James Harvey Hook was born on June 19, 1791 in Baltimore, Maryland. His military career began in 1812 with his appointment as an ensign in the Army. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant in September of that year.
By 1814, Hook was in command of an infantry company in the 38th Infantry Division. His company participated in the defense of Fort McHenry. The next year, Hook was promoted to the rank of Captain and assigned to the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Benjamin Hawkins in Georgia. Eventually, Hook was placed in command of the fort. It was here at Fort Hawkins that Hook was seriously wounded in a duel. After a long recovery, he returned to duty, but was reliant on a cane for the rest of his life.
If dueling be justifiable under any circumstances, it was so in his case. If it can add a sprig to the laurels due to valorous achievements, he deserved a wreath which will flourish amidst the fruits of ages and the decline of chivalry; for few men have had more cause to engage in a duel–none ever sustained his cause better.
From a remembrance of Hook in the National Intelligencer, December 9, 1841
Hook’s military career continued on for the next decade with posts in New Orleans and Washington, D.C. where he finished his career as a Lieutenant Colonel in the office of the Commissary General for Subsistence.
At the age of 49, Colonel Hook married young Mary Ann Bronaugh of the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Eleven months later, on November 30, 1841, Colonel Hook died at the age of 50. He and his wife, who died 55 years later in 1896, are buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
The information in this post was provided by the donor of the James Hook papers to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.
Colonel Hook Papers 