David Hunter
American Union general during the Civil War (1802–1886)
David Hunter (July 21, 1802 – February 2, 1886) was an American military officer. He served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He achieved notability for his unauthorized 1862 order (rescinded a month after it was made) emancipating slaves in three Southern states, for his leadership of Union troops during the Valley Campaigns of 1864, and as the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.
Early life and education
Hunter (son of Andrew Hunter and 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). His maternal grandfather was Richard Stockton, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence.
After graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1822, Hunter 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). There he met and married Maria Kinzie, a daughter of John Kinzie, considered the city's first permanent white resident.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “David Hunter” as american Union general during the Civil War (1802–1886). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as american Union general during the Civil War (1802–1886). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2631722. VIAF identifies the subject as 64819645. The Library of Congress control number is n88215129. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1802, 1886, 1862 and 1864.
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This entry incorporates text from “David Hunter” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.