Samuel Cooper (general)
Samuel Cooper | |
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General (CSA) | |
Commands held |
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Battles/wars | Second Seminole War Mexican–American War American Civil War |
Samuel Cooper (June 12, 1798 – December 3, 1876) was a career United States Army staff officer, serving during the Second Seminole War and the Mexican–American War. Although little-known today, Cooper was technically the highest-ranking general officer in the Confederate States Army throughout the American Civil War, even outranking Robert E. Lee. After the conflict, Cooper remained in Virginia as a farmer.
Early life and career
Samuel Cooper was born in
In 1827, Cooper married Sarah Maria Mason, becoming the brother-in-law of future Confederate diplomat James M. Mason. Sarah's sister, Ann Maria Mason, was the mother of Confederate cavalry general Fitzhugh Lee, a nephew of Robert E. Lee, while her brother John Mason, was a son-in-law of Gen. Alexander Macomb. Cooper served as aide-de-camp for Gen. Macomb from 1828 to 1836 and, under his supervision, authored A Concise System of Instructions and Regulations for the Militia and Volunteers of the United States.[7]
Cooper served in numerous artillery units until 1837 when he was appointed chief clerk of the
Cooper's service in the
Cooper was also a slaveowner: at the time of the 1850 census, he had six slaves. [10] On February 5, 1857, his daughter Sarah Maria Mason Cooper (August 4, 1836 – December 15, 1858) married Frank Wheaton, who would become a U.S. Army general during the coming war. They had one child, Sarah Maria Cooper Wheaton, in 1858.[11]
American Civil War service
Cooper joined the Confederacy at the beginning of the American Civil War. His wife's family was from Virginia, and he had a close friendship with Jefferson Davis, who had also been U.S. Secretary of War.[12] One of his last official acts as Adjutant General of the U.S. Army was to sign an order dismissing Brig. Gen. David E. Twiggs from the army. Twiggs had surrendered his command and supplies in Texas to the Confederacy (and was shortly after that made a Confederate major general.) This order was dated March 1, 1861, and Cooper resigned six days later. He traveled to Montgomery, Alabama, at the time the Confederacy's capital, to join the Confederate States Army.[5]
On reaching Montgomery, Cooper was immediately given a commission as a
On May 16, 1861, Cooper was promoted to full general in the Confederate Army.[6] He was one of five men promoted to the grade at that time and one of only seven during the war, but with the earliest date of rank. Thus, despite his relative obscurity today, he outranked the better-known confederates Albert Sidney Johnston, Robert E. Lee, Joseph E. Johnston, and P. G. T. Beauregard.[14] Cooper reported directly to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.[5] At the war's end in 1865, Cooper surrendered and was paroled on May 3 at Charlotte, North Carolina.[6]
While building defenses near Washington, D.C., Union forces demolished his home and used its bricks to build a fort dubbed "Traitor's Hill" in dishonor of Cooper.[15]
Postbellum life
Cooper's last official act in office was to preserve the official records of the Confederate Army and turn them over intact to the United States government, where they form a part of the
After the war, Cooper was a farmer at his home, Cameron, near Alexandria, Virginia. His house had been taken over by the U.S. government during the war and turned into a fort, but he was able to move into what had been an overseer's house. Due to his age, Cooper earned a meager living. On August 4, 1870, Robert E. Lee, on behalf of other former Confederates, sent Cooper $300 (~$6,943 in 2022). Lee wrote to him saying, "To this sum I have only been able to add $100, but I hope it may enable you to supply some immediate want and prevent you from taxing your strength too much."[5] Samuel Cooper died at his home in 1876 and is buried in Alexandria's Christ Church Episcopal Cemetery.[6]
Selected works
- A Concise System of Instructions and Regulations for the Militia and Volunteers of the United States, Comprehending the Exercises and Movements of the Infantry, Light Infantry, and Riflemen; Cavalry and Artillery: Together with the manner of doing duty in Garrison and in Camp, and for the forms of Parades, Reviews, and Inspections, as established ... for the government of the Regular Army. Philadelphia: Robert P. Desilver. 1836. Prepared and Arranged by Brevet Captain S. Cooper, Alexander Macomb, Commanding the Army of the United States.
See also
Notes
- ^ Davis, William C. "General Samuel Cooper." In Leaders of the Lost Cause: New Perspectives on the Confederate High Command, edited by Gary W. Gallagher and Joseph T. Glatthaar, 101–131. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2004, 102
- ^ Lee, Fitzhugh. "Sketch of the Late General S. Cooper." Southern Historical Society Papers 3, no. 5–6 (June 1877): 271
- ^ Mary Boykin Chesnut, A Diary from Dixie As Written by Mary Boykin Chesnut (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1905), 150. Cooper's place of birth is often incorrectly given as Hackensack, New Jersey, by Dupuy (p. 189), Eicher (p. 184), Wakelyn (p. 150), and Wright (p. 9); place of birth given as Dutchess County, New York, by Warner (p. 62), or just New York by Snow (p. 305); place of birth given as New Hackensack, New York, by both websites "leeslieutenants.com" and "generalcooper.com".
- ^ Wakelyn, p. 150.
- ^ a b c d "Lee's Lieutenants site biography of Cooper". www.civilwarreference.com. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f Eicher, p. 185.
- ^ Cooper, Samuel (1836). A Concise System of Instructions and Regulations for the Militia and Volunteers of the United States. Philadelphia: Robert P. Desilver.
- ^ Dupuy, pp. 189–90.
- ^ Eicher, p. 185. He held the position from March 3 to 6, 1857.
- ^ "Seventh Census of the United States, Slave Schedules, United States census, 1850; Ward 1, Washington; line 31-36. Retrieved on 27 May 2016.
- ^ Descendents of George Mason 1629-1686 - Person Page 6 Archived January 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Gunston Hall Plantation Website. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
- ^ Warner, pp. 62-3.
- ^ a b Warner, p. 63.
- ^ Eicher, p. 807. Generals (ACSA) Line Command List
- ^ Christine Jirikowic; Gwen J. Hurst; Tammy Bryant. "Archeological Investigation at 206 North Quaker Lane (44AX193)" (PDF). p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 25, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via City of Alexandria, VA.
- ^ Lee's Lieutenants site biography of Cooper: "This contribution is said to be Samuel's most lasting contribution to the Confederacy, in overseeing the removal of War Department records from Richmond in April 1865, and protecting them until they could be turned over to Federal authorities..."
References
- Davis, William C. "General Samuel Cooper." In Leaders of the Lost Cause: New Perspectives on the Confederate High Command, edited by Gary W. Gallagher and Joseph T. Glatthaar, 101–131. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2004.
- Dupuy, Trevor N., Curt Johnson, and David L. Bongard. The ISBN 978-0-06-270015-5.
- Eicher, John H., and ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- Lee, Fitzhugh. "Sketch of the Late General S. Cooper." Southern Historical Society Papers 3, no. 5-6 (June 1877): 269–76.
- Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988. ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4.
- Snow, William P. Lee and His Generals. New York: Gramercy Books, 1996. ISBN 0-517-38109-5. First published 1867 by Richardson and Co.
- Wakelyn, Jon L. Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1977. ISBN 0-8371-6124-X.
- ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9.
- ISBN 0-8488-0009-5. First published 1911 by Neale Publishing Co.
External links
- Biography at generalcooper.com Archived January 28, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
- www.leeslieutenants.com Lee's Lieutenants site biography of Cooper.
- Samuel Cooper at Find a Grave
- civilwarlandscapes.org Archived December 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Civil War Landscapes site military biography of Cooper.