Thanksgiving Civil War image from the Library of Congress
On November 7, Lincoln replaced McClellan with Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside. Burnside's forces were defeated in a series of attacks against entrenched Confederate forces at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Burnside was replaced with General Joseph Hooker.
Fight'n Joe Hooker stepped into Burnside's spot when
tapped by Abe Lincoln.
Ol' Fight'n Joe Hooker was known as quite a ladies man and
was tagged with the nickname of "Handsome Captain " by
the local women of the area.
Hooker actually requested a commission but was once denied and after getting himself to the East from California he was privileged to view the First Battle of Bull Run. Afterward he wrote a letter to Abe Lincoln complaining about mass incompetence being the cause of the Yankee defeat, and once more requesting a commission by laying out his personal
attributes for a position and Lincoln granted him the
position of Brigadier General.
Hooker was a smart gentleman when in came to seeking
the positions on the battlefield that were key to having a
winning hand during the various frays in which he was
involved.
This allowed kudos in the eyes of Lincoln.
Hooker was also continually berating McClellan's
incompetence as a soldier and a leader.
Once supposedly stating that " "He is not only not a soldier, but he does not know what soldiership is."
After a major confrontation with Stonewall Jackson's troops
at Antietam where the two bullheaded commanders battled
to a draw leaving some 23,000 men laying dead in one day
on a 400 to 500 acre area now known as the"Antietam Battlefield" which includes the Dunker church,
and more than 5000 men left dead in a river of blood
at "Bloody Lane" at just one spot in the fray alone.
Please Remember the annual luminary
December 2,2011 at Antietam!
It is a $5.00 donation to drive on the battlefield to view
the silent tribute of 23,110 luminaries!
It is a sight to behold!!
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