{{Short description|American soldier (1838–1920)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}} {{Infobox military person | name = Mott Hooton | birth_date = {{birth date|1838|04|16}} | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1920|05|30|1838|04|16}} | death_place = Gardiner, Maine, US | burial_place = Oaklands Cemetery, West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania, US | allegiance = United States (Union) | branch = U.S. Army (Union Army) | service_years = 1861–1864, 1866–1902 | rank = Brigadier general | commands = 61st Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Regiment | battles = {{Tree list}} * American Civil War ** Peninsula campaign *** Battle of Gaines' Mill ** Second Battle of Bull Run {{WIA}} ** Battle of Gettysburg ** Bristoe campaign ** Overland Campaign *** Battle of Totopotomoy Creek {{WIA}} * American Indian Wars ** Battle of Cedar Creek * Spanish–American War ** Siege of Santiago {{Tree list/end}} }}
'''Mott Hooton''' (April 16, 1838 – May 30, 1920) was an American soldier who retired at the rank of U.S. Army brigadier general in 1902. Serving almost continuously since 1861, Hooton fought in the American Civil War, the Indian Wars, and the Spanish–American War. He was wounded in action twice during the Civil War and commanded troops in Cuba and the Philippines.
== Early life and family == Mott Hooton was born on April 16, 1838, in Philadelphia to Ann Eliza (née Carpenter) and Mott Hooton Sr. His elder brother was Colonel Francis Carpenter Hooton, who commanded the 175th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War and later served as Chester County district attorney. Both sides of his family were of English heritage. Hooton's paternal great-grandfather, John Hooton, was a Loyalist captain of dragoons during the American Revolutionary War, while his maternal great-grandfather, Thomas Carpenter, was a Continental Army captain and colonel of Pennsylvania militia.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" />
After Francis and Mott Hooton's father died in 1838, his mother took the children back to her family hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania, where she soon married a local farmer named Maris Rhoads. Francis and Mott Hooton both attended Bolmar's Academy in West Chester.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last= |url=http://archive.org/details/annualproceeding19201921sons |title=Annual Proceedings |publisher=Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution |year=1921 |location=Philadelphia |pages=56–58 |via=Archive.org}}{{Open access}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Baillie |first=Margaret Miles |date=2021-12-28 |title=Mott Hooton Papers |url=https://mycchc.org/mott-hooton-papers/ |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=Chester County History Center |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Wiley |first=Samuel T. |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo1.ark:/13960/t8z89sp9p |title=Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Comprising a Historical Sketch of the County |date=1893 |publisher=Gresham Publishing Company |location=Philadelphia |pages=287–289 |language=en-US |via=Hathitrust}}{{Open access}}</ref>
== Military service == thumb|Troops and officers of Company A, 30th Pennsylvania, Union Army, commanded by Mott Hooton
=== Civil War === Hooton enlisted in the Union Army on June 3, 1861, starting his military career as first sergeant of Company A of the 1st Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment, commanded by Captain Henry McIntire. Commissioned as a second lieutenant on June 10, he became captain and commanding officer of Company A on October 16, McIntire having risen to lieutenant colonel. As part of the Army of the Potomac, he fought in the Peninsula Campaign and the Battle of Gaines' Mill. Seriously wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run in August 1862, he took the better part of a year to recover.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury02lcnppu |title=Twentieth Century Successful Americans, Local and National |date=1917 |publisher=United Press Service Bureau |pages=345 |language=en-US |via=Archive.org}}{{Open access}}</ref>
Hooton returned to active duty in time to serve at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863), the Bristoe campaign and the Battle of Mine Run (October and November 1863), the Overland Campaign (May 1864), and other actions. Wounded again at the Battle of Totopotomoy Creek at the end of May 1864, he was honorably mustered out on June 13, 1864, when his term of enlistment expired. Nearly one year later, on March 13, 1865, he was brevetted a major of U.S. Volunteers for his "gallant and meritorious services in the Wilderness campaign."<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />
=== Indian Wars === On February 23, 1866, Hooton enlisted in the United States Regular Army, receiving a commission as first lieutenant in the 13th Infantry Regiment. He served over thirty years on the American frontier, mostly garrisoning against Indian attacks. He deployed to Texas and Montana and spent six years at Fort Lewis in Colorado. He was transferred to the 31st Infantry Regiment on September 21, 1866, and to the 22nd infantry Regiment on May 15, 1869. He gained a promotion to captain on August 5, 1872, and a brevet to the rank of major on February 27, 1890, "for gallant and meritorious services in action against Indians at Spring Creek, Montana, October 15 and 16, 1876," when he led his troops in running clashes with Sioux warriors at the Battle of Cedar Creek.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015026643141 |title=Register of the Commandery of the State of Pennsylvania, April 15, 1865-September 1, 1902 |publisher=Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States |year=1902 |location=Philadelphia |pages=88 |language=en-US |via=HathiTrust}}{{Open access}}</ref>
In 1880, Hooton took a yearlong leave of absence from the army and traveled to Japan.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1881-04-17 |title=Personal: Captain Mott Hooton |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-times-trip-to-japan/134147770/ |access-date=2024-03-19 |work=The Philadelphia Times |pages=4 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Open access}}</ref> In 1880–81, he crossed Siberia from Vladivostok west to Yekaterinburg, becoming the first American officer to complete this journey.<ref name=":0" /> In 1895, he published a short article entitled "Certain Historical Data Regarding Extended Order" in the ''Journal of the Military Service Institution of the United States.''<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hooton|first=Mott|title=Certain Historical Data Regarding Extended Order|journal=Journal of the Military Service Institution of the United States|volume=16|url={{Google books|bOg1AQAAMAAJ|page=549|plainurl=yes}}|pages=549–552|access-date=2024-03-19|via=Google Books}}{{Open access}}</ref>
=== Spanish–American War === On May 1, 1896, Hooton became major of the 25th Infantry Regiment, a Buffalo Soldier regiment. He became lieutenant colonel of the 5th Infantry Regiment on October 4, 1898, and deployed to Santiago de Cuba. He fought in the Santiago campaign and served a total of nine months in Cuba. He became colonel and commanding officer of the 28th Infantry Regiment on February 2, 1901, serving with his regiment in the Philippines. Promoted to brigadier general on April 15, 1902, he accepted mandatory retirement after 39 years of military service a day later on April 16, 1902.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />
Hooton's proposed promotion to brigadier general gained strong support from West Chester dignitaries as well as both U.S. Senators from Pennsylvania, Matthew Quay and Boies Penrose, who petitioned President Theodore Roosevelt to nominate Hooton for the promotion before he reached the Army's mandatory retirement age of 64.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1902-04-15 |title=Col. Mott Hooton Made a Brigadier |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tribune-col-mott-hooton-made-a-brig/143701482/ |access-date=2024-03-19 |work=Scranton Times-Tribune |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Open access}}</ref> The U.S. Senate ultimately held a special executive session on April 15 to approve the nomination.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1902-04-16 |title=Now a Brigadier General: Col. Mott Hooton, Retired Today, Promoted by the Senate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-washington-post-now-a-brigadier-gene/143701837/ |access-date=2024-03-19 |work=The Washington Post |pages=2 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Open access}}</ref>
== Later life and death == Hooton never married and had no children. He moved to Maine after his retirement and died on May 30, 1920, at the age of 82 in Gardiner, Maine.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1920-06-01 |title=Obituary for Mott Hooton |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-local-news-obituary-for-mott-hooto/143701695/ |access-date=2024-03-19 |work=Daily Local News |pages=2 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Open access}}</ref> He was interred at Oaklands Cemetery.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-local-news-in-the-church-of-the-ho/143708452/ |title=In the Church of the Holy Trinity... |date=1920-06-05 |newspaper=Daily Local News |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2024-03-19}}{{Open access}}</ref> His papers are held in the collections of the Chester County History Center.<ref name=":1" />
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooton, Mott}} Category:1838 births Category:1920 deaths Category:Burials at Oaklands Cemetery Category:Military personnel from Chester County, Pennsylvania Category:Military personnel from Philadelphia Category:Military personnel from West Chester, Pennsylvania Category:People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War Category:American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Category:Union army officers Category:United States Army generals Category:United States Army personnel of the Indian Wars