Joseph Hooker was a Union general during the Civil War. President Lincoln made him commander of the Army of the Potomac after the defeat at Fredericksburg and his reputation as "Fightin` Joe" led to hopes that he would be a successful general.
However, when confronted with the Confederate troops of General Robert E. Lee, he declined to engage and instead took his troops into the Wilderness, an area of scrubland where his superior numbers would count for less. Lee attacked and defeated Hooker at the Battle of Chancellorsville at the start of May 1863.