John Rogers Cooke

From Dixiepedia: The PC-Free Encyclopedia

John Rogers Cooke (9 June 1833 - 10 April 1891) was born at Jefferson Barracks in Saint Louis, Missouri, the son of Lieut. Philip St. George Cooke, U.S.A. He graduated at the University of Missouri in 1849; studied French and German with Dr. Miller, and civil engineering at Harvard, taking his C.E. degree in 1854. He was then engaged in the construction of the Iron Mountain railway in Missouri. He held a commission as Second Lieutenant in the 8th U.S. infantry, 1854-61, when he resigned from the army and entered the Confederate service. After the Battle of First Manassas he raised a company of light artillery in the department of North Carolina. At the Battle of Sharpsburg in Maryland, he commanded the 27th N.C. regiment and made an heroic defence of his position in General A.P. Hill's line — eighteen out of twenty regimental officers of his brigade being killed or wounded. His action gained for him promotion to the rank of Brigadier-General "for gallantry on the field of battle." In the engagement his brigade charged a Federal division commanded by his father. He was wounded at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Bristoe Station, Spottsylvania Court House, and Mary's Hill. General Robert Edward Lee designated him as "the brigadier" and his command as "the brigade" of the Confederate army. He was recommended for promotion as Major-General by Lee, but before the Senate could act on the matter, the Confederate Capital in Richmond, Virginia was evacuated. At the close of the war he engaged in commercial pursuits in Richmond. He was married on 5 January 1864 to Nannie Gordon, daughter of Dr. William Fairlee Patten. He was a member of the board of directors of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce and commander of the Lee Camp, Confederate Veterans. Immediately after the close of the war he was reconciled with his father and family from whom he was estranged when espousing the Confederate cause. He died in Richmond.