Hunter graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1822 and served in the Mexican War (1846–48). In 1862, while in command of Federal troops along the South Atlantic coast, he proclaimed the freedom of slaves in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina; Lincoln, determined to maintain his executive prerogatives, revoked the order. In South Carolina General Hunter organized the Union Army's first African American regiment and was soon described by the Confederacy as a “felon to be executed if captured.” He took command in West Virginia (May 21, 1864) but was defeated by General Jubal Early at Lynchburg, Va., on June 18 and resigned his command on August 8. After Lincoln's assassination, Hunter served as chairman of the commission that tried the conspirators.