme command.