Edward M. McCook

Edward Moody McCook (June 15, 1833 – September 9, 1909) was a lawyer, politician, distinguished

In March and April 1865, as the war near its close, McCook commanded the First Division in Wilson's Raid through Alabama and Georgia, as well as at the Battle of Selma, where the federal cavalry dealt a crushing defeat upon Nathan Bedford Forrest. In early May, McCook's division was assigned to re-establish federal control and authority in Florida, whose ardent secessionist governor, John Milton, had shot himself in the head rather than submit to Union occupation.

On May 13, Col. George Washington Scott surrendered the last active Confederate troops in the state to McCook. On May 20, McCook read Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation during a ceremony in Tallahassee, officially ending slavery in Florida. That same day, his jubilant troopers raised the U.S. flag over the state capitol.

McCook reached the rank of brevet major general in the volunteers by the end of the war, and received the official praise of his superior, James H. Wilson. While not a professionally trained soldier, McCook was efficient and brave. He received a total of five brevet promotions in the Civil War, all for gallantry and meritorious service.

Postbellum career

He returned to the regular army when his volunteers were mustered out following the war. In 1866, McCook resigned from the army and returned to civilian life. President

McCook left the governorship when his second term expired in 1875 and turned to various business pursuits. He became very wealthy from numerous shrewd investments in real estate, mining interests and in new European telephone companies. For a time, he paid more income and business taxes than any man in Colorado.

McCook died in

• List of American Civil War generals (Union)
• History of Colorado
• Law and government of Colorado
• List of governors of Colorado
• Territory of Colorado

Notes

References

• Eicher, John H., and
  ISBN 0-8047-3641-3
  .
• Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964.
  ISBN 0-8071-0822-7
  .

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edward M. McCook.

• State of Georgia Historical Marker for the Battle of Brown's Mill
• Biography of Edward Moody McCook @ Colorado.gov