David Hunter
| David Hunter | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nickname(s) | "Black Dave" |
| Born |
July 21, 1802 Troy, New York, U.S. |
| Died | February 2, 1886 (aged 83) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Buried at | Princeton Cemetery, Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 U.S. Army (Union Army) |
| Years of service | 1822–1836; 1841–1866 |
| Rank |
 Major general
|
| Commands held |
Department of Kansas Department of the West Department of the South |
| Battles/wars | |
Second Seminole War
Mexican-American War
American Civil War
David Hunter (July 21, 1802 – February 2, 1886) was a Union general during the American Civil War. He achieved fame by his unauthorized 1862 order (immediately rescinded) emancipating slaves in three Southern states, for his leadership of United States troops during the Valley Campaigns of 1864, and as the president of the military commission trying the conspirators involved with the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.
Hunter (son of Andrew Hunter & Mary Stockton) was born in Troy, New York, or Princeton, New Jersey. He was the cousin of writer-illustrator David Hunter Strother (who would also serve as a Union Army general) and his maternal grandfather was , a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. He graduated from the United States Military Academy, in 1822, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 5th U.S. Infantry Regiment. Records of his military service prior to the Civil War contain significant gaps. From 1828 to 1831, he was stationed on the northwest frontier, at Fort Dearborn (Chicago, Illinois), where he met and married Maria Kinzie, the daughter of the city's first permanent white resident, John Kinzie. He served in the infantry for 11 years, and was appointed captain of the 1st U.S. Dragoons in 1833. He resigned from the Army in July 1836 and moved to Illinois, where he worked as a real estate agent or speculator. He rejoined the Army in November 1841 as a paymaster and was promoted to major in March 1842. One source claims that he saw action in the Second Seminole War (1838–42) and the Mexican-American War (1846–48).
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