Editing Joseph Hooker (section)

==Early years==
Hooker was born in [[Hadley, Massachusetts]], the grandson of a [[Captain (Continental Army)|captain]] in the [[American Revolutionary War]]. He was of entirely [[English people|English]] ancestry, all of whom had been in [[New England]] since the early 1600s.<ref>''Homes of the Massachusetts ancestors of Major General Joseph Hooker'', By Isaac Paul Gragg{{ISBN?}} {{page?|date=September 2022}}</ref> His initial schooling was at the local [[Hopkins Academy]]. He graduated from the [[United States Military Academy]] in 1837, ranked 29th out of a class of 50, and was [[Commission (document)|commissioned]] a [[Second Lieutenant#United States|second lieutenant]] in the 1st U.S. Artillery.<ref>Eicher, p. 303.</ref> His initial assignment was in Florida fighting in the second of the [[Seminole Wars]]. He served in the [[Mexican–American War]] in staff positions in the campaigns of both [[Zachary Taylor]] and [[Winfield Scott]]. He received [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] promotions for his staff leadership and gallantry in three battles: [[Battle of Monterrey|Monterrey]] (to [[Captain (U.S. Army)|captain]]), [[Puente Nacional, Veracruz|National Bridge]] ([[Major (United States)|major]]), and [[Battle of Chapultepec|Chapultepec]] ([[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]]). His future Army reputation as a ladies' man began in Mexico, where local women referred to him as the "Handsome Captain".<ref name=Smith>Smith, np.</ref>

After the Mexican–American War (which ended in 1848), he served as an assistant [[adjutant general]] of the Pacific Division, but resigned his commission in 1853; his military reputation had been damaged when he testified against his former commander, General Scott, in the [[court-martial]] for insubordination of [[Gideon Johnson Pillow]]. {{cn|date=March 2018}} The Handsome Captain struggled with the tedium of peacetime life and reportedly passed the time with liquor, ladies, and gambling.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M-l6buinWv8C&q=229 | title=Generals South, Generals North: The Commanders of the Civil War Reconsidered| isbn=978-0762774883| last1=Axelrod| first1=Alan| date=2011| publisher=Rowman & Littlefield}}</ref> He settled in [[Sonoma County, California]], as a farmer and land developer, and ran unsuccessfully for election to represent the region in the California legislature. He was obviously unhappy and unsuccessful in his civilian pursuits because, in 1858, he wrote to [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[John B. Floyd]] to request that his name "be presented to president [[James Buchanan|Buchanan]] as a candidate for a lieutenant colonelcy", but nothing came of his request. From 1859 to 1861, he held a commission as a colonel in the California [[militia]].<ref name=Eicher304>Eicher, p. 304.</ref>